Earl of Devon bans gay marriages at his castle
Pastor Dale Morgan
Earl of Devon bans gay marriages at his castle*
By Andrew Pierce
Last Updated: 10:18PM BST 29/05/2008
The Earl of Devon, whose castle was a Royalist garrison in the English
Civil War, is under siege from gay rights campaigners after banning same
sex civil partnerships at his stately home.
The 18th Earl, the master of Powderham Castle which is one of the oldest
family houses in England, refused a request from two men to conduct
their marriage ceremony behind his battlements.
Lord Devon, whose family motto is Floret Virtus Vulnerata which
translates roughly as "Virtue Flourishes (although) Wounded", said: "I
am a Christian and therefore it [homosexuality] is objectionable to my
Christian religion."
To avoid breaching the 2007 Sexual Orientation Regulations he has banned
all civil marriage ceremonies whether they are gay or straight.
"In order to stay on the right side of the law we have decided to do
away with hosting civil ceremonies altogether at Powderham Castle. We
are not the only place that has come across this issue," he said.
The decision will cost the castle, on the banks of the Exe, up to
£200,000 a year in lost revenue.
It was one of the most popular venues for civil marriages in Devon where
the Earl, as a Vice-Lord Lieutenant of the county, represents the Queen
at official engagements.
But Lord Devon now faces an investigation by the Treasury, which has
granted Powderham Castle "conditional" exemption from inheritance tax
because it is open to the public.
Its regulations say that to obtain exemption the new owner must agree to
look after the property and allow public access to it and that if the
owner fails to fulfil their side of the bargain "the exemption is
withdrawn".
Ben Summerskill, the chief executive of the gay rights organisation
Stonewall, said: "We shall certainly be asking the Treasury about Lord
Devon's inheritance tax exemption.
"The inheritance tax regulations appear to suggest clearly that it
should be withdrawn if his premises are not accessible to all members of
the public without exception."
The house, built by Sir Philip Courtenay in 1390, has had a colourful
history with one Earl executed for treason.
The ninth Earl – who was responsible for the addition of a music room
with the largest carpet in the world – fled to France in 1811 after
being accused of sodomy.
The Powderham website says in spite of being hounded into exile in
France and America on account of his homosexuality, he was "dearly
loved" by his tenants.
The castle was also home to Timothy the Tortoise, who died in 2004 aged
160 after earning the official title of Britain's oldest pet.
The venerable creature, who served at sea during the Crimean War and was
present at the Siege of Sebastopol as a ship's mascot, was found to be a
girl in 1926.
Mr Summerskill added: "We do think the Earl's approach is rather sad
given the family history. We hope at some point he will enter the 21st
century, even if only at the speed of Timothy the Tortoise."
Lord Devon, however, insists that the complaint to the Treasury is
unfounded as he is not banning gays from visiting the house or its
grounds but only from celebrating their civil partnerships under his roof.
Until last December, the country's 1,700 registrars of births, marriages
and deaths were permitted to opt out of civil partnership ceremonies on
religious grounds.
However, their employment status changed with the introduction of the
Statistics and Registration Act. Now designated as local government
workers, they must carry out town hall orders.