Direction woman fancied, taking a Raleigh here (5,8)
I believe the answer is:
north carolina
'fancied taking a raleigh here' is the definition.
The answer is a location as well as being a singular noun. This is suggested by the definition.
'direction woman' is the wordplay.
'direction' becomes 'north' (compass direction).
'woman' becomes 'carolina' ().
'north'+'carolina'='NORTH CAROLINA'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for north carolina that I've seen before include "One of the original 13 colonies of the United States, capital Raleigh" , "US state, capital Raleigh" , "US state S. of Virginia" , "State of eastern USA" .)