The site of the Courtenays' castle is on the southern slope of a hill overlooking the lovely Axe Valley, 1/2 mile N of Colyton on the Dorset border. Not a defensive site, but eminently suitable for a lavish residence.
A 17th c. stone rubble house stands on the site of Colcombe Castle, possibly incorporating some fabric from the original.
Part of the late medieval domestic range, possibly the kitchen, survives as an outbuilding.
A fragmentary household account survives for 1523--4 when Katherine, Countess of Devon (wife of the 18th Earl), was in residence at Colcombe. Relevant payments to royal performers and for the Courtenay fool's livery are included.
Few other household accounts survive for the influential Courtenay family but entertainers under their patronage appeared elsewhere in the 14th, 15th and 16th c. It is likely that these performers also entertained their patrons at one or more of the Courtenay residences.
A few ruins incorporated into a privately owned farm.
late 13th c. Manor acquired by the Courtenays of Okehampton, Devon, as heirs to the de Reviers, Earls of Devon, builders of the original house.
early 16th c. Henry Courtenay began the rebuilding of the house on a grand scale.
1540 Confiscated by the Crown after the attainder of Henry Courtenay and neglected. Later returned to Edward, 20th Earl of Devon (d 1556).
late 16th c. Purchased by William Pole of Shute, Devon, for his son.
ca. 1635 Sir William Pole largely rebuilt the house.
mid-17th c. Extensive fire damage by Cromwell's troops during the Civil War. The Pole family subsequently relocated to Shute. The remains of the house were converted for farmhouse use and became ruinous.
REED Devon 30, 37, 85, 90--4, 129--32, 135, 194, 222, 224--5, 306--9; Shropshire 1.196 ; Public Record Office: E36/223 ff 28v, 33, 39, 39v
Name | Dates | Titles |
---|---|---|
Courtenay, Edward | 0-1509 | 17th Earl of , Knight , Knight of the Garter |
Courtenay, Edward de | 1357-1419 | 4th Baron , 11th Earl of |
Courtenay, Henry | 0-1469 | |
Courtenay, Henry | 1498-1539 | 19th Earl of , Knight of the , 1st Marquess of |
Courtenay, Hugh de | 1389-1422 | Knight , 5th Baron , 12th Earl of |
Courtenay, Thomas de | 1414-1458 | 6th Baron , 13th Earl of |
Talbot, Anne | 0-1441 | Countess |