as part of the 18th-century landscaping works designed to provide an uninterrupted view from the lower rooms towards the Exe Estuary. Many castle-like elements on the west front (main entrance) were added in the 19th century. The gatehouse was built between 1845–47 to a design by Charles Fowler. The tall rectangular structure beyond with a tower to the north is essentially the original fortified manor house. The projection from the lower storey to the north in lighter stone with three Gothic-style windows is the Victorian dining hall, designed by Fowler. Wars of the Roses During the Wars of the Roses the enemies of the Courtenay Earls of Devon of Tiverton Castle were the Bonville family of Shute. Their distant cousin at Powderham, Sir William Courtenay (d. 1485) married Margaret Bonville, daughter of William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (1392–1461), which confirmed Powderham as a Bonville stronghold against the Earls of Devon. On 3 November 1455 Thomas de Courtenay, 5th Earl of Devon (1414–1458), at the head of a private army of 1,000 men, seized control of Exeter and its castle and laid siege to Powderham for two months. Lord Bonville attempted to raise the siege and approached from the east, crossing the River Exe; he was unsuccessful and was driven back by the earl's forces. On 15 December 1455 the Earl of Devon and Lord Bonville met decisively at the First Battle of Clyst Heath in Exeter, where Bonville was defeated and after which the earl sacked and pillaged Shute. Civil War During the Civil War Powderham Castle was garrisoned by 300 Royalist soldiers under the command of Sir Hugh Meredith. In December 1645 a Parliamentarian detachment under the command of Sir Thomas Fairfax tried, without initial success, to capture it but it fell on 25 January 1646 to Col. Robert Hammond. The castle was badly damaged in the assault and remained, in places, open to the elements until the early 1700s when it was repaired by Sir William Courtenay, 2nd Baronet (d. 1735). Description of interior The house is centred on the 14th- and 15th-century thickly-walled double-height rectangular building formerly comprising from north to south the withdrawing room, great hall, screens passage and kitchens, which are now represented in the same orientation by the ante-room, staircase hall, marble hall and Victorian kitchen. Marble Hall The Marble Hall, named from its black and white marble floor, was completed in 1755 and