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	===Lecturer of Molland===		===Lecturer of Molland===
	After her husband's death Margaret Giffard (d.1743), the widow of John V Courtenay (d.1732), the last of the Courtenays of Molland, instituted a lectureship at Molland-cum-Knowstone parish and endowed it with the great tithes of the manor.<ref>Lysons, Magna Britannia (1822), Vol.6, Devon, Parishes: Molland; White's Devon Directory of 1850 stated however: "In 1721, they (great tithes) were vested in trust by Thos. Clarke, for the support of a lecturer (or curate,) and that office is now filled by the Rev. Joshua Bawden, B.A., of South Molton". This appears to be erroneous</ref> In his Episcopal Visitation Return of 1779, the then incumbent, Rev. John Froude, stated that the Rev'd Richard Bawden was a Lecturer at Molland.<ref>"I reside in the Vicarage House at Knowstone being consolidated with Molland. There is a Lecturer at Molland, The Rev'd Richard Bawden, who has the great Tithes of the Parish. He preaches one Part of the Day. I preach one Part of the Day at Creacomb, a very Small Church adjoining Knowstone".</ref> He may have been a descendant of Richard Bawden (1673-1746), of South Molton, mercer and four times mayor.<ref>Per inscribed monument in South Molton Church</ref> His second wife was Elizabeth Pierce (1691-1745), daughter of Peter Pierce (d.1713), Gent., of Molland.		After her husband's death Margaret Giffard (d.1743), the widow of John V Courtenay (d.1732), the last of the Courtenays of Molland, instituted a lectureship at Molland-cum-Knowstone parish and endowed it with the great tithes of the manor.<ref>Lysons, Magna Britannia (1822), Vol.6, Devon, Parishes: Molland; White's Devon Directory of 1850 stated however: "In 1721, they (great tithes) were vested in trust by Thos. Clarke, for the support of a lecturer (or curate,) and that office is now filled by the Rev. Joshua Bawden, B.A., of South Molton". This appears to be erroneous</ref> In his Episcopal Visitation Return of 1779, the then incumbent, Rev. John Froude, stated that the Rev'd Richard Bawden was a Lecturer at Molland.<ref>"I reside in the Vicarage House at Knowstone being consolidated with Molland. There is a Lecturer at Molland, The Rev'd Richard Bawden, who has the great Tithes of the Parish. He preaches one Part of the Day. I preach one Part of the Day at Creacomb, a very Small Church adjoining Knowstone".</ref> He may have been a descendant{{cn\|date=June 2013}} of Richard Bawden (1673-1746), of South Molton, mercer and four times mayor.<ref>Per inscribed monument in South Molton Church</ref> His second wife was Elizabeth Pierce (1691-1745), daughter of Peter Pierce (d.1713), Gent., of Molland.

	Mural monuments exist in South Molton Church to both Pierce (d.1713) and to Bawden (d.1746). A mural monument exists in South Molton parish church to the memory of "Rev. James Gould, MA, Lecturer of Molland and Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford", who died aged 56 on 1 November 1793. Thomas Clarke left two houses and 15 acres of land called Leddons, for the relief of the poor and schooling poor children, which were in 1850 producing rental income of about £20 a year.<ref>White's Devon Directory of 1850</ref>		Mural monuments exist in South Molton Church to both Pierce (d.1713) and to Bawden (d.1746). A mural monument exists in South Molton parish church to the memory of "Rev. James Gould, MA, Lecturer of Molland and Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford", who died aged 56 on 1 November 1793. Thomas Clarke left two houses and 15 acres of land called Leddons, for the relief of the poor and schooling poor children, which were in 1850 producing rental income of about £20 a year.<ref>White's Devon Directory of 1850</ref>

Revision as of 10:59, 15 June 2013

Molland (or Molland-Bottreaux) is small village, civil parish, dual ecclesiastical parish with Knowstone and former manor, located on the southern slopes of the foothills of Exmoor in North Devon, England.

The northern boundary of the parish rises to 1,239 feet at Round Hill on Molland Common; its southern border mostly follows the River Yeo (a tributary of the River Mole), and part of its eastern border defines the county boundary with Somerset. The population of the parish was 203 in 2011, down from 397 in 1901.

History

Pre-Norman

A scatter of tumuli near Round Hill provide the earliest evidence of humans in the parish.

