Mohuns Ottery or Mohun's Ottery ( "moon's awtrey"),Hamilton-Rogers, p.275Gover, J.E.B., Mawer, A. & Stenton, F.M. (1931). The Place-Names of Devon. English Place-Name Society. Vol viii. Part II. Cambridge University Press. p.642 is a house and historic manor in the parish of Luppitt, 1 mile south-east of the village of Luppitt and 4 miles north-east of Honiton in east Devon, England. From the 14th to the 16th centuries it was a seat of the Carew family. Several manorial court rolls survive at the Somerset Heritage Centre, Taunton, Somerset.Somerset Heritage Centre, Taunton, ref DD\HLM/7 Box 7: Deeds for Luppitt, etc. Copies of court roll, 1654–1683 and Leases for 99 years and lives, 1628–1763 for properties holden of the manor of Mohun's Ottery, etc.
The old manor house burnt down in 1868 and was completely rebuilt as a farmhouse, categorised as a grade II listed building since 1955. The ruins of a mid-16th century gatehouse lie to the south of the house; these and the adjoining garden walls, probably built in the mid-19th century at the same time as the farmhouse, are grade II* listed.Image by david_brock on flickr.com The house now has six reception rooms and six bedrooms. Around the courtyard are a cottage, stables and farm buildings. The River Otter forms part of the eastern boundary of the estate. In January 2014 the house with 228 acres was offered for sale for £3.5 million.
Toponymy The word Ottery derives from the River Otter, Old English "oter" ("otter") + "īe" (dative singular of "ēa").Watts (2004), p.455 The first appearance of the place-name is in the Domesday Book (1086) where it is recorded as Otri – one of the twelve places in Devon that had that or a very similar name.Thorn, Caroline & Frank, part 2, Notes 2: "Places Named from Rivers" – "River Otter". Also available online: "Devon introduction" (download page for RTF document). Digital Repository. The University of Hull. p.38. Retrieved 6 May 2016. It appeared in the Book of Fees in 1242 as Otery. In 1247 it was recorded as Otery Flandrensis (Latin "of Flanders") and as Ottery Flemeng in 1279, after the family of William le Flemmeng who held part of the manor between 1219 and 1244.Watts (2004), p.637, under "Upottery", and footnote.
The name later reflected the residency of the Mohun family, appearing in the Feudal Aids in 1285 as Otermoun, and as Oteri Mohoun in an Inquisition post mortem of 1297. In 1453 it was recorded in the Patent Rolls as Mounesotery, and as Moonsotery in the Recovery Rolls in 1630. Tristram Risdon, writing in the early 17th century, referred to it as Mohun's Ottery, while his close contemporary Thomas Westcote, called it Mohuns-Ottery.Thomas Westcote (1845). A View of Devonshire in MDCXXX with a Pedigree of most of its Gentry, edited by George Oliver and Pitman Jones. p.225
Descent
Alsi The Domesday Book of 1086 records that before the Norman Conquest the manor of Otri was held by an Anglo-Saxon thegn known as Alsi. He held several other properties near to Otri, as well as another in Devon, at Dunsford, and probably two more near Dunsford at Lowley and Doddiscombsleigh. He had a large manor at Castle Cary in Somerset and other holdings around this, and single holdings in Dorset and Wiltshire.Thorn, Caroline & Frank. "Devon notes", p.313 (at 23,12)
de Douai In 1086 as recorded in the Domesday Book, the manor of OTRI was the 18th of the 27 Devonshire holdings of Walter of Douai, one of the Devonshire tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror.Thorn, Caroline & Frank, Domesday Book, parts 1 & 2, 23:18 His tenant was a certain Ludo, who held a further five manors from him, namely Little Rackenford, Hetfelle, Luppitt, Greenway (now represented by the synonymous large and ancient farmhouse in the parish of LuppittPevsner, p.544) and Stoch (later Stoke Fleming).Thorn, Caroline & Frank, Domesday Book, part 1, 23:13, 17, 19, 20, 22 The last four manors held by Ludo, but not Little Rackenford, descended to the de Mandeville feudal barony of Marshwood and later to the de Mohun family,Thorn, Caroline & Frank, Domesday Book, part 2 (notes), 23:13 at least one via the Flemings.
de Mandeville It passed at some time, by means unknown, from Walter of Douai to the de Mandeville family, feudal barons of MarshwoodThorn, Caroline & Frank, Domesday Book, part 2 (notes), 23:18 in Dorset.Sanders, p.64, Barony of Marshwood, Dorset A tenant of Geoffrey de Mandeville's manor of Ottery was Reginald de Mohun, as recorded in the Feudal Aid records.
