Pennymoor Devon hotels:

A Royalist stronghold with 900 years of history and archi- tecture. The 11thC chapel, the oldest complete building in Devon; the armoury containing Civil War armour; the guardroom with fine Tudor furniture and oil paintings; the Great Hall; the Tudor bedroom, 17thC farmhouse, all are shown. The museum contains 19thC domestic and agricultural objects and toys; the maritime exhibition features Henry VIII's favourite warship the 'Mary Rose' as well a 'Titanic' display. Moated garden and 'spooky' tower (57 steps). Bickleigh Castle stands on the banks of the River Exe, with wooded slopes behind it, the stone front of the 14th century Gatehouse contrasting with the cob and thatch of the farmhouse. These buildings, together with the early Norman Chapel, the Coach House and barns, combine to form a home where successive dwellings have existed since Saxon times. Mentioned in Domesday Book as belonging to Alward the Englishman, the manor then appears to have passed into Norman hands-the de Bickleighs first, followed by William de Balfago, and then the Pointingtons. About 1410 the Castle became the property of the Courtenays, Earls of Devon, who, already owning Powderham and Tiverton Castles, besides other estates, regarded Bickleigh Castle as the portion of the younger sons.