Post-Norman

Manor of Molland

Main article: Manor of Molland

The former Domesday Book Manor of Molland, largely co-terminous with the parish boundary, continues in existence as a large private estate under the ownership of Clare McLaren-Throckmorton (b. 1935). In 2009 the estate comprised 6,250 acres, 1,700 of which are accounted for by Molland Moor, and includes 40 residential properties forming most of Molland village, 13 farms, the London Inn public house and additional land lettings.

Other

In 1267 the men of Molland fell foul of royal forest laws as the following record relates concerning Thomas le Shetere of "Gourt" and William Wyme of "Bremley" (both names of farms existing in Molland today) who entered the forest (i.e. of Exmoor)

with bows and arrows with intent to do evil to the venison of the Lord King, and shot one hind and afterwards chased her into the wood at Langcombe outside the metes of the forest and there took her and carried her away to their houses in Molaunde...they were given refuge in the house of John then the chaplain of Hauekrigge, who consented to their evil deeds. The same chaplain came and is detained in prison. And the others have not come...

Some mining for iron and copper took place near Bremley and Gourt from the 17th century until 1894, when the last iron was mined.

Around 1800 the farmer Francis Quartley of Great Champson did much to save and improve the breed of red Devon cattle.

Church of St. Mary

The church is dedicated to St Mary and is of the 15th century. The Georgian interior is very rare in having escaped any Victorian restoration whatsoever. There is a three-decker pulpit, box pews and the roofs are ceiled. The chancel is divided from the nave by an 18th-century screen, and there are many mural monuments at the east end of the north aisle to the Courtenays of West Molland, lords of the manor. The font is Norman and the altar rails are c. 1700. On the tympanum above the chancel screen is affixed a large triptych of decorated wooden panels, the central one dated 1808 displaying the Royal Arms of King George III with a panel on either side listing the Ten Commandments. The arcade forming the southern boundary of the north aisle is in a precarious state, leaning into the north aisle, and is supported by oak buttresses resting on the outside wall.

Mural monument erected in 1684 in Molland Church by Sir John Berry to his father Rev. Daniel Berry (1609-1654)

An elaborate mural monument survives on the north wall of the chancel of the church to Rev. Daniel Berry (1609-1654), vicar of Molland cum Knowstone, erected in 1684 by his son Admiral Sir John Berry (1635-1689), born at Knowstone.

Lecturer of Molland

After her husband's death Margaret Giffard (d.1743), the widow of John V Courtenay (d.1732), the last of the Courtenays of Molland, instituted a lectureship at Molland-cum-Knowstone parish and endowed it with the great tithes of the manor. In his Episcopal Visitation Return of 1779, the then incumbent, Rev. John Froude, stated that the Rev'd Richard Bawden was a Lecturer at Molland. He may have been a descendant of Richard Bawden (1673-1746), of South Molton, mercer and four times mayor. His second wife was Elizabeth Pierce (1691-1745), daughter of Peter Pierce (d.1713), Gent., of Molland.

Mural monuments exist in South Molton Church to both Pierce (d.1713) and to Bawden (d.1746). A mural monument exists in South Molton parish church to the memory of "Rev. James Gould, MA, Lecturer of Molland and Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford", who died aged 56 on 1 November 1793. Thomas Clarke left two houses and 15 acres of land called Leddons, for the relief of the poor and schooling poor children, which were in 1850 producing rental income of about £20 a year.

West Molland Barton

West Molland Barton was the manor house of the manor of Molland Bottreaux, and was thus the residence of the Courtenay family. It is situated about 1 mile west of the parish church, beyond Champson Barton, and though apparently Georgian has Tudor features incorporated at the back. Following the death of John Courtenay in 1732, the last of the male line, the manor of Molland descended via his daughter Mary (b.1687) to her husband William Paston. From their daughter the manor again descended to the Throckmorton family of Coughton Court, Warwickshire, Roman Catholics like the Courtenays. The sixth Throckmorton Baronet assumed the additional surname of Courtenay in 1792 on inheriting the Courtenay estates of Molland, through his mother. However, none of his successors have used this surname. The Throckmortons appear not to have resided at Molland, and by the late 18th century both Great Chapson and West Molland Barton were occupied under leases by the Quartly family, famous for having founded on these two properties the breed of Devon cattle.

