BARLEY MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The TNA/MDR record is explicitly titled BARLEY MANOR and places the manor in Exeter St Thomas, Devon. Independent local and archaeological sources identify Barley House and the associated Barley estate in St Thomas, and place Bowhill within the manor of Barley. The archival rental, survey, court, account and estate records supplied for the Buller collection are consistent with this manorial estate.
Representative point: 50.718463, -3.556050
Basis: documented_manor_house — Barley House, Isleworth Road, Exeter, is the documented historic seat associated with the Barley estate and manor. Historic England gives its National Grid Reference as SX 90250 92138, corresponding to approximately 50.718463, -3.556050.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The evidence establishes the location of the manor house and parts of the historical estate but does not provide a sufficiently clear, source-backed perimeter for the whole manorial extent. A 1526 reference identifies 32 acres at Barley Parks north of the Dunsford road, while Bowhill is independently stated to lie within the manor of Barley; these demonstrate that the manor comprised land beyond the house site but are insufficient to reconstruct its complete boundary. The modern parish, ward, Barley Valley Park and present-day estate or development boundaries must not be substituted for the historical manorial boundary.
Sources:
- The National Archives, BARLEY MANOR, F276432: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F276432 — Registry record identifying the exact manor as BARLEY MANOR in Exeter St Thomas, Devon.
- Historic England: Barley House, List Entry 1103889: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1103889 — Documents Barley House at Isleworth Road, Exeter, with National Grid Reference SX 90250 92138; this is the best surviving precise location for the historic manorial centre.
- Planning Data: Barley House, listed building 1103889: https://www.planning.data.gov.uk/entity/31561237 — Provides the corresponding geographic point POINT (-3.55605 50.718463).
- Devon and Dartmoor HER: Bowhill House, MDV15883: https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?resourceID=104&uid=MDV15883 — States that Bowhill lies within the manor of Barley in St Thomas parish and that the owners subsequently lived at Barley House.
- Exeter Memories: Bowhill House: https://exetermemories.co.uk/em/_organisations/bowhill.php — Connects Bowhill with Barley House and the Barley estate, describing the descent of the estate through the Carew, Sawle and Graves-Sawle families.
- The Monks and Their Tenants, chapter 9: https://content.webfactorysite.co.uk/6732-chapter-9%201.pdf — Cites 1526 land at Barley Parks, comprising 32 acres north of the road to Dunsford, demonstrating a documented component of the historical Barley lands.
- The National Archives, rental with other manors, 1700, 2065M/SS/5/27: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N16431358 — Archival research lead for the Buller manorial rental series containing Barley Manor material.
- The National Archives, survey with other manors, 1742, 2065M/SS/5/30: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N16432591 — Archival research lead for the 1742 survey series, potentially containing parcel or extent information, but the online catalogue record does not expose a boundary.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No documented complete manor boundary or map was located in the accessible online evidence.
- The representative point is the documented Barley House site, not the centre of the entire manorial territory.
- Barley Valley Park, the historic parish of St Thomas, and modern administrative boundaries are not treated as the manor boundary.