The Manatons of Manaton
In 1195, Richard de Manaton laid claim to a tenement called Tresallick in the manor of Climsland Prior in Cornwall. Richard was successful in asserting his claim, for the tenement remained in the possession of the Manaton family in the centuries that followed. Richard is recorded in 1223 with his son George in a suit for lands in the neighboring manor of Climsland. These lands acquired by Richard would form the nucleus of the manor and barton of Manaton in Cornwall to serve as the seat of his descendants.
There are some historians who have assumed that the Manatons took their name from the place now known as Manaton in Cornwall. However, it seems more likely that the opposite is true. The name Manaton is not associated with the lands in Cornwall in early records until after the Manatons arrived. The evidence suggests the family migrated from Manaton in Devon and assumed the surname de Manaton in reference to their place of origin. Manaton is both the name of a parish and of manors within the parish. The manors included within the boundaries are Greater Manaton, Little Manaton, and Houndtor.
In the twelfth century the overlords of the Devon manor of Greater Manaton were the feudal barons of Berry Pomeroy, the family of de Pomeroy. The mesne lord of Manaton was the family of le Dennis, who were not resident in Manaton. And the manor of Greater Manaton was held in demesne by the de Horton family, while other manors in the parish of Manaton including Houndtor by de Hountor and possibly Rixford in possession of Little Manaton.
About the time that we hear of Richard de Manaton in 1195 in Cornwall there are changes taking place at Manaton in Devon. Henry de Pomeroy, baron of Berry Pomeroy, died and his son and heir Henry was in minority. During the minority of Henry Pomeroy, Wiliiam Brewer (d. 1226) purchased the northern portion of the barony of Berry Pomeroy. Brewer was a powerful man who had served as Sheriff of Devon and Cornwall and had been one of the justiciars who administered the kingdom while King Richard I, the Lionheart, was on the Third Crusade.
A feet of fine records Brewer assuming a relationship with the mesne lords of Greater Manaton, le Dennis, in 1198/9. Greator Manaton was held of the sub-manor of Pancrasweek of the head manor of Orleigh. The manor of Pancrasweek was held of 1 knight’s fee in military tenure. Southwick in Germansweek constitued ½ fee while Manaton constituted the other half. Also, at about this time, the manors Houndtor and Little Manaton in the parish of Manaton are sold by the families in demesne to the Langdon family who then held these manors in demesne.
Manaton (Greater) was given by Sir Henry le Dennis, or Dacus, unto Sir Gervais de Horton in frank marriage, with Constance his sister, unto whom Sir Henry de Horton succeeded. Near to this time, In the Devon Eyre of 1238, there appears a Gervase de Manaton in a proceeding to review why the men of Manaton manor no longer make suite to the court of Teignbridge Hundred. This person has been identified as being synonymous with Gervase de Horton. This raises the possibility that Richard de Manaton was of the same family. John de Horton followed Gervias, and John had issue Jone, wife of Henry Bastard, & Melior, wife of John Thorn. Jone died without issue. Greater Manaton then descended through the Thorn family. The Hortons were no longer in possession of Manaton likely by the start of the 1300s.
In Cornwall, Richard de Manaton expands his holdings. Richard is recorded in 1223, with his son George, in a suit for lands in Climsland, the adjoining manor to Climlsand Prior, from which Climsland Prior had been partitioned and where both manors shared the same court. These lands acquired by Richard will come to form the nucleus of the manor and barton of Manaton. Incidentally, the manor of Climsland with its court, belonged to the earldom of Cornwall in the possession of Reginald FitzCount, who was stepson to William Brewer, overlord of Manaton, Devon. Reginald died in 1222 and the earldom reverted to the crown. King Henry III ordered his steward to reverse most of the distributions made by Reginald perhaps giving rise to the settlement of claims.
