Nutwell in the parish of Woodbury on the south coast of Devon is a historic manor and the site of a Georgian neo-classical Grade II* listed mansion house known as Nutwell Court. The house is situated on the east bank of the estuary of the River Exe, on low-lying ground nearly contiguous to the water, and almost facing Powderham Castle similarly sited on the west bank. The manor was long held by the powerful Dynham family, which also held adjacent Lympstone, and was according to Risdon the site of their castle until John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham (1433–1501), the last in the male line, converted it into "a fair and stately dwelling house".
Nutwell Court in the parish of Woodbury, Devon. The "exquisitely precise and austere neo-classical mansion" rebuilt in 1799. West front (River Exe front)
Nutwell Court, built circa 1800 by Francis Augustus Eliott, 2nd Baron Heathfield (1750-1813), on the site of an earlier house
The newly rebuilt Nutwell Court as painted by Rev. John Swete (d.1821) during his travels of May 1799. Viewed from River Exe estuary
"Old Nutwell, seat of late Sir Francis Drake". Undated watercolour by Rev. John Swete (died 1821) made before 1799 when the present neo-classical house was built in its place
Lympstone is a village and civil parish in East Devon in the English county of Devon. It has a population of 1,754. There is a harbour on the estuary of the River Exe, lying at the outlet of Wotton Brook between cliffs of red breccia. The promontory to the north of the harbour is topped by a flat pasture, Cliff Field, that is managed by the National Trust and used for football matches and other local events.
Lympstone river frontage from Cliff Field: Peter's Tower and the traditional washing poles on the beach are visible
