Hartland Abbey

In September 1544 the following lands of "Hartland Priory" were granted, with other lands, by Henry VIII to Thomas Godwyne in fee, for a consideration of £1,122 2s 6d: "the messuage, etc., called Abbottes in the parish of Molland alias Batters Moland (i.e. "Molland Bottreaux"), Devon, in tenure of Anthony Deye and a messuage, etc., in Moore alias Moore Town, in Bedyford (i.e. Bideford) parish, Devon, in tenure of Richard Penhorewod" [3] In March 1547 a royal licence was obtained by James Gunter and Henry Wescott, who presumably had been granted them on dissolution, to alienate the "rectory and advowson of the vicarage of Knoweston and Molland, Devon" to Hugh Culme.

The main ranges of the house were taken down to the level of the cloisters and rebuilt in the Strawberry Hill Gothic style, made popular by Lord Walpole.

He engaged George Gilbert Scott and the building was remodelled to give a formal entrance through a new porch on the north end.

The Hartland Quay Hotel is part of the Estate and this location has also hosted many film crews, one of the earliest being for the Disney 1950 adaptation of Treasure Island.

[7] The Blackpool cottage on the estate featured as Mrs Dashwood's home in the 2008 BBC mini-series Sense and Sensibility[8] and was the location for a 2012 edition of BBC1's Antiques Roadshow.

[10] The estate has also been used for the filming of Rosamunde Pilcher's novel The Shell Seekers, as well as for the failed game show Hercules, which lasted one series.

Numerous other films have been made including a sequence in the BBC Top Gear programme and of the CBBC/Canadian production of children's TV series Malory Towers broadcast in 2020.