Canonteign

The 'canon' in the name refers to the Augustinian canons regular, either of St Mary du Val in Normandy or of Merton Priory, which owned it for several centuries.

In the Domesday Book of 1086 'Teigne' is listed as the 97th of the 99 manors or other landholdings held by Geoffrey de Montbray (died 1093), Bishop of Coutances, and was occupied by his tenant Geoffrey de Trelly, lord of the manor of Trelly in Normandy, today in the département of Manche, France.

In about 1125 it was granted by Jocelyn de la Pomeray to the Canons[4] of the Augustinian Abbey of St Mary du Val, Bayeux, Normandy, as is evidenced by the following charter of the Augustinian Abbey of St Mary du Val, Bayeux, published in 1899 by J. Horace Round in his Calendar of Documents Preserved in France: 918-1206[5]

(No.1455) Charter of Goslin de Pomeria, giving, with consent of Emma his wife, and Henry, Roger, Philip, Goslin, and Ralph his sons, by the hand of Richard (1107–1133) Bishop of Bayeux, to the church of St. Mary du Val (que dicitur “Valle”[6]) to the canons there serving God, according to the rule of St. Augustine, in cloistered community, with all that follows: 60 acres in the parish of St. Omer, etc.

Russell sold it to John Berry (alias Bury), who having been engaged in the Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549, was taken prisoner, carried to London, and executed for treason.

[24] He had two sons: William Davie, eldest son and heir, a Counsellor at Law and a Justice of the Peace for Devon, whose daughter and sole heiress was Martha Davie who married Sir George Cary (1654–1685) lord of the manor of Clovelly, but who left no children.

William Helyar (1559–1645) Doctor of Divinity, Archdeacon of Barnstaple, Devon, and a chaplain to Queen Elizabeth I, who purchased the manor of Coker and obtained a grant of arms from the herald William Camden in 1607: Azure, a cross flory argent between four mullets pierced or.

William Helyar (1745–1820), eldest son and heir, of Coker Court and Sedghill, Wiltshire, Justice of the Peace.

[31] The old manor house was restored in the 1970s and in November 2015 the Grade I listed 16th century "Canonteign Manor House" with 10 acres (4 ha) of garden and parkland was sold to a Chinese investor Liqun Peng[40][41] for £2 million by estate agents Savills, Exeter branch.

[42] In 2015, the manor had been listed as featuring four reception rooms, a long gallery (serving as a gym), 7 bedroom suites, a 2nd floor office & staff flat and a sunken walled garden with swimming pool.

[43] News reports in January 2020 indicated that the owner had attempted in 2019 to obtain consent from the Dartmoor National Park Authority to turn the property into a holiday let for up to 17 guests on a short term basis for no more than 90 days per year.

[46] It was listed as a 10-bedroom home over three floors, with a great hall, library, a huge gym and a self-contained flat.

Canonteign Manor House, a Grade I listed 16th-century building. View of the rear of the central bays
Arms of Berry, lords of the manor of Berry Narbor , Devon: Or, three bars gules [ 10 ]
de la Way or de Via arms: Argent, a chevron sable between three mullets pierced gules [ 17 ]
Bardolph arms Davie of Creedy: Azure, three cinquefoils or on a chief of the last a lion passant gules [ 18 ] These arms were used by John Davie (died 1611/12) and by his son the 1st Baronet [ 19 ]
Mural monument to Dr Edmund Davie (1630–1692) in Exeter Cathedral
Arms of Davie of Canonteign: Azure, a chevron between three mullets pierced or (a difference of Davie of Creedy, Sandford). Dexter top of mural monument in All Saints Church, Clovelly, Devon, to Dr. George Cary (1611–1680), lord of the manor of Clovelly , and representing his daughter-in-law Martha Davie, daughter and heiress of William Davie of Canonteign, and second wife of his eldest son and heir, Sir George Cary (1654–1685) of Clovelly, who erected the monument
Arms of Helyar: Azure, a cross flory argent between four mullets pierced or [ 30 ]