Mentioned in the Domesday Book and located to the south of Devon’s cathedral and county town, Exeter, the ancient Manor of Powderham is situated on the western side of the Exe estuary and is one of the country’s oldest family seats, coming into the Courtenays via the dowry of Edward I’s granddaughter, Margaret de Bohun. After marrying Hugh de Courtenay she bore 13 children, including an Archbishop of Canterbury (William Courtenay) and six knights, two of whom were founder members of the Order of the Garter. The fifth of her eight sons, Sir Philip Courtenay, began building the castle in 1391 and it has remained in the family ever since, recently becoming home to the 28th generation Earl and Countess of Devon. Effectively a fortified manor house, it lies within the former hundred of Exminster, midway between Brunel’s original Great Western mainline railway and the A479, which converge near Teignmouth on the coast. Immediately to the south of the castle the River Kenn flows into the larger Exe.

The Courtenays originally came from the town of the same name in central France but split during the 12th century, when one of the two sons moved to England after an argument with King Louis VII. His immediate descendants then married into the Earls of Devon. The castle was badly damaged during the Civil War when, following a siege, it was taken from the Royalists by the Parliamentarians. Half a century later, the wreckage was repaired by Sir William Courtenay, before being considerably expanded during the 18th and 19th centuries, notably in the 1790s by the neo-classical and neo-Gothic architect, James Wyatt.