Powderham Castle, is located south of Exeter, Devon, England.[1] The Powderham Estate, in which it is set, runs down to the western shores of the estuary of the River Exe between the villages of Kenton and Starcross.
The castle was built between 1390 and 1420 by Sir Philip Courtenay. The Castle remains in the hands of his descendant, the Earl of Devon. It was extensively altered in both the 18th and 19th centuries, most notably by James Wyatt in the 1790s.
It was used as a location in shooting the film The Remains of the Day. It was also used for a recent film comedy, Churchill: The Hollywood Years.
A female tortoise named Timothy lived on the Powderham castle grounds until her death in 2004. Having lived for around 165 years,[2] she was the oldest resident of Great Britain up to that time.
Contravention of the Equality Act 2006
In May 2008 Lord Devon reportedly said the requests for gay civil partnerships at Powderham Castle clashed with his religious beliefs. Devon County Council investigated and has said the licence for hosting civil ceremonies will be revoked. County solicitor Roger Gash said that providers of civil ceremonies could not legally treat people unfairly according to their sexual orientation. He said in an e-mail to Lord Devon: "It seems to me that your refusal to accept civil partnership ceremonies amounts to such discrimination and that this leaves the county council with no option but to revoke the licence for the castle." The castle will be unable to host civil ceremonies from 1 January 2009.[3][4]
References
- ^ There is also an unrelated Powderham Castle near Crondall.
- ^ Powderham Castle Facts & Figures
- ^ Earl banned from holding weddings at his 600-year-old castle for refusing to allow a gay marriage The Daily Mail 30 May 2008 (accessed 26 February 2009)
- ^ Castle ban in 'gay wedding' row BBC News 30 May 2008 (accessed 26 February 2009)
External links
- Link to the BBC news article homophobia
- Map sources for Powderham Castle
- Powderham Castle's website
- CastleUK.net (image source)
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Powderham Castle |
Coordinates: 50°38′34.7″N 3°27′35.9″W / 50.642972°N 3.459972°W
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
