| Powderham Castle | |
|---|---|
 Gatehouse | |
 Interactive map of Powderham Castle | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Gothic |
| Location | Exminster,Devon, United Kingdom |
| Construction started | 14th century (medieval core) |
| Renovated | 18th century |
| Owner | Courtenay family |
| Website | |
| Official Site | |
Powderham Castle is a fortifiedmanor house inExminster, Devon, 6 miles (9.7 km) south ofExeter and1⁄4 mile (0.4 km) north-east of the village ofKenton, where the main public entrance gates are located.[1] It is a Grade Ilisted building. The park and gardens are Grade II* listed in theNational Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[2]
It is on flat ground on the west bank of theRiver Exe estuary where it is joined by its tributary the River Kenn. On the opposite side of the Exe is the small village ofLympstone. Starting with a structure built sometime after 1390, the present castle was expanded and altered extensively in the 18th and 19th centuries. The castle is the seat of theCourtenay family,Earls of Devon.
Themanor of Powderham is named from the ancientDutch wordpolder, and means "the hamlet of the reclaimed marsh-land".
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 ofHugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon (d. 1377). The Earls of Devon were seated atTiverton Castle 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 asJP's,sheriffs andMP's. From 1556, with the extinction of the senior line of Courtenay of Tiverton, the Courtenays of Powderham becamede jure Earls of Devon, and becamede facto Earls from 1831 when the title was confirmed to them in law. They had obtained the right to sit in the House of Lords when created Viscounts in 1762.
The original building on the site was a fortifiedmanor house; 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 akeep andmoat, although it did possess acurtain wall and yard on the east side (now the rose garden) as shown in the 1745 engraving by Buck. Leland mentioned abarbican orbulwark 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.[3] Many castle-like elements on the west front (main entrance) were added in the 19th century. The gatehouse was built between 1845 and 1847 to a design byCharles Fowler.[3] 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 threeGothic-style windows is the Victorian dining hall, designed by Fowler.
During theWars of the Roses the enemies of the Courtenay Earls of Devon ofTiverton Castle were theBonville family ofShute. Their distant cousin at Powderham, Sir William Courtenay (d. 1485) married Margaret Bonville, daughter ofWilliam Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (1392–1461), which confirmed Powderham as a Bonville stronghold against the Earls of Devon. On 3 November 1455Thomas de Courtenay, 5th Earl of Devon (1414–1458), at the head of a private army of 1,000 men, seized control ofExeter 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 theFirst Battle of Clyst Heath in Exeter, where Bonville was defeated and after which the earl sacked and pillaged Shute.[4]
During theCivil War Powderham Castle was garrisoned by 300Royalist soldiers under the command of Sir Hugh Meredith. In December 1645 aParliamentarian detachment under the command of SirThomas Fairfax tried, without initial success, to capture it[5] 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 bySir William Courtenay, 2nd Baronet (d. 1735).[6]
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,screens passage and kitchens, which are now represented in the same orientation by the ante-room, Staircase hall, Marble hall and Victorian kitchen.
The Marble Hall, named from its black and whitemarble 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 woodenminstrels' gallery overhanging the great hall.[7]
The Marble Hall is used as a sitting room which has an 18th-century fireplace. Contents of the room include a 14 feet (4.3 m) highlongcase clock made about 1745 byWilliam Stumbels ofTotnes; a large 17th-centuryBrussels tapestry with rustic farm-yard scenery afterTeniers above the fireplace; and a 1553 carved woodenover-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.
The house has a mixture of medieval features and fine 18th-century decoration. Upstairs there is anarwhal tusk, sometimes said to be aunicorn horn able to detect poison.[8]
William Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon (d. 1888) installed a heraldic chimneypiece in the Dining Hall in memory of his grandfatherReginald Courtenay (1741–1803),Bishop of Exeter from 1797 to 1803, and of his parents. The Dining Hall was built by his fatherWilliam Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (d. 1859) between 1847 and his death in 1859, and the 11th Earl completed the internal decorations in 1860, including thelinen fold panelling containing several dozen ancestral heraldic shields.[9] It is copied from the medieval chimneypiece in theBishop's Palace, Exeter, installed c. 1485 byPeter Courtenay (d. 1492)Bishop of Exeter, a younger son of Sir Philip Courtenay (1404–1463) of Powderham.[10] The armorials on the lowest row are from left to right:
A further copy of the Courtenay Exeter Bishop's Palace chimneypiece can be found, in Italian grey marble, atKentwell Hall in Suffolk, bearing the arms of the Clopton and Logan families.
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 aGrade I listed building since 1952,[13] and recognised as an internationally important structure.[14] The staircase, hall, music room and master bedroom of the house were used as locations for the 1993 filmThe 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 theCourtenay Compendium, a 14th-century manuscript discovered in Powderham.[15] The castle's licence to host wedding ceremonies was revoked with effect from 1 January 2009 afterHugh Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon, refused a gay couple use of the building to hold theircivil partnership ceremony because it did not fit with his religious beliefs.[16] On 29 September 2009, the Earl auctioned some items from the castle atSotheby's inLondon. The sale raised £1,013,638, which was used to pay off debts.[17] He denied that the auction was prompted by the loss of revenue from weddings.[18] 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.[19]
In 2017Mary Berry visited and filmed an hour-long programme as part of her 4-part series,Mary Berry's Country House Secrets, broadcast onBBC One.[20]
Powderham Castle features as the photographic location of the rebranding of theHistoric 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.
On 2 August 2004, Irish boy bandWestlife held a concert for theirTurnaround Tour supporting their albumTurnaround.
Rock bandStatus Quo played a concert at Powderham Castle in 2003, in support of theirRiffs album.[21] The band played there again in 2009, alongside other performers includingABC,Go West,Kid Creole and the Coconuts,Howard Jones,Nik Kershaw,Cutting Crew,Doctor and the Medics,Altered Images andMarc Almond.[22]
Powderham Castle hostedBBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in May 2016, featuringEllie Goulding,Coldplay,The 1975,Craig David,Nick Jonas, andIggy Azalea.[23] Since the Big Weekend, Powderham has hosted concerts by artists such asNoel Gallagher's High Flying Birds,Little Mix,Bryan Adams andTom Jones.
In 2019 Powderham Castle started running its own Food Festival (Powderham Food Festival) which has food and drink stalls from across the West Country and attracts a large and diverse audience of visitors.
As a result of theCOVID-19 pandemic, Powderham started hosting a Christmas light trail and experience (named Christmas at the Castle).[24]
In 1924 theGreat Western Railway 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.
Media related toPowderham Castle at Wikimedia Commons
50°38′34.7″N3°27′35.9″W / 50.642972°N 3.459972°W /50.642972; -3.459972