Devonshire April May 17

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Later in the summer, engineering work will
start on the Belvedere Tower, with support
from Natural England. The works program
will focus on shoring up the brickwork,
before inserting a roof for the first time
in over 50 years.
Powderham, of course, offers much more
than a fabulous family day out. For centuries,
Powderham has been a centre for community
and the remarkable interiors, gardens and
grounds were designed specifically for
entertaining on a grand and generous
scale. These magical spaces are available
for hire, allowing many the opportunity to
make Powderham their home for a day;
whether to celebrate their wedding, a party
or simply to wow family, friends or clients.
The recent development of accommodation
in the Georgian Stables House, plus a bridal
suite in the Castle, allows guests to sleep on
site, surrounded by history.
As well as private hire, Powderham’s majestic
setting suits large scale events. Over 50,000
enjoyed BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend last
summer, as Powderham rocked to Ellie
Goulding, Chase and Status, Mumford &
One of the guided tours at
Powderham castle
Sons, and local band Coldplay. The event
cemented Powderham as a leading live music
venue, and 2017 welcomes Bryan Adams, Olly
Murs, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra,
as well as Little Mix. July’s Let’s Rock festival
features chart toppers of the 80s, including
Level 42, Belinda Carlisle, Jason Donovan
and Toyah, while September’s Lockdown
Festival welcomes leading dance acts of today,
including Dizzee Rascal, Basement Jaxx and
Sigma. Within the Castle, Powderham offers
its inspired program of classical performances
– Music in the Castle.
Historic documents on display at the castle
Powderham will also host events for many
other tastes: Toby Buckland’s spring Garden
Festival is followed by the Crash Box Club
car rally in July; August welcomes the Spirit
of the Exe Festival, the South West Coffee
Festival, and the Powderham Country Fair,
and the return of open air theatre and cinema;
October sees the return of the Powderham
Food Festival, and the Michaelmas fair is in
November. Thereafter, the Castle and Park
will enjoy a well-earned rest, while attentions
turn to more rural pursuits across the Estate,
including the classic Devon pheasant and
partridge shoot and a busy Point-to-Point
racing season at Blackforest Lodge. Beyond
its busy schedule of activities and events,
Powderham hosts and supports an array
of local enterprises that provide a variety
of healthy, local produce and employ many
local people. Powderham is an example of a
sustainable, small-to-medium-sized family
business that has been in operation for nearly
700 years – a fact of which it is very proud.
Notable Powderham-based
businesses include:
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The Estate produces wheat, barley,
oats and oil seed rape, as well as
venison from the fallow deer in the Deer
Park. It also manages extensive and
varied woodlands, and is responsible
for maintaining much of beautiful
countryside along the western edge of
the Exe Estuary.
••
Pasture is let to livestock farmers,
who produce a variety of excellent
meat, including England’s earliest (and
arguably finest) spring lamb.
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The Exe Estuary foreshore grows the
famous Exe Estuary mussels as well as
a variety of other delicious shellfish.
••
Popular activities on the Estuary include
moorings, the award winning River Exe
Café, as well as the Starcross Yacht
Club, which was founded in 1772 and is
England’s oldest yacht club.
••
The Country Store complex includes the
General Trading Company, the House of
Marbles, the Powderham Farm Shop,
the Orangery Restaurant and the Urban
and Rural Plant Centre.
Toby Buckland at his spring Garden Festival
••
At
Stile
Farm can be found Stile Farm Feeds
alongside Matford Arable Systems and
a busy horse livery business.
••
At the Powderham Sawmills are
the award winning ASH Ironworks,
Steve Kingdon’s woodcrafts, Poppy’s
Flowers, and the brilliant Tim Shepherd,
a specialist in time-lapse plant
photography.
Over and above all of this activity, Powderham
remains what it has always been since it was
built - the home of the Courtenay family.
Such a variety of activities, coupled with
the support and goodwill that Powderham
enjoys from Devon and beyond, allows the
family to hope that this can long continue,
and they look forward to the privilege of
preserving this historic and ancient place
for centuries to come.
Editor - if you haven't visited Powderham,
already, there are many reasons to visit
the castle and enjoy what's on offer. We
all wish Charlie and AJ a long and
successful tenure of this most historic
piece of the Devonshire landscape.
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