Richard Duke (c. 1515 – 1572) was a lawyer and served as Clerk of the Court of Augmentations which position assisted him in acquiring large grants of former monastic lands in the West Country following the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

On 5 February 1540 he made a larger acquisition when he purchased the lands of the dissolved Otterton Priory near the south Devon coast, which comprised a large part of the country surrounding the estuary and lower course of the River Otter.

He made Otterton Priory his home and it continued as the principal residence of the Duke family, which held the estate until 1786 when it was sold to Denys Rolle of Bicton,[7] thus making him eventually the largest landowner in Devon.

Its income in 1548 was £7 6s 4d, swelled by endowments subsequently received, including a stable and garden in the city and property in Lydney and Ripple, Worcestershire.

He died intestate but had settled his lands on trustees in 1562 of which trust the beneficiary at his death was his nephew Richard II Duke (died 1607), the son of his brother John Duke "of Pinne", (now Pinn Barton Farm about 3 miles NE of Otterton) who thus inherited Otterton and his other lands.

In 1584 Sir Walter Raleigh asked "Mr. Duke, of Otterton", to sell him "Hayes", the property inherited in the 15th century from the Poer or Power family.

I am resolved if I cannot 'ntreat yow, to build att Colliton but for the naturall disposition I have to that place being borne in that howse I had rather seat my sealf ther then any wher els thus leving the matter att large unto Mr Sprint I take my leve resting reedy to countervail all your courteses to the vttermost of my power".Duke refused his offer, according to Polwhele "not choosing to have so great a man for so near a neighbour".

An elaborate stone monument sculpted with strapwork decoration, showing the prominent date "1589" exists against the east wall in the south transept of Otterton Church.