POWDERHAM

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)]

"POWDERHAM, a parish in the hundred of Exminster, county Devon, 2 miles N.W. of Starcross railway station, and 7 S.E. of Exeter. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the navigable river Exe, and on the South Devon railway. It was held at the Conquest by William de Ou or Ewe, and came through John of Powderham and the Bohuns to the Courtenays in the reign of Edward III. The inhabitants are chiefly engaged in agriculture. The surface is hilly, and the soil of a loamy nature, except in the uplands, which consist of a red sand. The tithes have been commuted for a rent-charge of £270, and the glebe comprises 93 acres. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Exeter, value £450. The church, dedicated to St. Clement, is an ancient stone structure, with a tower containing three bells. The interior of the church contains a wooden screen, and in the N. aisle is the recumbent figure of a lady, of great antiquity, also a monument to the late Countess of Devon. There is a National school. Powderham Castle, the ancient seat of the Courtenays, Earls of Devon, is built on an acclivity rising from the western bank of the Exe. It has been restored on the site of the Norman castle, described by Leland as a strong fort, with a barbican for the protection of Exehaven. It was garrisoned for Charles I. during the parliamentary war, when it was fortified with 18 pieces of ordnance. The picture gallery contains portraits of Charles I., Queen Henrietta Maria, and Charles II., by Vandyck, besides other paintings. The mansion is surrounded by a well-wooded park, and has a view from the Belvidere tower, which occupies an elevated site above the castle, overlooking Exeter, Dartmoor, &c. The Earl of Devon is lord of the manor."