Powderham Castle

The building has never been a true castle, that is to say with a keep and moat, 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 or bulwark 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.

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.

On 3 November 1455 Thomas de Courtenay, 5th Earl of Devon (1414–1458), at the head of a private army of 1,000 men, seized control of Exeter 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.

In December 1645 a Parliamentarian detachment under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax tried, without initial success, to capture it[6] 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.

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.

Contents of the room include a 14 feet (4.3 m) high longcase clock made about 1745 by William Stumbels of Totnes; a large 17th-century Brussels tapestry with rustic farm-yard scenery after Teniers above the fireplace; and a 1553 carved wooden over-mantel decorated with the Courtenay arms.

[11] 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, at Kentwell Hall in Suffolk, bearing the arms of the Clopton and Logan families.

[22] The band played there again in 2009, alongside other performers including ABC, Go West, Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Howard Jones, Nik Kershaw, Cutting Crew, Doctor and the Medics, Altered Images and Marc Almond.

[23] Powderham Castle hosted BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in May 2016, featuring Ellie Goulding, Coldplay, The 1975, Craig David, Nick Jonas, and Iggy Azalea.

[24] Since the Big Weekend, Powderham has hosted concerts by artists such as Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Little Mix, Bryan Adams and Tom Jones.