Powderham Castle is a fortified

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals ...

situated within the parish and former manor of Powderham, within the former hundred of Exminster, Devon, about south of the city of

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

and mile (0.4 km) north-east of the village of Kenton, where the main public entrance gates are located. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. The park and gardens are Grade II* listed in the

National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

. It is situated on flat, formerly marshy ground on the west bank of the

River Exe The River Exe ( ) in England rises at Exe Head, near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It flows for 60 mile ...

estuary where it is joined by its tributary the River Kenn. On the opposite side of the Exe is the small village of Lympstone. Starting with a structure built sometime after 1390, the present castle was expanded and altered extensively in the 18th and 19th centuries. The castle remains the seat of the

Courtenay family The House of Courtenay is a medieval noble house, with branches in France, England and the Holy Land. One branch of the Courtenays became a Royal House of the Capetian Dynasty, cousins of the Bourbons and the Valois, and achieved the title o ...

, Earls of Devon.

Origin of the name

The manor of Powderham is named from the ancient Dutch word

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains ...

, and means "the hamlet of the reclaimed marsh-land".

History

At some time after 1390 the medieval core of the present structure was built by Sir Philip Courtenay (d. 1406), the 5th or 6th son of

Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon Sir Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon (12 July 1303 – 2 May 1377), 2nd Baron Courtenay, feudal baron of Okehampton and feudal baron of Plympton, played an important role in the Hundred Years War in the service of King Edward III. Hi ...

(d. 1377). The Earls of Devon were seated at

Tiverton Castle Tiverton Castle is the remains of a medieval castle dismantled after the Civil War and thereafter converted in the 17th century into a country house. It occupies a defensive position above the banks of the River Exe at Tiverton in Devon. Desc ...

until 1556, and their cousins of this cadet line known as "Courtenay of Powderham" continued to exist in parallel, not always on amicable terms, as prominent county gentry, arguably the leading and most prestigious gentry family of Devon, actively engaged in the local administration of Devon as JP's,

sheriffs A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly trans ...

and MP's. From 1556, with the extinction of the senior line of Courtenay of Tiverton, the Courtenays of Powderham became ''

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legall ...

'' Earls of Devon, and became ''

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

'' Earls from 1831 when the title was confirmed to them in law. They had, however, obtained the right to sit in the House of Lords when created Viscounts in 1762. The original building on the site was a fortified

, the appellation "castle" was added probably no earlier than the 17th century. The building has never been a true castle, that is to say with a

keep A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...

and

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

, although it did possess a curtain wall and yard on the east side (now the rose garden) as shown in the 1745 engraving by Buck. Leland mentioned a

barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe In the Middle A ...

bulwark Bulwark primarily refers to: * Bulwark (nautical), a nautical term for the extension of a ship's side above the level of a weather deck * Bastion, a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification The Bulwark primarily refer ...

in this area, but these were demolished as part of the 18th-century landscaping works designed to provide an uninterrupted view from the lower rooms towards the Exe Estuary.Pevsner, p. 692. Many castle-like elements on the west front (main entrance) were added in the 19th century. The gatehouse was built between 1845–47 to a design by

Charles Fowler Charles Fowler (17 May 1792 – 26 September 1867) was an English architect, born and baptised at Cullompton, Devon. He is especially noted for his design of market buildings, including Covent Garden Market in London. Life Education and earl ...

. The tall rectangular structure beyond with a tower to the north is essentially the original fortified manor house. The projection from the lower storey to the north in lighter stone with three Gothic-style windows is the Victorian dining hall, designed by Fowler.

Wars of the Roses

During the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...

the enemies of the Courtenay Earls of Devon of

were the Bonville family of Shute. Their distant cousin at Powderham, Sir William Courtenay (d. 1485) married Margaret Bonville, daughter of

William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (12 or 31 August 1392 – 18 February 1461), was an English nobleman and an important, powerful landowner in south-west England during the Late Middle Ages. Bonville's father died before Bonville reached ...

