Moor Hays (alias Moore Hays, Moorhays, Moorhayes, etc. [3] [4] ) is a historic estate in the parish of Cullompton in Devon, England. [5] It is stated incorrectly to be in the nearby parish of Burlescombe in Tristram Risdon's Survey of Devon. [6] The estate is not to be confused with Moor Hayes in the parish of Washfield, about 3 miles north-west of Tiverton, another ancient farmstead, which since 2005 has been the site of a large housing estate named "Moorhayes".
For many centuries the manor was the seat of the prominent Moore (alias Moor) family. [7] John Moore was Recorder of Exeter in 1434, and thus the arms of Moore of Moor Hayes are amongst the many shields displayed in the Exeter Guildhall. [8] This appears to be the John Moore shown in the Heraldic Visitations as the husband of Elizabeth Botour, daughter and heiress of Henry Botour of Exeter. [9] According to the Devon historian Tristram Risdon (d.1640), King Henry VIII (1509-1547) sold the manor of Aller to "Mr Moore of Cullumpton", [10] thus either to Humphrie Moore (d.1537) or to his son Sir John Moore of Moor Hayes, who was knighted at the Palace of Westminster by King Edward VI in 1549. [11] Sir John Moore married Katherine Pomeroy, a daughter of Sir Thomas Pomeroy (1503-1566), feudal baron of Berry Pomeroy in Devon.
The Devon historian Sir William Pole (d.1635) was lord of the manor of Aller [12] and was thus well acquainted with the Moore family of Moor Hayes, whose pedigree he sets out in some detail in his work. [13]
Richard More (d.1516) was a younger son of John Moore of Moor Hayes (d.1509/10) by his wife Elizabeth Clivedon, a daughter and co-heiress of John Clivedon of Willand. Richard Moore was Archdeacon of Exeter and became Treasurer of Exeter Cathedral, where his monument survives. [14]
Rev. John Moore (c.1595–1657), a clergyman of Puritan views and an author of pamphlets against enclosures, was a younger son of Sir John Moore of Moor Hayes, (kt 1549), by his wife Katherine Pomeroy.
John Moore (1646–1714), Bishop of Norwich and Bishop of Ely was a member of a junior branch of the family and the grandson of Rev. John Moore.
The armorials of Moore of Moore Hayes survive on sixteen relief-sculpted wooden heraldic shields circa 1530, each supported by two four-winged angels, atop an intricately carved wooden parclose screen in the "Moorehayes Chapel" (alias "Moore's Chantry", "Moore's Aisle") occupying the east end of the north aisle of St Andrew's Church, Cullompton. The screen separates the Moorehayes Chapel from the chancel. The sixteen shields are eight shields duplicated in identical order on the internal and external sides of the screen. The lord of the manor is generally permitted to build a manorial pew or manorial chapel within the parish church. They show the following arms, left to right: [15]
On the floor of the Moore Chapel are numerous floor slabs, described in Cresswell, Beatrix F., Notes on Devon Churches in the Deanery of Cullompton, 1920. The far grander chapel in Cullompton Church was the South Aisle Chapel, built by the wealthy clothier John Lane (d.1529). There was a dispute concerning this between his widow and the Moore family which resulted in a law suit heard by the Star Chamber, the record of which is held at the National Archives at Kew, summarised as follows: [29]
The estate covered much of the unusually flat low ground of the basin of the River Culm, between various hilly regions of Devon. The former mansion house is today represented by Higher Moorhayes Farm, [30] situated about 4 miles north-east of the town of Cullompton, from which it is separated by the River Culm, and 6 miles south-east of the town of Tiverton, and by Lower Moorhayes, situated about 2 miles north-east of the town of Cullompton.
Higher Moorhayes Farm is a grade II listed building, possibly incorporating a 15th century core structure, extensively remodelled in the 19th century. It incorporates fragments of a medieval chapel, which identifies it as the residence of a family of high social status. The earliest surviving dateable feature is of the late 16th century. It is essentially a three-room "cross-passage" house, with the original great hall on the higher side to the right of the screens passage, originally with a fireplace at the higher end. The entrance porch retains a (worn-away) sculpted heraldic shield in the apex, with a reset medieval arch probably taken from the chapel. In the lower end room survives a fireplace with a decorative plaster overmantel displaying festoons and a central lion's head which could be late 16th century, now heavily painted. In the stairwell window survive fragments of late 15th or early 16th century painted glass canopy work, probably from the chapel. The gateway to the garden incorporates re-used medieval material including piers and finials with a lintel with composite roll and concave moulding. [1]
A large sculpted stone tablet displaying the royal arms of one of the Tudor monarchs (1485-1603) with other heraldic elements, formerly at Moor Hayes, is now displayed in Tiverton Museum (item TIVMS: 1977.727). [31]
The M5 Motorway was built (1967–77) near the western boundary of the ancient estate.
