colour scheme
Timeline
Golden Age
The years following the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 saw a spectacular rise in the city’s fortunes; between c. 1680 and 1730 it reached its summit of prosperity. There was a rapid growth in population from around 9-10,000 in 1640 to around 13,000 by the 1680s accompanied by much house-building, especially in the suburbs. In 1700 the city was the fourth or fifth largest in Britain. The basis of prosperity was the flourishing Devon cloth industry, and the development of a major new market for it in the Netherlands, especially at Rotterdam.
Detail of the door overhead
Woolcombers at work (reverse)
Woolcombers at work (obverse)
Street names
Cloth seals
Tuckers Hall
Reconstruction of Thomas Pennington’s foundry
The Pennington foundry under excavation
Remains of a bell–casting
Belair, Topsham Road
The staircase ceiling at Belair
A detail of the staircase at Belair
Staircase at the Good Shepherd Hospital
A series of delftware tiles
The engraving and marks on the Bow Meeting dish
The alms dish of the Bow Meeting
A series of tenterhooks
A woodblock inset for a tillet block
Detail of the Buck Brothers’ view of Exeter from St Thomas
The Buck Brothers’ South West View of Exeter
Stukeley’s map of Exeter of 1723
Stukeley’s prospect of Exeter
Ogilby’s road map of the Exeter to Dorchester road
Plaster ceiling and cornice from the Half Moon Hotel, Exeter, c 1680–90
The cornice from the Half Moon Hotel
Plaster flowers from the Half Moon hotel ceiling
A section through the cornice
Baptist’s cups
A rat–tailed spoon
A Communion flagon
Waste from an Exeter pipe kiln
A longcase clock
Bottle seals
Coins of the Exeter mint of 1696–7
Thomas Browne
Dr William Musgrave
Fireplace surround with delftware tiles
Great Moor Farm, Sowton
The Devon and Exeter Hospital
The front of the Custom House
Quay House
Model of Quay House
A cockshead hinge
Records of the decorated fireplaces at Middle Moor, Sowton
An olive jar from Seville
Tillet block showing a weaver
Pottery used in sugar refining
Great Moor Farm, Sowton: overmantel depicting the sun
Conserving the Great Moor Farm plaster
Household rubbish from Trichay Street
Household rubbish from 38 North Street
A North Devon dish of c1670
A South Somerset plate from Goldsmith Street
A London delftware plate from Trichay Street, c1660
A delftware bowl from 15 The Close
A rainwater head from Bradninch Place
A Ligurian maiolica fragment from 38 North Street
A delftware dish
A plate made in Delft in 1698
A North Holland slipware bowl
Three stoneware bottles
An impression from a tillet block
Cartouche from the Guildhall picture frames
Two swags from the Guildhall picture frames
Old houses on Exe Bridge
Virginals by Charles Rewallin of Exeter
Portrait of Elizabeth Flay
Nocturnal dial
Toy figurines
Examples of wig curlers
Bust of Richard Vivian
The Quay in 1676
The Quay in 1690
The Quay in c 1720–40
The Custom House c1690
Foundation stone for sluice
The Water Engine
Letter of 1700 with Exeter postmark
Letter of 1699 without Exeter postmark
A series of Venetian drinking glasses
A silver cup made in Exeter
The tankard of the Vicars Choral of Exeter
A chocolate pot made in Exeter
Bright’s Warehouse: the first phase
The Exeter Clock
Bright’s Warehouse c1700
The Custom House at Topsham
Bright’s Warehouse today
One of the Custom House ceilings
Pinbrook House
Pinbrook House: the stables
Cleeve House, Exwick
Cleeve House: the plaster ceiling
Cleeve House plasterwork: a detail
Cleeve House plasterwork: a detail
’The Last Judgement’ by John Weston of Exeter
A panel from William Musgrave’s tomb
A textile fragment
English glass bottles
A bell cast in Exeter
Detail of an Exeter bell
Four Exeter traders tokens (obverse)
Four Exeter traders tokens (reverse)
Tenter frames around the Quayside
Cricklepit Mill: the exterior
Milling machinery at Cricklepit Mill
Archaeological drawing of part of Cricklepit mill
The Cricklepit Dryhouse
Tenterhooks in Criklepit Dryhouse
Long section through the Cricklepit Dryhouse
A wood block inset for a tillet block
Staircase from the Free Grammar School
Door and door case of the Free Grammar School
Inside Tuckers Hall
The Buck Brothers’ West Prospect of Exeter
The Buck Brothers’ view of the Quay 1736
Houses in North Street
Archaeological record of the plaster ceiling at 144 Fore Street
The hoard of pewter spoons from City Mills
A pewter ’Apostle spoon’
A pewter ‘Maidenhead’ spoon
A South Somerset dish
A South Somerset cup
A North Devon Plain Slipware dish
A bottle seal from Exeter
A candlestick
Clay pipes from the Cathedral School
A stoneware jug imported from the Rhineland
The Cricklepit area in the 17th century
Reconstruction view of Cricklepit Mill in the 1750s
The area of Cricklepit Mill in the 18th century
Tanning Pits at Exeter
Cloth seal
Francis Hayman
Dutch bricks from Exeter
Matthew and Philip Pear
A pipe–clay plaque found in Portland Street
John White Abbott: ‘Near the Quay 1803’
Exeter Sail Cloth stamp
Holland stamping block
Sealing wax ladle
Kennaway’s stamping block
Fireman’s hat
Chafing dish
Drug jar
Drug jars
Stoneware pottery from Germany
