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Ottar 8

Name

Summary

Ottar 8 held four estates in south Devon TRE assessed at 2¼ hides and with a value of 40s.

Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

Holder 1066

Shire	Phil. ref.	Vill	DB Spelling	Holder 1066	Lord 1066	Tenant-in-Chief 1086	1086 Subtenant	Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value	Conf.	Show on Map
Shire Devon	Phil. ref. 17,26	Vill Loventor	DB Spelling Otre	Holder 1066 Ottar 'of Ford'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Judhael of Totnes	1086 Subtenant Ralph de La Pommeraye	Fiscal Value 0.50	1066 Value 0.25	1086 Value 0.50	Confidence B	Map
Shire Devon	Phil. ref. 17,28	Vill Lupton	DB Spelling Otre	Holder 1066 Ottar 'of Ford'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Judhael of Totnes	1086 Subtenant Ralph de La Pommeraye	Fiscal Value 0.25	1066 Value 0.25	1086 Value 0.50	Confidence B	Map
Shire Devon	Phil. ref. 17,56	Vill Ford	DB Spelling Otre	Holder 1066 Ottar 'of Ford'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 Judhael of Totnes	1086 Subtenant Ralph de La Pommeraye	Fiscal Value 1.00	1066 Value 0.50	1086 Value 0.50	Confidence C	Map
Shire Devon	Phil. ref. 19,10	Vill Haccombe	DB Spelling Otre	Holder 1066 Ottar 'of Ford'	Lord 1066 -	Tenant-in-Chief 1086 William Chevre	1086 Subtenant Robert 'the man of William Chevre'	Fiscal Value 0.50	1066 Value 1.00	1086 Value 1.50	Confidence D	Map
Totals								Fiscal Value	1066 Value	1086 Value

Profile

Two of Ottar 8’s estates were at Loventor and Lupton in the hills and valleys of south Devon, the former lying on a tributary of the River Hems, itself a tributary of the River Dart, and the latter being on the peninsula between the Dart estuary and Tor Bay. They were about 6 miles apart, both passed to a subtenant of Judhael of Totnes (Judhael 1) that Exon (320b2, 320b4) identifies as Ralph de la Pommeraye (Ralph 29); and, given the relative rarity of the name Ottar, it is very probable that Ottar 8 held both of them TRE. 

Another and slightly larger estate of 1 hide, at Ford on a minor tributary of the Kingsbridge Estuary and about 11½ miles to the south-west of Lupton, also passed to a subtenant of Iudichael called Ralph; and, although neither DB nor Exon identify him as Ralph de la Pommeraye in this instance it is reasonable to presume that Ford too had probably been held TRE by Ottar 8.

The attribution of Ottar’s fourth estate is slightly less straightforward. It was one of two estates called Hacome in DB and can be identified as what is now Netherton, in the lower part of the small valley between Haccombe and the Teign Estuary and about 6 miles north-north-east of Loventor (Thorn & Thorn 1985: DB 19,10 Notes). This is close enough for it to have also been held by Ottar 8 TRE yet it had passed to William Chevre (William ) by 1086. However, William was the brother of Ralph de la Pommeraye, Iudichael’s subtenant on at least two of Ottar 8’s former estates, and William and Ralph often shared lands between them (ibid.: Ch19 Notes). On balance, it is more likely than not that this Hacome was held TRE by Ottar 8.

A minute holding held TRE by Ottar 10 was probably more than 20 miles from the nearest estates of Ottar 8, and passed to Robert, count of Mortain (Robert 9) after the Conquest. Although the personal name Ottar was rare, it is highly unlikely that Ottar 10 was the same person as Ottar 8.

Bibliography

C. Thorn and F. Thorn, eds., Domesday Book 9: Devon (Chichester, 1985), DB Ch19 Notes; 19,10 Notes.