Manor of Poltimore

The Manor of Poltimore is a former manor in Devon, England. The manor house known as Poltimore House survives in its 18th-century remodelled form, but has been dilapidated for several decades. A charity named the "Poltimore House Trust" has been established for the purpose of its restoration. The manor was situated within the historic Wonford Hundred and was largely coterminous with the parish of Poltimore and contained the village of Poltimore, 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of the historic centre of the City of Exeter. It should not be confused with the eponymous Devon estate of Poltimore in the parish of Farway, 16 miles (26 km) east of Exeter. Poltimore was the principal seat of the Bampfylde family from c. 1300 to 1920.

The identification of the manor of Poltimore, later seat of the Bampfylde family, with a location mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 is problematical. The Domesday Book lists two estates, PULTIMORE, the first-listed of the five Devonshire holdings of the king's tenant-in-chief Haimeric of Arques, Pas de Calais, Picardy and PONTIMORE (sic), the 90th of the 176 Devonshire holdings of Baldwin the Sheriff (died 1090). According to Worthy (1896), neither corresponds to the Bampfylde's manor of Poltimore, which he suggests was not listed separately in the Domesday Book, but rather was parcel of one of the two Domesday Book royal manors named CLISTE, namely the one later known as "Clist Moins", now "West Clyst", in the parish of Broadclyst, in the historic Cliston hundred. This estate of "Clist Moins" was later held from the feudal barony of Okehampton, which later comprised the former fiefdom of Baldwin the Sheriff.

The descent of the manor was as follows:

As recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 the first post-Norman Conquest holder of the manor was Baldwin the Sheriff (died 1090), (alias Baldwin FitzGilbert, Baldwin of Exeter, Baldwin de Meulles/Moels and Baldwin du Sap) whose fiefdom in Devon was the largest in that county, recorded in the Domesday Book as comprising 176 holdings, of which PONTIMORE (sic) was the 90th listed. His tenants were the Canons of "St Mary's", as recorded in the Domesday Book. Worthy (1896) suggested that this religious establishment was St. Mary's Church in Rouen, Normandy, (i.e. Rouen Cathedral, Notre-Dame de Rouen) but Reichel rejected this suggestion and instead proposed that it was the Collegiate Church of St Mary, situated within the walls of Exeter Castle, which collegiate church is believed to have been founded by Baldwin. The custodianship of Exeter Castle on behalf of the king was a central duty of the Sheriff of Devon. The Canons of St Mary's also held from Baldwin the Devon manors of Ashclyst, Polsloe and West Clyst. Baldwin's fiefdom later became the feudal barony of Okehampton, the barons of which were the Courtenay Earls of Devon.

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