Fleming
The Fleming family at some time held Ottery, which became known as Ottery Fleming. They were also lord of the manor of adjoining Luppitt, which manors thenceforth descended under common ownership for several centuries.Pole, p.128 It is not known what relationship if any this family bore to the Fleming family, named after its likely origins in Flanders, of Bratton Fleming and other manors in North Devon. The descent was as follows: Richard Fleming William I Fleming William II Fleming
Mohun
The de Mohun family succeeded the Flemings as tenants of Ottery, but seemingly still as mesne tenants. The mural monument in Exeter Cathedral of Sir Peter Carew (d.1575) of Mohuns Ottery shows the maunch arms of Mohun quartering Fleming (Vair, a chief chequy or and gules, which if in accordance with the rules of heraldry indicates that the Mohuns married a Fleming heiress. Reginald de Mohun held Ottery under Geoffrey de Mandeville as overlord, as recorded in the Feudal Aid records. The family later superseded the overlord and held this manor as a tenant-in-chief of the king, when the manor became known as Ottery Mohun, with the standard word order for manors with proprietorial suffixes, and later as Mohun's Ottery.
Sir William Mohun of Mohuns Ottery left a daughter and heiress Elinor MohunRisdon, p.38 married (as his first wife) John Carew (d.1324), eldest son and heir of Nicholas Carew (died 1311), feudal lord of Carew Castle in Pembrokeshire and lord of the manor of Moulsford in Berkshire. Elinor had a son and heir Nicholas Carew (d.1323) who married Elinor Talbot, daughter of Richard Lord Talbot, but died without progeny.Pole, p.333 Nicholas Carew (d.1323) bequeathed his estates including Mohuns Ottery to his younger half-brother John Carew (d.1363), the son of John Carew (d.1324) by his second wife Joan Talbot, daughter of Sir Gilbert Talbot.Vivian, p.134
The arms of Mohun (ancient) survive at Mohuns Ottery: "There, on a shield in the spandrel, is carved, amid elegant scroll work and foliage, the old coat-armour of the family — an arm vested in an ermine maunch, the hand grasping a golden fleur-de-lys; a bearing, which, for some reason unknown, John de Mohun, Baron of Dunster, who died in 1330, abandoned for the afterward well-known coat, adopted also by the Abbeys of Newenham and Bruton — a cross engrailed sable, on a field or".Hamilton Rogers (1888), p.286
Carew
The Carew family succeeded to the Mohun family as holders of Ottery, but never changed the proprietorial suffix. The descent of Mohuns Ottery from Sir William Mohun (younger son from his second marriage of Reginald II de Mohun of Dunster) was as follows:
John I Carew (d.1324)
John I Carew (d.1324), who married firstly Elinor Mohun, heiress of Mohuns Ottery. He was the eldest son and heir of Nicholas I Carew (died 1311), feudal lord of Carew Castle in Pembrokeshire and lord of the manor of Moulsford in Berkshire. He survived his first wife and remarried to Joan Talbot, daughter of Sir Gilbert Talbot, by whom he had issue. It is believed that the now empty arched recess in Luppit Church may originally have housed his effigy.
Nicholas II Carew (d.1323) Nicholas II Carew (d.1323), son (by his father's first wife Elinor Mohun) and heir apparent, who married Elinor Talbot, daughter of Richard Lord Talbot, but died without progeny. He bequeathed his estates including Mohuns Ottery to his younger half-brother John Carew (d.1363), the son of John Carew (d.1324) by his second wife Joan Talbot, daughter of Sir Gilbert Talbot.
