Apart from a short period of forfeit to the Crown after Edward's execution, the castle has remained in the Seymour family ever since, although it was abandoned in the late 17th century when the fourth baronet moved to Wiltshire.

After lying in ruins for a hundred years, in the 19th century the castle became celebrated as an example of the "picturesque", and it became a popular tourist attraction, a status which it retains today—aided by its reputation of being haunted.

Between 1980 and 1996 the castle was subjected to extensive archaeological excavations that clarified much of its history and overturned beliefs regarding its age and cause of destruction.

[4] It would have been one of the last traditional personal castles to be built in the country, located on a favoured site within the Pomeroy's deer park.

Due to the extensive remodelling that took place later, very few archaeological remains survive to show the exact placement of these original buildings.

[7] It was not until 1558, after complex property dealings, that his son by his first marriage, Lord Edward Seymour, gained title to the castle.

[8] Between 1560 and 1580 he removed the earlier Pomeroy buildings inside the castle walls and erected a new four-storey house in the fashionable style of the period at the north end of the courtyard, the shell of which survives mostly to its original height.

[10] In the late 16th century there was concern at the threat of a Spanish invasion and he received a commission as Colonel and he was twice Sheriff for Devon.

It indicates that the house then contained around fifty rooms, although it is likely that the buildings were in poor repair, due to the vast expense Seymour had incurred in the Royalist cause.

It had been described as a ruin in 1701, when John Prince, who had known the castle in its heyday, said in his book The Worthies of Devon:...The apartments within were very splendid; especially the dining room, which was adorn'd, besides paint, with statues and figures cut in alabaster [...] 'tis now demolished, and all this glory lieth in the dust...With the rise of the "picturesque" aesthetic at the end of the 18th century, the castle, by then the haunt of jackdaws and overgrown with ivy, was considered to be a romantic ruin.

[13] In around 1830 some of the crumbling walls were repaired by the Duke of Somerset, one of the first examples of architectural conservation work on a ruined building, probably prompted by concern over the safety of visitors.

[16] The excavations uncovered no indication of either of these supposed fates, but did show evidence that the buildings were systematically stripped of re-usable materials shortly after demolition.

She is thought to have been the daughter of a Norman lord and is said to wander the dungeons mourning the loss of her baby, which she murdered as it was sired by her own father.

[18] The White Lady, said to be the spirit of Margaret Pomeroy, is claimed to haunt the dungeons, having been imprisoned there by her sister, Eleanor, who was jealous of her beauty.

[20] The castle has appeared in a BBC Timewatch documentary "White Slaves and Pirate Gold", and the British television show Most Haunted.