Cadhay

It was built in 1550[2] by John Haydon (d.1587), a bencher of Lincoln's Inn,[3] the second son of Richard Haydon (d.1533) of Bowood, Ebford (in the parish of Woodbury),[4] Lympstone and Woodbury in Devon,[5] Mayor of Barnstaple and deputy steward of the Devon lands of the Duchy of Cornwall,[6] whose armorials (Argent, three bars gemeles azure on a chief gules a fess dansettée or)[7] survive on a capital in St Swithin's Church in Woodbury, Devon, where survives the canopy for his intended monument.

[12] He died without progeny and bequeathed it to his great-nephew Robert Haydon (1560-1626), the eldest son of his nephew Thomas Haydon[13] of Bowood and Epforde, and the husband of Joan Paulet (d.1630), a daughter of Sir Amias Paulet (1532-1588), Governor of Jersey and gaoler for a period of Mary, Queen of Scots.

His great-nephew Robert Haydon subsequently added a long gallery, a feature of late 16th century housebuilding, which closed in the south side of the house to form a courtyard.

Sir Simon Jenkins in his book England's Thousand Best Homes described the house thus: "The courtyard...with statues of Henry VIII and his three monarch offspring, Edward, Mary and Elizabeth...is one of the treasures of Devon."

Four statues dating from 1617 survive, standing over the doors in the courtyard, and represent Kings Henry VIII, Edward VI and Queens Mary and Elizabeth I.