The Cary family is an English aristocratic family with a branch in Ireland. The earliest known ancestor of the family is Sir Adam de Kari who was living in 1198. Sir John Cary purchased the Manor of Clovelly in the 14th century and established the family's status as members of the landed gentry. Various branches of the family were ennobled in the late 16th and early 17th centuries as Baron Hunsdon and Viscount Falkland.
Richard Fortescue of Filleigh, North Devon was an English Member of Parliament and prominent land-owner and member of the Devonshire gentry, ancestor to the Earls Fortescue.
Bradfield House is a Grade I listed country house situated in the parish of Uffculme, Devon, England, 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of the village of Uffculme.
Robert Carey, lord of the manor of Clovelly in North Devon, was Member of Parliament for Barnstaple, Devon, in October 1553 and served as Sheriff of Devon in 1555–56. He served as Recorder of Barnstaple after 1560. Along with several other members of the Devonshire gentry then serving as magistrates he died of gaol fever at the Black Assize of Exeter 1587. His large monument survives in Clovelly Church.
The landed gentry and nobility of Devonshire, like the rest of the English and European gentry, bore heraldic arms from the start of the age of heraldry circa 1200–1215. The fashion for the display of heraldry ceased about the end of the Victorian era (1901) by which time most of the ancient arms-bearing families of Devonshire had died out, moved away or parted with their landed estates.
Bernard Smith of Totnes in Devon was MP for Totnes in 1558. He was mayor of Totnes in 1549–50 and c. 1565–6, and was escheator of Devon and Cornwall in 1567–8.
Ash in the parish of Braunton in North Devon is a historic estate listed in the Domesday Book. The present mansion, known as The Ash Barton estate is a Grade II* listed building.
Way is a historic estate in the parish of St Giles in the Wood, Devon. It is situated about 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of the village of St Giles in the Wood and about 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of the town of Great Torrington. It was described by Hoskins (1959) as "the fons et origo of the mighty tribe of Pollard" and had been acquired by them from the de la Way family at some time before 1242.
Great Fulford is an historic estate in the parish of Dunsford, Devon. The grade I listed manor house, known as Great Fulford House, is about 9 miles west of Exeter. Its site was said in 1810 to be "probably the most ancient in the county". The present mansion house is Tudor with refurbishment from the late 17th century and further remodelling from about 1800. The prefix "Great" dates from the late 17th century and served to distinguish it from the mansion house known as "Little Fulford" in the parish of Shobrooke, Devon, about 8 miles to the north-east, also owned briefly by Col. Francis Fulford (1666–1700), as a result of his marriage to the heiress of the Tuckfield family. Great Fulford has been the residence of the Fulford family, which took its name from the estate, from the reign of King Richard I (1189–1199) to the present day. There are thus few, if any, families in Devonshire of more ancient recorded origin still resident at their original seat. In 2004 the estate comprised 3,000 acres.
Peamore is a historic country estate in the parish of Exminster, Devon, which is near the city of Exeter. In 1810 Peamore House was described as "one of the most pleasant seats in the neighbourhood of Exeter". The house was remodelled in the early 19th century and is now a grade II listed building.
Sir William Huddesfield of Shillingford St George in Devon, was Attorney General for England and Wales to Kings Edward IV (1461–1483) and Henry VII (1485–1509). He built the tower of St George's Church, Shillingford.
Sir Robert Spencer "of Spencer Combe" in the parish of Crediton, Devon, was the husband of Eleanor Beaufort (1431–1501), the daughter of Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset (1406–1455), KG, and was father to two daughters and co-heiresses who made notable marriages.
The Manor of Clovelly is a historic manor in North Devon, England. Within the manor are situated the manor house known as Clovelly Court, the parish church of All Saints, and the famous picturesque fishing village of Clovelly. The parish church is unusually well-filled with well-preserved monuments to the lords of the manor, of the families of Cary, Hamlyn, Fane, Manners and Asquith. In 2015 the Rous family, direct descendants via several female lines of Zachary Hamlyn (1677–1759) the only purchaser of Clovelly since the 14th century, still own the estate or former manor, amounting to about 2,000 acres, including Clovelly Court and the advowson of the parish church, and the village of Clovelly, run as a major tourist attraction with annual paying visitor numbers of about 200,000.
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Thorne in the parish of Ottery St Mary in Devon is an historic estate situated on the west side of the River Otter opposite the town of Ottery St Mary. The site is today occupied by Thorne Farm situated to the immediate north of the town's school and hospital and to the immediate south of the surviving early 17th century grand mansion house of Cadhay.
Sir John Kirkham (1472–1529) of Blagdon in the parish of Paignton, Devon, was Sheriff of Devon in 1523/4. He was one of the Worthies of Devon of the Devonshire biographer Prince (d.1723), who called him a "very free and liberal, ... prudent and discreet" benefactor of the town of Honiton in Devon.