Moreton Bay by F.W. Mole — Read

The Manor of Grassmere in Devonshire, abutting on Dartmoor, was the seat of the young Earl Belriven, and his demesne is recorded in the Domesday Survey. Before the Norman Conquest of England, Earls of Belriven held an estate in fee in the lands of Grassmere. After the Battle of Hastings, the then Earl of Belriven swore fealty to King William the Conqueror, to whom he surrendered his lands, both freehold and copyhold, and received them back again from the Conqueror.

The copyhold lands of Grassmere belonged to and were parcel of the Manor, but were not freehold. They were merely an estate at the will of the lord of the Manor at whose will they were expressed to be holden.