Essays on the development of the post-medieval house, its contents and decoration.During the last forty years, South-West England has been the focus of some of the most significant work on the early modern house and household in Britain. Its remarkable wealth of vernacular buildings has been the object of muchattention, while the area has also seen productive excavations of early modern household goods, shedding new light on domestic history. This collection of papers, written by many of the leading specialists in these fields, presents a number of essays summarizing the overall understanding of particular themes and places, alongside case studies which publish some of the most remarkable discoveries. They include the extraordinary survival of wall-hangings in a South Devon farm, the discovery of painted rooms in an Elizabethan town house, and a study of a table-setting mirrored on its ceiling. Also considered are forms of decoration which seem specific to particular areas of the West Country houses. Taken together, the papers offer a holistic view of the household in the early modern period. John Allan is Consultant Archaeologist to the Dean & Chapter of Exeter Cathedral; Nat Alcock is EmeritusReader in the Department of Chemistry, University of Warwick; David Dawson is an independent archaeologist and museum and heritage consultant. Contributors: Ann Adams, Nat Alcock, John Allan, James Ayres, Stuart Blaylock, Peter Brears, Tania Manuel Casimiro, Cynthia Cramp, Christopher Green, Oliver Kent, Kate Osborne, Richard Parker, Isabel Richardson, John Schofield, Eddie Sinclair, John R.L. Thorp, Hugh Wilmott,

IntroductionThe development of the vernacular house in South-West England, 1500-1700 - Nat AlcockThe transformation of the building stock of Exeter, 1450-1700 - Richard Parker and John AllanThe appearances of Godolphin, 1300-1630 - John SchofieldBoiling furnaces, smoking chambers and malt kilns in West Country households - Peter BrearsThe polychrome-decorated plank-and-muntin screen at Marker's Cottage, Broadclyst, Devon, and its context - Eddie SinclairThe polychrome-decorated plank-and-muntin screen at Marker's Cottage, Broadclyst, Devon, and its context - Isabel RichardsonThe interior decoration of an Elizabethan merchant's house: the evidence from 41-2 High Street, Exeter - John R.L. ThorpSgraffito-decorated and painted plaster on Devon fireplaces - Ann AdamsNorth Devon relief-decorated ceramics in the household - Cynthia CrampThe stained hangings at Yarde Farm, Malborough, south Devon - James AyresCulinary artefacts in West Country households, 1550-1700: form, function and nomenclature - Peter BrearsThe archaeology of the West Country bronze foundries - Stuart BlaylockCast bronze cooking pots in England, 1500-1720 - Christopher GreenTable glass in the West Country home, c. 1500-1700 - Hugh WillmottPortuguese faience in South-West England - Tânia Manuel CasimiroDinner on the ceiling: the 17th-century plasterwork at 144 Fore Street, Exeter - Peter BrearsPots and texts: understanding pots in use - Oliver KentPresenting an Elizabethan interior: the reinterpretation of St Nicholas Priory, Exeter - Kate OsbornePresenting an Elizabethan interior: the reinterpretation of St Nicholas Priory, Exeter - John Allan