The precise descent of the Manatons in thirteenth century is not entirely clear. There are references to a Ricardus de Maneton that appear to be in Cornwall in Pleas Before the King or His Justices between 1198 and 1202. Coincidentally, William Brewer, overlord of the Devon manor of Manaton, appears as Sheriff of Cornwall between 1200 and 1202. In 1198, Richard de Manaton was fined for having dogs contrary to the assize of the forest. He was fined again for the same offense in 1199. Later, in 1210, Richard is fined again for pannage of the king that was concealed. Pannage is the practice of releasing livestock-pigs in a forest, so that they can feed on fallen acorns, beechmast, chestnuts or other nuts. Historically, it was a right or privilege granted in royal forests. It is tempting to speculate that the forest was Dartmoor (near Manaton, Devon) or perhaps even Kerrybullok (on the manor of Climsland, Cornwall).
We can assume from records that Richard de Manaton, the founder, had a son George. Richard is mentioned in the Curia Regis rolls in 1200, We last hear of Richard is in 1223, but George is not heard of again. Later in the Cartulary of Launceston Priory there is a grant of land in the tenement in Wideslade in the manor of Climsland Prior formerly held by John de Manaton. The grant is not dated, but probably was made between 1256 and 1261. Witnesses are Thomas de Manaton, Roger de Hamet and Benedict Bile.
On December 26, 1258, the vicarage of St. Ive (the parish neighboring the manor of Manaton at South Hill) being vacant was consolidated with the parsonship at the instance of the rector, Richard de Manaton, provided he reside in person, the endowment of the vicarage being reserved to the bishop in case the rector becomes nonresident. The advowsen belonged to the manor of Trebeigh which supported a prebendary of the Knights Templar from 1150 until 1312, along with the Temple Church on Bodmin Moor, and at one stage the rectoral tithes of St. Ive.
In 1266, there is a record of three knights sent on an errand: Nicholas de Criollis, knight, John de Chausy, Templar and Richard de Maneton, Hospitaller. The name Maneton could purely be a coincidence, but it appears that all three knights may have been connected to the Earl of Cornwall. John de Chausy was a knight on lands in the honour of St. Valery in the tenure of the Earl of Cornwall. And, of course, if it is a Richard of the Manatons of Cornwall, the Manatons are tenured of the Earl of Cornwall on the manor of Climsland. Nicholas de Criolis had accompanied the King to Gascony in 1253, at the same time that Richard, Earl of Cornwall made his crossing to Gascony. Coincidentally, Gervais de Horton was one of the men who accompanied Richard, Earl of Cornwall (brother to the King), to Gascony in 1253. Jollland le Dennys was also part of this company. Both associated with Devon manor of Manaton.
Conjecturally, the succession may have been from Richard de Manaton to George to John and then to Thomas. Richard de Manaton, the priest at St. Ive, would not have left surviving heirs. If Hospitaller knights also maintained a vow of celibacy then Richard de Manaton would also not have left any heirs.
There are at least two accounts of the descent of the Manatons starting from the Middle Ages. One of these is recorded in the Heraldic Visitations for the County of Cornwall from 1530 to 1688. A second account was left by the Manatons in a series of eighteenth century painted panels at Kilworthy House where the Manatons resided. Although the building was modernized there are panels of the Manaton coat of arms inside the building today which may have once ornamented a Hall but were placed in the modern dining room and passage. These panels were the subject of an article appearing in Devon and Cornwall Notes in Queries in 1924, “The Coats of Arms at Kilworthy,” by J.J. Alexander. When Alexander wrote the article he was working from a manuscript prepared by Miss Rachel Evans, the daughter of Mr. Evans, a Unitarian Minister who kept a school at Kilworthy from 1818 to 1836. In 2007, on a visit to Kilworthy House, permission was granted to photograph the panels.
In Alexander’s article, the history of the Manaton line in the panels begins with one Roger Manaton who married an Ilbert. His son, Ilbert de Manaton, married a Carminow. Ilbert was succeeded by Roger Manaton who married a Roscarrock. However, this appears to be an error in either Alexander’s source or his transcription of it. The actual panel reflects that it was Adam Manaton who married a Roscarrock. The Visitation and the panels agree on the Manaton descent starting with Adam. The Visitation does not include the names of the families from early marriages where the panels do. The notes on the pages that follow represent the generations of the Manaton family in descent from William Manaton and the families of intermarriage.