Molland Lily

Many of the remote hedgerows within the parish contain isolated clumps of Lilium pyrenaicum, which is not a native British plant, but one which is native to the Pyrenees Mountains and other mountainous regions at a similar latitude. The plant was discovered by the French botanist Antoine Gouan (d.1821) and was officially recorded in 1875. The clumps appear well-established and were possibly introduced several centuries ago, but are in all cases only found on the tops of hedgerows and not in meadows or waste-land. This suggests deliberate planting by human hand. The plant is thought by some to have been introduced by members of a religious community, possibly connected with Hartland Abbey which held the advowson of the church until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, said to have maintained a park within the parish, now memorialized apparently by a private residence named "Abbot's Park" some distance from the church and a farmhouse near the church called "Abbots".

The Molland Lily has been adopted within the parish as the emblem on the banner of the Mothers' Union and was embroidered in 1998 onto the kneelers at the communion rail in the church. However to assign any established religious symbolism to this yellow variety of lily might be difficult to justify as the essential symbolic element of the Virgin Mary's White Lily is its whiteness, denoting purity. Due to the widespread locations of the plant within the parish, beyond the boundaries of such park and unlikely to have spread by natural dispersal of its heavy seeds, it would seem to have been planted at the direction of a person who possessed proprietorial rights over the entire former manor, which suggests direction by a lord of the manor, or possibly by his wife, who wished to beautify the manor. It is thus probable that the original bulb was brought back from the Pyrenees by a former lord of the manor.

Game bird shooting

The shoots of Molland and West Molland are deemed amongst the 25 best shoots in the world by Alex Brant, and are renowned especially for high birds, pheasants and partridge. Of the whole 6,250 acres of the Molland Estate, the West Molland shoot uses 2,000 acres. The shoot was leased to the shotgun manufacturer Holland & Holland from 1998 to 2005, and let-out since 2005 to Bettws Hall Shooting Estates, a commercial shoot operator based in Wales.

References

The full name Molland-Bottreaux was used up to the 19th century, but appears to have been abandoned during the 20th century
^ Harris, Helen (2004). A Handbook of Devon Parishes. Tiverton: Halsgrove. p. 114. ISBN 1-84114-314-6.
Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.792
Acreages per Proof of Evidence of C.E. Dixon, FRICS, managing agent to Molland Estate, 8/4/2009 re Airtricity wind farm proposal
http://www.everythingexmoor.org.uk/encyclopedia_detail.php?ENCid=847 Original source not provided
Pevsner, 2004, p.572
Betjeman, John, ed. (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches; the South. London: Collins; p. 164
Church leaflet: St Mary's Parish Church, Molland: A Short Guide, p.3
Berry, Sir John (1684). Page:BerryMonument1684MollandDevon.JPG – via Wikisource.
Lysons, Magna Britannia (1822), Vol.6, Devon, Parishes: Molland; White's Devon Directory of 1850 stated however: "In 1721, they (great tithes) were vested in trust by Thos. Clarke, for the support of a lecturer (or curate,) and that office is now filled by the Rev. Joshua Bawden, B.A., of South Molton". This appears to be erroneous
"I reside in the Vicarage House at Knowstone being consolidated with Molland. There is a Lecturer at Molland, The Rev'd Richard Bawden, who has the great Tithes of the Parish. He preaches one Part of the Day. I preach one Part of the Day at Creacomb, a very Small Church adjoining Knowstone".Chanter 232A, 25
Per inscribed monument in South Molton Church
White's Devon Directory of 1850
Pevsner, N. (1952) North Devon. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books; p. 123
^ North Devon Journal, 2nd Sept. 2010 "Alison's attempt to solve the mystery of the Molland Lily"
Framed display in church relating to the "Molland Lily", which does however suggest a religious symbolism
Brant, Alex. World's 25 Best Shoots, 2009
Acreage 6,250 stated in Proof of Evidence 8/4/2009 of C.E. Dixon FRICS, managing agent of Molland Estate objecting to proposed Airtricity wind farm adjacent to Molland
Shooting Gazette 12 June 2011
Shooting Gazette 12 June 2007 "High Pheasant Shoots at Molland"
http://www.westmollandshoot.co.uk