Editing Powderham Castle (section)

==History==
[[File:Powderham Castle.JPG|thumb|Powderham Castle, east front, viewed from the deer park]]
[[File:PowderhamCastle078.jpg|thumb|Powderham Castle, Devon, east (garden) front. The wing projecting forwards at the right contains the second library, built 1766–69. The central tower and flanking single-height bow-windows date from 1710 to 1727. The tower in the corner-angle to the right and the main full-height range behind date from 1390 to 1450.]]

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]] (d. 1377). The Earls of Devon were seated at [[Tiverton 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 as [[Justice of the peace#History|JP's]], [[Sheriff#Term|sheriffs]] and [[Member of parliament|MP's]]. From 1556, with the extinction of the senior line of Courtenay of Tiverton, the Courtenays of Powderham became ''[[de jure]]'' Earls of Devon, and became ''[[de 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 fortified [[manor 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 a [[keep]] and [[moat]], although it did possess a [[Curtain wall (fortification)|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 [[bastion|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.<ref name=pevsner692>Pevsner, p. 692.</ref> 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 by [[Charles Fowler]].<ref name=pevsner692/> 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 architecture|Gothic-style]] windows is the Victorian dining hall, designed by Fowler.

===Wars of the Roses===
During the [[Wars of the Roses]] the enemies of the Courtenay Earls of Devon of [[Tiverton Castle]] were the [[Baron Bonville|Bonville]] family of [[Shute, Devon|Shute]]. Their distant cousin at Powderham, Sir William Courtenay (d. 1485) married Margaret Bonville, daughter of [[William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville]] (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]] (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. On 15 December 1455 the Earl of Devon and Lord Bonville met decisively at the [[Clyst Heath|First Battle of Clyst Heath]] in Exeter, where Bonville was defeated and after which the earl sacked and pillaged Shute.<ref>Orme, Nicholas, Representation & Rebellion in the Later Middle Ages, published in Kain, Roger & Ravenhill, William, (eds.) Historical Atlas of South-West England, Exeter, 1999, pp. 141, 144.</ref>

===Civil War===
During the [[English Civil War|Civil War]] Powderham Castle was garrisoned by 300 [[cavalier|Royalist]] soldiers under the command of Sir Hugh Meredith. In December 1645 a [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] detachment under the command of Sir [[Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron|Thomas Fairfax]] tried, without initial success, to capture it<ref>Mackenzie (1896), pp. 39–40.</ref> but it fell on 25 January 1646 to Col. [[Robert Hammond (English army officer)|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).<ref>French, p. 19.</ref>