[2] Before the Norman Invasion of England, the overlord of Oldland was King Harold Godwinson, who had appointed Alwy as Lord of the area.

[3] After the conquest, King William I of England confiscated the land of Oldland and gave it to the Bishop of Exeter as tenant-in-chief.

Some of the names were Holande, Wholdland, Wooland during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Ouldland after the Restoration of the Monarchy and Eland.

[citation needed] A manor house existed here from 1485, owned by the Newton family, until it was dismantled in 1740 and replaced with a farmhouse, which is now a ruin.

One of the original outbuildings, the large cruciform tithe barn, was converted in the late 1980s into a public house; it is now an Indian restaurant.