(1392–1461), which confirmed Powderham as a Bonville stronghold against the Earls of Devon. On 3 November 1455

Thomas de Courtenay, 5th Earl of Devon Thomas de Courtenay, 5th/13th Earl of Devon (3 May 1414 – 3 February 1458) was a nobleman from South West England. His seat was at Colcombe Castle near Colyton, and later at the principal historic family seat of Tiverton Castle, after his m ...

(1414–1458), at the head of a private army of 1,000 men, seized control of

and its castle and laid siege to Powderham for two months. Lord Bonville attempted to raise the siege and approached from the east, crossing the River Exe; he was unsuccessful and was driven back by the earl's forces. On 15 December 1455 the Earl of Devon and Lord Bonville met decisively at the First Battle of Clyst Heath in Exeter, where Bonville was defeated and after which the earl sacked and pillaged Shute.

Civil War

During the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

Powderham Castle was garrisoned by 300

Royalist A royalist supports a particular monarch as head of state for a particular kingdom, or of a particular dynastic claim. In the abstract, this position is royalism. It is distinct from monarchism, which advocates a monarchical system of gov ...

soldiers under the command of Sir Hugh Meredith. In December 1645 a Parliamentarian detachment under the command of Sir

Thomas Fairfax Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 161212 November 1671), also known as Sir Thomas Fairfax, was an English politician, general and Parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War. An adept and talented command ...

tried, without initial success, to capture it but it fell on 25 January 1646 to Col. Robert Hammond. The castle was badly damaged in the assault and remained, in places, open to the elements until the early 1700s when it was repaired by Sir William Courtenay, 2nd Baronet (d. 1735).

Description of interior

The house is centred on the 14th- and 15th-century thickly-walled double-height rectangular building formerly comprising from north to south the withdrawing room,

great hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages, and continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the gr ...

, screens passage and kitchens, which are now represented in the same orientation by the ante-room, staircase hall, marble hall and Victorian kitchen.

Marble Hall

The Marble Hall, named from its black and white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

floor, was completed in 1755 and forms the lower and southern part of the former medieval great hall, which was divided by an internal wall in the early 18th century into staircase hall and marble hall. Originally it was double height, as high as the staircase hall to the north, before the ceiling was added in the 18th century to form bedrooms above. At the same time the staircase was inserted into the upper part to form the staircase hall. The screens passage was located in this end of the hall. The timber screen which formed the north side of the screens passage was demolished at the time of the partition, but three medieval Gothic-arched doorways through the south stone wall of the screens passage into the kitchen remain. A single more flatly arched doorway remains high up on the south wall, which formed the entrance to the wooden minstrels' gallery overhanging the great hall. The Marble Hall is used as a sitting room which has an 18th-century fireplace. Contents of the room include a high

longcase clock A grandfather clock (also a longcase clock, tall-case clock, grandfather's clock, or floor clock) is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower or waist of the case. Clocks of this style are common ...

made about 1745 by William Stumbels of Totnes; a large 17th-century

Brussels tapestry Brussels tapestry workshops produced tapestry from at least the 15th century, but the city's early production in the Late Gothic International style was eclipsed by the more prominent tapestry-weaving workshops based in Arras and Tournai. In 147 ...

with rustic farm-yard scenery after

Teniers Teniers is a Dutch language surname. It may refer to: *Abraham Teniers (1629–1670), Flemish painter *David Teniers the Elder (1582–1649), Flemish painter *David Teniers the Younger David Teniers the Younger or David Teniers II (bapt. 15 De ...

above the fireplace; and a 1553 carved wooden over-mantel decorated with the Courtenay arms. Two portraits of the present Earl of Devon and his wife hang on the north wall above the wooden panelling.

