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Early modern England was filled with semi-public libraries. From the late sixteenth century, these collections were housed in places such as churches, schools, parsonages, civic buildings, and purpose built accommodation. Mostly independent creations of local or locally-connected benefactors, they varied greatly: some were chained, some were available for borrowing; some numbered tens of books, some numbered thousands; some were collected and dispersed or destroyed within one or two decades, others continued in existence down to the present day. Devon's wealthy towns were among those which were gifted libraries over the course of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries and, of these, four collections have substantially survived. That of Totnes was founded in 1619, that of Barnstaple in around 1665, that of Tiverton in 1716, and that of Crediton in 1721. This thesis foregrounds the material evidence of these surviving books and places it in the context of other libraries being founded across England at this time, as well as contemporary efforts to systematise library provision. In doing so, it shows how the libraries were both part of a shared national movement to disseminate learning and rooted in the intellectual, religious, and book-use cultures of their provincial area. After an overview of the different forms semi-public libraries could take in early modern England, a chapter sets out the history of the four surviving libraries' foundations. The contents of the collections are then discussed in a chapter which emphasises the unpredictability which accompanied collectors' prioritisation of scholarly texts and religious works in particular. In a chapter on the acquisition of books, the growing impact of the provincial second-hand book trade is traced. This brought books annotated by local readers into some of the libraries which, along with a set of books annotated by a library borrower, are analysed in the final chapter for what they can say about the place of books in their annotators' material lives. Approaching different types of evidence in and connected to the libraries using the wide range of methodologies available for book historical research, this thesis illuminates the active and varied cultures of book use in Devon out of which its town and parish libraries were formed. It offers to update current understandings of semi-public library collections in early modern England through the lens of Devon's libraries and it adds rich detail to our knowledge of this provincial area's material practices of books use in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

The domestic housing of early modern south-west England, c.1500 to c.1750, has been under-studied compared with other regions of England, with limited consideration of the broad changes in the physical layout of domestic houses. Current research, drawing on proxemics and Environment-Behaviour Studies, shows how changes to the layout and rooms of early modern houses has a strong relationship with changes to social relationships and cultural behaviours, as well as economic, political, religious, and geographical influences. Current research also shows how the domestic housing of other regions underwent change in accordance with existing theories, such as the 'Great Rebuilding' or 'Closure'. This study investigates the changes in the physical layout of rural and urban vernacular and gentry houses of Devon and Cornwall, c.1500 to c.1750. It examines changes to domestic behaviours such as cooking, eating and drinking, and hospitality. It asks to what extent was the pattern of change unique to the South West, whether trends observed in other regions are applicable to the South West. Over two thousand probate inventories, and modern plans of over one hundred rural, urban, and gentry houses are studied and the evidence entered into a number of databases. These recorded key information dependent on the type of source, such as room names, the number of rooms, the material culture recorded, the plan-form of recorded buildings, and the number of chimneys. Analysis of these sources reveals several patterns in rural, urban, and gentry houses which highlight the regional distinctiveness of housing in the early modern South West. Central amongst these patterns was the strong influence of late medieval ways of living and layout of houses, as seen in the continuing importance of the cross-passage in houses of the gentry, yeomanry, and husbandmen, from the fifteenth century into the mid-eighteenth century. This continuing influence of medieval plan-forms and architectural features is contrasted against a high degree of change in how houses were lived in, with a noticeable 'decline of the hall' and 'rise of the kitchen' as well as changes in the material culture of the household.

The historic landscape of the South West Peninsula has traditionally been considered in terms of its relationship to more central areas of England, and in the medieval period this has tended to be with reference to the ‘Midland System’. Often regarded as being the most developed form of rural organisation in the Middle Ages, the model is of parishes dominated by single, nucleated villages, surrounded by two or three large open fields. In regions beyond this ‘Central Zone’ the perception is of more dispersed settlement patterns and an absence of extensive open field. More recently, however, there has been an acknowledgement that such a broad-brush approach masks greater variation in landscape character within regions themselves than was previously recognised. This thesis therefore sets out to examine local and regional variation in the historic landscape of the South West Peninsula, with a particular emphasis on a potential division between Cornwall and Devon. Although on traditional models seen as characterised by a uniformity of dispersed settlement and general absence of open field, it is contended here that there were indeed notable variations in the historic landscape within the region itself, with the Tamar Valley as the dividing line. Comparing the landscapes of Cornwall and Devon was also felt to have a direct bearing on another important debate, that of the so-called distinctiveness of ‘Celtic’ Cornwall from its ‘English’ neighbour, Devon. If real, could such supposed differences have had an effect on the form of the historic landscape? This is approached through two objectives, comprising an assessment of rural settlement nucleation/dispersal on the one hand and distribution of former open field on the other. Analysis is undertaken in GIS, using as its base cartographic sources from the late 19th century, to which additional layers of data are added to aid in interpretation, from archaeological and monument surveys, documentary sources to aerial photography. By assessing such settlement and field system patterns across Cornwall and Devon the aim is to identify variations in the historic landscape of the South West that may reflect different approaches to how the landscape was organised and managed in the past by the different communities.

