History of the Molland Estate
The parish of Molland lies on the southernmost edge of Exmoor, north-east of South Molton. An ancient landscape, characterised by small fields, with high woody hedgerows and narrow winding lanes dating from Saxon times (600-lO00AD) or earlier. A sense of timelessness pervades the landscape which could be a result of the land being passed through generations of the same family either by inheritance or marriage since 1210.
Today, Molland is a working estate where traditional farming continues on the tenanted farms. As part of the continuity of the estate, conservation practices and modem farming are being integrated to conserve both the countryside and the traditional way of life of this beautiful and remote part of Devon.
The name Molland means 'bare' or 'bald hill' which aptly describes the moorland (relict of the medieval manorial 'waste'), rising above the village. Prehistoric man cleared this high ground for the 'easy-to-work' soils. With continued cultivation over several thousand years, the porous soils lost their fertility and reverted to heather moorland. Little remains of this early activity except for two round burial mounds which date from the Bronze Age (c. 1500 BC).
The Early History
During the Saxon period, it was probable that Molland consisted of two main settlements with a scatter of smaller farms in the surrounding farmland. From the Domesday Survey 1086, we can identify these settlements of Molland Bottreaux and Molland Champson.
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King William took the manor of Molland (Bottreaux) from Earl Harold in 1066 and gave it to the de Beumis Family in return for 1 knight's fee. This tenure was a military service to the Crown consisting of a full armed knight and his servants for 40 days a year. It later became commuted to a monetary payment.
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ln 1210, William de Boterell purchased the manor and it passed through this family by inheritance. Their name gradually changed to Botreaux.
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The manor house is thought to have been sited at West Park, where remains of Norman fortifications have been found.
In 1285, a William de Botreaux was granted the right of free warren in his demesne lands in Molland in Devon. This right allowed the lord of the manor to hunt for beasts of the chase (except deer which were the privilege of the king)within his own lands.
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This right was often formalised by the creation of deer parks. Bottreaux Park originally surrounded the medieval manor house at West Park; the boundaries extending west to Bottreaux Mill and north to New Park. No evidence of the park can be found today.
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The other settlement at Molland was, in 1086, part of the extensive lands of Geoffrey de Mowbray, Bishop of Coutances. ln 1166, it was occupied by one Roger de Campellis or Champeaux. Thus it became known as Molland Champson. The manor eventually passed to the Culme family in the sixteenth century.
The Courtenays of Molland
The fifteenth century saw changes at Molland when Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham Castle married Elizabeth, daughter of Walter, Lord Hungerford. The manor had previously passed by marriage when Margaret de Botreaux married Robert, the second Lord Hungerford.​
Sir Philip passed Molland Bottreaux to his son Philip who became Sir Philip Courtenay of Molland. Whether the manor house had fallen into disrepair, or the demense lands had become stale, Sir Philip decided to move and built a manor house at the small settlement of West Molland. The present house, fishponds and demense farm date from the late 1400s. The Courtenay coat of arms can be seen over the main house door.​
The Courtenays of Molland resided there for nearly three centuries. In 1700, John Courtenay purchased Molland Champson from Sir Edward Hungerford and the two manors descended into the same ownership.
The Throckmorton's
In 1732, John Courtenay died without an heir and his lands passed to his sisters; Mary who married William Paston of Horton and Elizabeth who married John Chichester of Arlington.
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Mary's daughter Anna-Maria then married George Throckmorton who took the name Courtenay. Molland has remained in the Throckmorton family ever since, the direct descendants from William Du Boterell.