Other

The house has a mixture of medieval features and fine 18th-century decoration. Upstairs there is a

narwhal The narwhal, also known as a narwhale (''Monodon monoceros''), is a medium-sized toothed whale that possesses a large " tusk" from a protruding canine tooth. It lives year-round in the Arctic waters around Greenland, Canada and Russia. It is ...

tusk, sometimes said to be a

unicorn horn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since Classical antiquity, antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn (anatomy), horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicor ...

able to detect poison.

Memorial chimneypiece in Dining Hall

William Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon (d. 1888) installed a heraldic chimneypiece in the Dining Hall in memory of his grandfather Reginald Courtenay (1741–1803),

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. Since 30 April 2014 the ordinary has been Robert Atwell.

from 1797 to 1803, and of his parents. The Dining Hall was built by his father

William Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon William Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (19 June 1777 – 19 March 1859) was a 19th-century British aristocrat and politician, who sat in the Commons before entering the House of Lords after succeeding to the title of Earl of Devon in 1835. Life ...

(d. 1859) between 1847 and his death in 1859, and the 11th Earl completed the internal decorations in 1860, including the

linen fold Linenfold (or linen fold) is a simple style of relief carving used to decorate wood panelling with a design "imitating window tracery", "imitating folded linen" or "stiffly imitating folded material". Originally from Flanders, the style became ...

panelling containing several dozen ancestral heraldic shields. It is copied from the medieval chimneypiece in the Bishop's Palace,

, installed c. 1485 by Peter Courtenay (d. 1492)

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. Since 30 April 2014 the ordinary has been Robert Atwell.

, a younger son of Sir Philip Courtenay (1404–1463) of Powderham. The armorials on the lowest row are from left to right: *Arms of Bishop Reginald Courtenay:

See of Exeter The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is part of the Provin ...

impaling Courtenay (grandfather of 11th Earl of Devon) *Arms of William Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (d. 1859), impaling the arms of his wife Hariet Leslie Pepys: Quarterly 1st & 4th: ''Sable, on a bend or between two nag's heads erased argent three fleurs-de-lis of the field'' ( Pepys, Baronets of Juniper Hill); 2nd & 3rd: ''Argent, on a bend azure three buckles or'' ( Leslie, Earls of Rothes). (Parents of 11th Earl of Devon). The supporters are two of the Bohun swans, which bird was used by that family, from which came the wife of

(d. 1377), heiress of Powderham, as a heraldic badge. In the spandrels are two dolphins, a badge of the Courtenays. These arms can be seen on a brass plate on their monument in Powderham Church, itself a copy of the 15th-century Courtenay monument in Colyton Church,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. *Arms of 11th Earl of Devon impaling arms of his wife Elizabeth Fortescue. A further copy of the Courtenay Exeter Bishop's Palace chimneypiece can be found, in Italian grey marble, at Kentwell Hall in Suffolk, bearing the arms of the Clopton and Logan families.

Modern times

Powderham Castle from the Rose Garden, southeast

Since 1745 the second library has extended the chapel wing, the two low rooms either side of the clock tower have been converted to bow-window fronts, and the castellated gatehouse tower, which might have blocked this view, has been demolished. In addition, the harbour on the River Kenn, which here flows into the River Exe, has been altered by landscaping. Powderham Castle has been a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

since 1952, and recognised as an internationally important structure. The staircase, hall, music room and master bedroom of the house were used as locations for the 1993 film '' The Remains of the Day''. The house was also used as a setting for a recent film comedy, '' Churchill: The Hollywood Years''. On 3 December 2008, the earl auctioned off the

Courtenay Compendium The Courtenay Compendium (now Copenhagen, Royal Danish Library, Acc. 2011/5) is a medieval English manuscript containing a miscellany of historical texts. It contains three blocks of texts. The first concerns British and English history. The secon ...

, a 14th-century manuscript discovered in Powderham. The castle's licence to host wedding ceremonies was revoked with effect from 1 January 2009 after

Hugh Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon Hugh Rupert Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon, DL (5 May 1942 – 18 August 2015), styled as Lord Courtenay until 1998, of Powderham Castle in Devon, was a British peer, landowner, and surveyor. Origins He was the son and heir of Charles Christop ...

