Powderham Castle is the home of the Earl and Countess of Devon and is surrounded by a deer park and on the banks of the Exe estuary. It was built by Sir Phil Courtney in 1391 and various additions have been made over the centuries. It has been the home of the same family ever since. The origin of the name Powderham is thought to be Poulderham - a hamlet on a tidal marsh.
Plants growing on walls - I do like the daisy type flower (not sure of the name) which I saw a lot of in Devon.
We went on a tour of the house which lasted about an hour and a quarter and was very informative and entertaining. Sorry no photos as they are not allowed in the house (in some ways it was a relief not to be clicking away for once as I was able to look round the rooms and take far more in). Rooms visited included the Dining Hall, not one library but TWO (my type of house :) ) and also an anteroom stuffed with yet more books, the Music Room, a staircase and hall with rococo style plasterwork containing many birds, animals, flowers, fruits and foliage, a State Bedroom, Marble Hall, Drawing Room, Terrace Entrance and Victorian kitchen. There were some stunning paintings and tales of hidden doors and ghosts.
The Rose Garden
It was lovely to see wild flower areas in the more formal rose garden.
Views of the Deer Park
A few of the herd of 600 Fallow Deer
*D
The Chapel was consecrated in 1861 but the building that houses it is much older - it was once the Grange of the Medieval Castle and dates back to around 1450. The Bench Ends are 16th century and came from the old church at South Huish and were given to the 11th Earl in 1874.
The Walled Garden contains a Pet's Corner
The hedgerow flowers were full of Skipper butterflies
plus a worn Peacock and my first Meadow Brown of the year.
Sadly, we didn't have time to visit the American Woodland Garden and Belvedere Tower.
We did, however, stop off at Dawlish Warren - I was hoping one of the days to visit the Nature Reserve there but we couldn't find the entrance!
