During the Tudor Age the South West was famed for the innovation and
endeavor of its people. Devon sea dogs Drake, Raleigh and Hawkins sailed
to 'World's End' in their pursuit of treasure and glory, Exeter's
Nicholas Hilliard produced exquisite miniature portraits of courtiers
while fellow Exonian Thomas Bodley re-founded Oxford University's
library, later named the Bodleian in his honor. These men lived during
the religious turmoil and political intrigue of Elizabeth I's reign - a
time of opportunity for the merchants and traders of Devon. Many grew
rich on the fruits of overseas trade and expressed their new status
through fashionable houses, fine furnishings, decoration and valuable
personal possessions. The demand for goods was met by a network of local
craft workers: plasterers, masons, carpenters, lace-makers and
goldsmiths. Aspects of their lives are revealed in this book, published
to accompany the fascinating exhibition at the Royal Albert Memorial
Museum, Exeter, which will draw together paintings, artifacts and
documents from galleries, museums and record offices to tell the story
of the South West and its people set against the backdrop of one of the
most, evocative periods in British history.