The history department at Plymouth is currently engaged on a two-year project at Powderham Castle, Devon, in partnership with the Historic Preservation program at the University of Pennsylvania. The project has several strands including community projects, field studies - commencing in June 2017 - to investigate the historic fabric and material culture of the castle and surrounding landscape, cataloguing the castle library; producing a database of archived documents relating to the castle and Courtenay family (held in the castle and at local and national archives), and,the development of new heritage interpretation content and platforms (including digital media).
Powderham Castle and the Courtenays are part of Devon's long history, our project focuses on the later eighteenth century and the transformation of the castle into a Georgian country house. Both our research activities and outcomes are intended to enrich the understanding of the castle and Powderham estate for the benefit of the local community with local groups, schools and the international members of the Courtenay Society involved.
Archival work is already underway and the first field study is scheduled for June 2017 when a group of staff and students from Plymouth and UPenn will be working at Powderham.
For more information contact Daniel Maudlin or James Daybell.
