LANDREYNE

The "Lan" part of Landreyne is Cornish and signifies that this was once a holy place. No superficial evidence of a church or chapel exists today. This map from around 1900 shows a chapel and the LIDAR (Laser Imaging, Detection, and Ranging) scan possibly shows a building platform close by that may show the location. Entries for antiquities shown on early Ordnance Survey maps frequently relied upon oral tradition passed down over many generations.

For a homestead to have its own chapel it indicates a higher status than that of the usual tenement. This is borne out by an entry in "The Book of Spoure" that indicates that the armigerous Wallis family lived here.

In the early days of the Norman Conquest, and probably in earlier times, the land occupied by the tenement of Battens was part of the larger Manor of Landreyne. Landreyne itself was part of the even larger Manor of Rillaton that comprised large tracts of land to the east of the River Lynher. The land to the west of the River Lynher was part of the Manor of Carnedon (Caradon) Prior, some of which was controlled by Launceston Priory. Landreyne was under the control of Lord William Wallis until he was dispossessed of his lands and title for a misdemenour. The Book of Spoure shows the arms of Trebartha impaled by Wallis and records:

"Lord Wallis was a Baron, who being attainted, Lost boath his estate, and honour; his ancient Inheritance and Mansion house was Landerine, in this Parish of Northill and also Penhole was annext to itt besides many other Large possessions - they were a Famely of great antiquity and honour.
"John Trebartha ... marryed Christian, the Daughter of William Lord Wallis, in the Reign of King Edward the Third [1327-1377]".

Who Lord Wallis was, and the action leading to his fall from grace, has been lost. No reference has been found to definitively establish when Landreyne came into the possession of the powerful Courtenay family of Powderham in Devon but it was likely as a result of the attainder against Lord William Wallis. In his book "Trebartha - The House By The Stream" Bryan Latham suggests this happened in 1349. Over time the Manor of Landreyne was broken up and this probably started with the Courtenay ownership that lasted until 1545.

Note: The modern accepted spelling of Landreyne has had many phonetic variants over time including: Landerine, Landrends, Landyar, Landrene and others. Similarly Battens has other variations such as Baten, Battyn and Batyns.