, refused a gay couple use of the building to hold their

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

ceremony because it did not fit with his religious beliefs. On 29 September 2009, the Earl auctioned some items from the castle at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The sale raised £1,013,638, which was used to pay off debts. He denied that the auction was prompted by the loss of revenue from weddings. Subsequently, the Earl handed control of the estate to his son, Charles, Lord Courtenay, now the 19th Earl of Devon. The licence to host weddings, civil ceremonies and civil partnerships at the Castle has now been reinstated. In 2017 Mary Berry visited and filmed an hour-long programme as part of her 4-part series, ''Mary Berry's Country House Secrets'', broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. Powderham Castle features as the photographic location of the rebranding of the Historic Houses Association in 2018. In 2018 the Castle opened up new rooms, and previous private family-only areas as part of two new guided tours, the first time the tours have been altered since opening in the 1950s.

Concerts

On 2 August 2004, Irish boy band

Westlife Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporar ...

held a concert for their

Turnaround Tour The Turnaround Tour was the fourth concert tour by Irish pop band Westlife. The tour covered the UK and Europe in 2004 seen by 490,000 fans making £12,000,000, the tour was also supposed to appear in China, Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand ...

supporting their album ''Turnaround''. Rock band

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. ...

played a concert at Powderham Castle in 2003, in support of their '' Riffs'' album. The band played there again in 2009, alongside other performers including ABC, Go West,

Kid Creole and the Coconuts Kid Creole and the Coconuts is an American musical group created by August Darnell with Andy Hernandez and Adriana Kaegi. Its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular a mix of disco and Latin American, Caribbean, a ...

, Howard Jones,

Nik Kershaw Nicholas David Kershaw (born 1 March 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Kershaw came to prominence in 1984 as a solo artist. He released eight singles that entered the Top 40 of the UK Singles Chart during th ...

, Cutting Crew, Doctor and the Medics,

Altered Images Altered Images are a Scottish new wave/ post-punk band who found success in the early 1980s. Fronted by singer Clare Grogan, the group branched into mainstream pop music, having six UK top-40 hit singles and three top-30 albums from 1981 to 1 ...

and

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. ...

. Powderham Castle hosted

BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend (R1BW) (previously known as One Big Weekend, for 2012 as Radio 1's Hackney Weekend, and for 2018 as BBC Music's Biggest Weekend) is a British music festival run by the BBC's radio station. It is held once a year, in a ...

in May 2016, featuring

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. Her career began when she met record producers Starsmith and Frankmusik, and she was later spotted by Jamie Lillywhite, who became her manager and Artists and ...

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...

, The 1975,

Craig David Craig Ashley David (born 5 May 1981) is a British singer and songwriter who rose to fame in 1999, featuring on the single " Re-Rewind" by Artful Dodger. David's debut studio album, ''Born to Do It'', was released in 2000, after which he has re ...

, Nick Jonas, and Iggy Azalea. Since the Big Weekend, Powderham has hosted concerts by artists such as Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds,

Little Mix Little Mix are a British girl group, composed of group members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards. Jesy Nelson was originally part of the group before she left in 2020. After becoming the first group to win the British v ...

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

and

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

In popular culture

In 1924 the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

named a 4-6-0 'Castle class' locomotive "Powderham Castle"; the main GWR line from Exeter to Plymouth runs alongside the castle grounds and passengers can see the castle from the train as they pass.

References

Sources

*Cherry, Bridget & Pevsner, Nikolaus, ''The Buildings of England: Devon'', London, 1991, pp. 692–5 *French, Daniel (Ed.), ''Powderham Castle: Historic Family Home of the Earls of Devon'', 2011. Visitor guidebook.

External links

*

* {{coord, 50, 38, 34.7, N, 3, 27, 35.9, W, region:GB_type:city, display=title Castles in Devon Country houses in Devon Grade I listed buildings in Devon Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Devon Historic house museums in Devon Powderham