“On the 15th May 1595 Queen Elizabeth granted the Manor, Burrough and Parks of Crediton, along with her demesne lands of Knowle, to be held of the Manor of East Greenwich at the yearly rent of £146-8-3, to William Killigrew and his heirs.“
Killigrew, needing to assess his new fiefdom, was subsequently responsible for commissioning the eminent surveyor, John Norden, to draw up his Terra of 1598. An 18th century copy of this is held in the Devon Studies Library and a facsimile (of this copy?) in the Bodleian. 
The elegant Terra is far more than just a map, as it names occupants and lists their holdings and rents. Thus we can learn, & perhaps speculate further, about Knowle Farm. The house is shown as two unnamed buildings located just above the compass arrow in the image (obtained by my friend Glenn Bearne).
At that time the occupant of ‘Knowle Farm’ was one Robert Clase who, according to the Terra, farmed over 50 acres in and around Knowle. Amongst his holding were parts of each of the four fields we still own today. Field names have changed: Clase’s ‘Great Meade’ has become our ‘Broad Meadow’, with almost identical boundaries. He had a wooded area around his house, corresponding to part of our current orchard. All this engenders a strong sense of continuity lasting, perhaps unbroken, over four centuries. It makes me keener than ever to pass on our holding in it’s entirety.
Also interesting is the family name of Robert Clase. It’s the same name – give or take flexible spelling mores – as that of Thomas Classe, the medieval ravisher of two centuries before.
The Terra names the occupants of the various houses in what was obviously a thriving community, colour coding the field boundaries of each. Clearly The Barton, on a different site from today’s incarnation, was the largest landholder at the time. Stowford, of the snowy walls, is the only other named dwelling in the village. The roads and farm lanes still follow almost identical paths today.
An large image of the full, double page map of Knowle can be seen here.
ref: Bodleian Library. A Terra and perfecte description of the hundred of Crediton alias Kirton in the Countye of Devon made in the yeare of Christe 1598 by John Norden. Scale 1:3,168. Reduced facsimile, published 2000
