In 1549 when William Cary died, his inquisition post mortem stated that he held the manor of Hayne, Ludon and Lutteforde from Thomas Arundell, of his manor of Lapford. Lapford was an inheritance of the Honour of Gloucester, which descended from the Humphraville family to the Arundell family of Trerice. This directly connects hayne with the Wray held by William de Chiverstone in 1286, which was held from John de Humphraville. Thus it constituted part of the Domesday manor of WRAY, a moiety of which was passed to William Chiverstone in 1249.
The first reference to the manor by the name of Hayne is the inquisition post mortem on the death of the lord of the manor, Sir John Cary, in 1395. This states thast he had one ploughland in Luedon, 40d rent in Wray and 20s rent in Heghen (IPM, 1821 ed., 20 Ric II, p.196). Also (according to DCRS IPM seq.), he had the feudal service of William Carysleigh sen and William Carysleigh jun in Heghen, the service of Joan, daughter of Roger Wray, in Wray. This indicates that Wray Barton itself had been alienated before this date: if it had not been, we would have expected to see notice of service owed by the occupiers of Wray Barton and/or a larger rent that 40d. The IPM also states that the remainder of this manor was due to Emma, daughter of Robert Holway, and her heirs. As Sir John’s widow was a Margaret Holway, whom he married ni 1376, it is probable that Emma and Margaret were sisters and that themanor of Hayne was acquired by him through marriage. If correct, this would mean that the moiety of the manor of Wray held by William de Chiverstone in 1249 and still held by him in 1284 had passed to the Holway family before coming to the Cary family.
The manor stayed in the Cary family for the next two centuries. In 1414 it was held by Robert Cary when he and his wife gave power of attorney to Edward Courtenay, son of the earl of Devon, with regard to their land in ‘Lewdon, Wreyheghen and Luttereneford’ and elsewhere (TNA C104/267). In 1503 John Taverner died, leaving 10 acres of land, 10 of pasture, 2 of meadow and 10 of furze and heath in ‘Stoures [Steward] and Pitton within the parish of Moreton’ worth 20s held of Robert Cary Esq as of his manor of Heghen by fealty and suit of court.’ He also left ‘100 acres of pasture, 2 acres of meadow and 20 acres of furze and heath in Moreton called Brendon Parkes [probably Brinning] held of Robert Cary Esq as of his manor of Hayne by fealty and 18d rent yearly, worth 20s.’ These entries deonstrate that the manorial court was still active at this time.
Further confirmation that the court contniued to sit is the existence of an original court roll in the Brotosh Library (Add roll 64627). This is a court roll for the manors of ‘Heyghne’ and ‘Lodeford’ with entries for Lodeford for 15 Oct 21st Henry VIII and 18 May 22nd Henry VIII; and (on the other side of the parchment) for Hayne 12th Oct 21st Henry VIII (1529). The Hayne entry is an admission of Thomas Harry to the tenancy of a tenement which might be read as ‘Grendon’ but perhaps should be ‘Brendon’ – Brendon Parkes definitely being mentioned in the 1504 inquisition post mortem. That the abovementioned court roll definitely relates to Hayne in Moretonhampstead is made clear by a charter in the British Library, Add Charter 64197. This document states that Robt Carye gent, heir of William Cary (d. 1549) paid William Holland £400 in 1550 for an acquittance for lands in the manors of West Wanford, Hayne and Loddford, alias Lodford, with all their appurtenances in Devon. The specific lands are listed as ‘West Wanford, ffener, Heddon, Langdon, Hayne, Wraycombe, Lewdon, Lutteford, Bowde, Loddeford Mill, Moredowne, Brome Parke, Cawte, Cawte Moor and Barne Mede, Beare situated… in the parishes of Milton Damerell, Beaworthy, Sutcombe, Moreton, North Bovey and Shebbear’. A collection DRO (DRO 48/13/1/1/2a-b (dated 1534)) relates to the same estate described in the same way. Going through the above list it can be seen that the order of the parishes reflects the order of the lands held. So, ‘West Wanford’ is in Milton Damerell (confirmed by DRO 48/13/1/1/2a-b). Ffener: there was a La fenne in Beaworthy in 1330s (EPNS, i, p. 130) and DRO 48/13/1/1/2a-b confims the ‘Venne’ of this estate as being in Beaworthy; ‘Heddon’ is in Sutcome parish (EPNS, i, p. 168, confirmed by DRO 48/13/1/1/2a-b); ‘Langdon might be the Langdon in North Bovey (EPNS, i, p. 471) but DRO 48/13/1/1/2a-b has the holding as ‘Heddon and Langdon in Sutcombe’, so this is a Langdon in Sutcombe.
Then we come to the Moreton places: ‘Hayne’ is in Moreton parish: DRO 48/13/1/1/2a-b confirms the estate as ‘Hayne and Ludon’ in Moreton parish. ‘Wraycombe’ relates to Wray in Moreton; ‘Lewdon’ is Lewdown in Moreton, and DRO 48/13/1/1/2a-b confirms this identification; Lutteford is Lettaford in North Bovey (EPNS, i, p. 470), confirmed by DRO 48/13/1/1/2a-b. ‘Bowde’ is very probably Bowda in North Bovey (EPNS, i, p. 470), given the order of holdings, although there is also Bowden in Moreton. Finally, ‘Loddeford Mill’ is in Shebbear parish (modern Ladford, EPNS, i, p. 108), as are ‘Moredowne’ (Moortown), ‘Cawte’ and ‘Cawte Moor’ (Caute), ‘Barne Mede’ and ‘Beare’. All this is confirmed by the Devon Record Office deed which specifies the manor of Hayne as ‘Hayne and Ludon in the parish of Morton… and Lutterford in the parish of North Bovey’. A royal inspeximus of a similar deed of feoffment dated 1530 says the same. As a result we have something approaching a reliable survey of the manor of Hayne in 1503-50: Hayne itself, ‘Wraycombe’, Lewdon, Lettaford and the ‘Brendon’ or ‘Brendon Parkes’ (probably Brinning Farm) of the court roll.
The manor still existed in 1577, as shown by a deed in the papers of the Mallock family of Cockington (DRO 48/13/1/1/4), who bought the estate from the Cary family. This mentions the manors of Hayne and Loddeford – the two manors recorded on the same manorial roll in 1529. This is useful information because it allows us to interpret a document of 1570 relating to a sale by Richard Wannell of Moreton, gent., to John Wannell alias Voisey, yeoman, of his messuages called ‘East Ludon, Forde, Willaway Cleave and Willaway Wood in Moreton INCLUDING HERIOTS’ (WCSL Enrolled deeds, no. 881). Heriots were a fine (often the best beast) payable to the lord of the manor on the death of a tenant and so Richard Wannell’s ability to level this fine suggests he enjoyed some sort of manorial rights in these four places. FORD was alienated by William de Mandeville at an early date, and may well have been a separate manor. East Lewdon, Willowray Cleave and Willowray Cottage all fall into the most southern section of the parish, and may represent a residue of the moiety of the manor of Wray which did not pass to William de Chiverstone in the 13th century. The manor of Hayne seems to have been dismembered by 1600. [IJFM]