King of the castle
But for Geoffrey Gilbert and his family, it's as real as the British winter is cold — and a humbling reality, at that.
There are certainly no knights in shining armour or characters from the Brothers Grimm at the property today.
For Geoffrey and his wife Angela, it's simply 'home'.
"This would have been the butler's or the steward's quarters," said Geoffrey, sitting in the east wing of the property, drinking tea made on the Aga. "But it's just our kitchen now," he smiled.
There is nothing palatial about the leaflets scattered on the average-sized kitchen table, or the linoleum flooring.
The room is simply homely, cluttered with objects of interest and love.
The National Trust visitors, who curiously peer in through the kitchen window, just broaden the smile on Geoffrey's face.
He is obviously delighted, and used to sharing his home with the thousands of visitors a year who pour in to tour the National Trust property.
Geoffrey, 72, a retired insurance broker, grew up in the castle with his parents, Commander Walter Raleigh Gilbert, his mother Joan, and his siblings.
He went to the former Wolborough Hill school in Newton Abbot before going on to work in insurance in London (and a two-year stint in Birmingham from 1960 to 1962).
He also completed National Service in the Royal Navy from 1956 to 1958.
He and Angela, daughter of war hero Maj Gen Anthony Deane-Drummond, met each other while crewing a yacht off Itchenor in 1974 and were married in 1975 at Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.
They returned to set up home in Compton in 1984 and today live alone together in the sprawling but intimate castle, in the hope one of their children will one day return to fill their shoes.
Eldest son Humphrey, or 'Fri' to friends, is 32 and a diving instructor and photographer in Egypt.
Their daughter Arabella, 30, and son Walter, 26, both work in London's film industry — they are some of the last in the long line of the Compton Gilbert generations.
Fondly recalling times when their children were young and the world of Hollywood descended on the castle grounds, Geoffrey said: "They came here to film Sense and Sensibility — the house was featured as John Willoughby's estate.
"We had been out to the Devon County Show that day and we came back and they were still filming (for a 10-second shot).
"Kate Winslet was so cold she was crying. She was meant to be crying anyway but they were real tears.
"Arabella was around then and that's when she became interested in film."
Their home, the fortified manor house in the village of Compton, has remained in the Gilbert family since the 1300s.
It was once home to Sir Humphrey Gilbert — a pioneer of English colonisation, a Devon soldier to Queen Elizabeth I, and half-brother of aristocrat and famous explorer Sir Walter Raleigh.
Together the family, who also built the original Greenway, have helped put Devon on the world map.
Adrian Gilbert received patent for the discovery of the North West Passage in the 1500s; Sir Humphrey Gilbert received patent for the discovery of strange lands in 1576 and founded the colony of Newfoundland in 1583; Sir John Gilbert II accompanied Sir Walter Raleigh to Guiana in 1595; Raleigh Gilbert was one of eight grantees noted for colonisation of America; Humphrey Gilbert was a Spitfire pilot in the Battle of Britain.
The list goes on — and on — and it all started here at their homeland in South Devon.
But the preservation of the manor house which holds the history of this important Devonian family would not be standing today were it not for Geoffrey's parents.
"It would not be in this condition if it were not for my parents. They saved this place from ruin — that's how I see it," said Geoffrey, proudly looking up at the facade of the castle.
His parents rescued the property from ruin after the family deserted the land in 1750 to move to Sandridge on the River Dart.
Born in London in 1938, Geoffrey vividly remembers the early days of moving to, and growing up in, the property.
He said: "My father came back in 1931 and bought the ruins of the estate.
"It was hard work for them and I remember the first winter it was 37°F (2.8°c) inside.
"He rescued it and rebuilt the hall, which was a huge job, and he and my mother handed it over to the National Trust in 1951 on agreement the family could reside in the house in perpetuity.
"They were friends of the Elmhirsts who saved Dartington Hall too, which was rebuilt."
Recalling with fondness those early days, Geoffrey said: "My father was in the navy during the war, but after it ended he carried on restoring the house.
"I remember the hall was flat on the ground, the west wing had no roof, no windows, and no floors and we had peacocks roosting in the house.
"I was very much aware of our heritage because it was part of our everyday life.
"We had visitors who would pay sixpence to come in and we were also very much aware of the rebuilding process because each room was painstakingly restored one at a time.
"We would move from one room to another. The room where we slept was called the Owl Room because an owl flew in to the room one night.
"I remember one of the restoration projects was a watch tower where I was sent down a gardrobe shaft.
"I must have been about eight years old and I found an old bottle down there with the family coat of arms on it (a squirrel).
"It was said to be one of the oldest known bottles at that time. It was great fun growing up here."
People of all walks of life would often arrive at the house for tea.
"Princess Margaret just turned up one day when my father was in his boiler suit — it was April 1 and he thought it was a joke until he saw her," he laughed. "I remember it was quite embarrassing.
"Agatha Christie understood the connection with my family and hers and she used to take me out.
"She was great fun and she loved people and children. I was also convinced her husband Max Mallowan was Poirot."
Now retired, Geoffrey has time to spend at the property, tending their 35 Jacob sheep flock and the pear and apple orchards, or at their Thurlestone holiday home.
He loves sharing his home with visitors.
"It's wonderful when visitors come here and I let blind visitors touch some of the textures on the antique furniture. The shapes are wonderful — they love it," he said.
But he said Compton would not be what it is today without the help of the 'wonderful' National Trust volunteers and he supported the trust's search for more volunteers in Devon.
Despite being in the blood line of some of the country's greatest explorers, adventurers and war heroes, and still holding the family seat of a 600-year-old Devonian family, Geoffrey remains humble, with a child-like glint in his eye.
"But I am proud," he said, "this wouldn't be what it is today without my mother and father."
And as he stood at the main portcullis entrance, looking down the long sweep of driveway to the village, he said: "But for me it is home and full of happy memories."
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