John II Carew (d.1363) John II Carew (d.1363), younger half-brother, the son of John Carew (d.1324) by his second wife Joan Talbot, daughter of Sir Gilbert Talbot. He was a great soldier and fought at the Battle of Crécy in 1346. He married twice: Firstly to Margaret de Mohun, daughter of John IV de Mohun (d.post 1322),Vivian, p.134, "John Mohun, Lord of Dunster" (sic). Clarified on p.565, pedigree of Mohun eldest son and heir apparent of John III de Mohun, 1st Baron Mohun (1269–1330), feudal baron of Dunster, whom he predeceased, having married Christiana Segrave (d.1341), daughter of William Segrave, and having fought at the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322 and died some time after in Scotland.Maxwell-Lyte, Sir H.C. (1909). A History of Dunster Vol 1. p.39 Margaret's eldest brother was Sir John V de Mohun, 2nd Baron Mohun, KG, (c.1320–1375), the last in the senior male line of Mohun of Dunster.Vivian, p.565, pedigree of Mohun Secondly he married Elizabeth "Corbit" (Corbet).
Sir Leonard Carew (1343–1369) Sir Leonard Carew (1343–1369), son and heir by his father's first wife Margaret de Mohun. He married Alice FitzAlan, daughter of Sir Edmund FitzAlan de Arundel (c.1327-1376/82)Vivian, p.134, younger brother of "Richard FitzAlan, 13th Earl of Arundell" (sic) by his wife Sybil de Montacute, a younger daughter of William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury. Sir Edmund FitzAlan was the bastardised eldest son of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel (c.1306/13-1376) by his first wife Isabel le Despenser (1312-c.1376-7).Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, new ed., volume I, page 243 As the Earl obtained an annulment of his first marriage on the basis of both parties having been under-age, Sir Edmund FitzAlan was bastardised and thus prevented from inheriting the earldom.
Thomas Carew (1361–1430) Thomas Carew (1361–1430), son and heir, "a valiant knight" who served under King Henry V at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. He married Elizabeth Bonville, daughter of Sir William Bonville (d.1408) of Shute, Devon, by his wife Margaret Damerell.Vivian, 1895, p.101
Nicholas III Carew (d.1447) Nicholas III Carew (d.3 May 1447Pole, p.130, regnal date "25 Henry VI" (1/9/1446-31/8/1447); Hamilton-Rogers p.288), eldest son and heir, who married Joane Courtenay (1411-post 1450), a daughter of Sir Hugh Courtenay (1358–1425) of Haccombe in Devon and of Boconnoc in Cornwall, MP and Sheriff of Devon, a grandson of Hugh Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon (1303–1377) and grandfather of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (d.1509). Joane Courtenay's mother (her father's second wife) was Phillipa Archdekne, daughter and heiress of Sir Warren Archdekne of Haccombe in Devon.Vivian, pp.134,245; Pole, p.249 Joane Courtenay was the eventual sole-heiress of her mother, and was the heiress of 16 manors, which she divided amongst her younger Carew sons.Risdon, p.140 She survived her husband and re-married, by royal licence dated 5 October 1450, to Sir Robert Vere (d.1461), younger brother of John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford (1442–1513).Nina Green, 2012 , quoting: Richardson, Douglas, Magna Carta Ancestry, 2nd ed., Vol. I, (Salt Lake City, 2011), pp.401-3 He had by his wife Joane Courtenay three daughters and five sons, as follows: Thomas Carew (bc 1425 - d.1471Pole, p.130, regnal date "11 Edward IV" (4 March 1471 – 3 March 1472); Hamilton-Rogers p.288, although quoting Pole as his source, gives it incorrectly as "1461") of Mohuns Ottery, eldest son and heir. "Disobliging his mother (having undutifully given her a blow)",Nina Green, quoting "Kimber, E. and R. Johnson, The Baronetage of England, Vol. II, London, 1771, p.220" he was excluded from his maternal inheritance.