 A group of volunteers began raising funds to restore the house in 2003, after it was a finalist in the BBC's "Restoration" programme, missing out on the funding that went with the top prize.The Bampfylde family were bequeathed the Manor of Poltimore in 1298 by William Pontyngton, a canon of Exeter Cathedral.There is no record of where the early manor house was located, but it is believed to have been situated in or near the village.