This thesis seeks to explore how the physical fabric of Devon churches reflects changing perceptions of the role of the Church in society during the 19th century; how churchmen, architects and craftsmen of the period employed architecture and liturgical planning to reflect a revived national Church with a new sense of its connection to the past, to the great ages of Christian civilisation, and a strong sense of its duty and mission to all members of society. Nineteenth-century furnishings are not well understood as an archaeological resource: they are disappearing fast as more and more churches succumb to fashionable re-ordering schemes, yet many are of high artistic quality and even the least among these artefacts reveals much about the people and the society which created them. Church interiors of all periods are precious resources in that they clearly reflect contemporary religious and social controversies. Church furnishings can powerfully embody and reveal the character of a place and people at the time of their creation. They may survive as complete period pieces, or may have accumulated incrementally, each alteration reflecting changing trends in churchmanship and the progress of archaeological and liturgical scholarship among architects, clergy and patrons. Above all, 19th-century church furnishings reveal a clear trend away from rigid social divisions towards a more egalitarian Church, inclusive of all people. We know very little about why particular styles or layouts of furnishings were chosen, which of these are uncommon or unusual, what they signified to those who chose and used them, and which were fashionable at which period. My thesis seeks to explore the impact of Victorian 'ecclesiology' upon Anglican churches in Devon; to explore the huge variety of types and materials employed in their creation and to show how these embody a desire on the part of Victorian churchmen and women to replace a Church of clear social distinctions and privilege with a Church which embodied and showed forth a more open mission to all members of the community. Out of 711 churches in existence in Devon during the 19th and early 20th centuries, 647 have been visited and photographically recorded by the author in person. The remaining 64 demolished or inaccessible churches have been studied, as far as possible, by documentary research and in photographic archives compiled by others.

The geology of SW England is characterised by three geological phenomena which include the Permian granite batholith, complex structural geology and a world-class tin-tungsten-copper orefield. At present, interest in exploration for metals such as tungsten and tin is high because of their designation as "critical" to British and European economies. Furthermore, there is renewed interest in geothermal energy production and the potential for metal extraction, such as lithium, from geothermal brines. Many aspects of the resource-rich geology of SW England remain enigmatic, such as the distribution of different granite types, the fault network and the potential for mineralisation at depth (> 200 m). These three phenomena are intrinsically linked, and are key to finding new metalliferous resources and geothermal energy targets; however, the temperate climate and poor outcrop inland is a significant limitation. High-resolution airborne geophysical data collected over SW England as part of the Tellus South West project (2013-2014) provides a new opportunity to better understand these three geological phenomena. Furthermore, regional geochemical data has also been collected in 2012 as part of the Geochemical Baseline Survey of the Environment (G-BASE). These data have been investigated using machine learning algorithms for integrated data analysis. Machine learning incorporates computer science methods for pattern recognition into statistical analysis to create an objective model. The approach can use supervised or unsupervised algorithms; the former uses a priori data to train algorithms whereas the latter attempts to find natural clusters. These methods are used to generate new models of the granites, structural geology and tungsten prospectivity in the region. Granite classification models attempted to map the distribution of different granite types across the granite batholith. Unsupervised approaches, such as the k-means algorithm, found natural clusters of different granite types using airborne radiometric data and stream-sediment geochemistry, however, clusters were focused on the grouping of thorium-rich and thorium-poor areas. Whilst these showed some similarity to previously described granite types, it was not possible to define all expected granite types. Data from Simons et al. (2016) were used to train a number of supervised algorithms and proved more effective due to their ability to classify non-linearly separable data. The Support Vector Machine algorithm was found to be the most effective classifier, closely followed by Random Forest. A refined geological map of the granite types helps illustrate the potential for occurrences of different granite types that may not be exposed at surface. Unsupervised image segmentation algorithms within an Object-Based Image Analysis framework are applied for regional lineament detection using the high-resolution airborne geophysical data. Data preparation using the Tilt Derivative transform for magnetic, radiometric and LiDAR data was found to generate comparable, normalised input datasets that preserved subtle structural features. Two new stand-alone algorithms are presented that allow the integration of multi-sourced datasets for geological lineament detection. The new lineament datasets derived herein are a significant improvement on pre-existing structural datasets across the region that were either incomplete or subjectively analysed. Tungsten mineralisation is explored for using the Random Forest algorithm to generate a new prospectivity model for the region. The model incorporates high-resolution airborne geophysics and regional geochemistry with the geological lineament data derived in this thesis. Additional data are included on the proximity to granite at surface and at depth (based on gravity modelling by Willis-Richards and Jackson (1989)). Classical prospectivity modelling techniques such as Fuzzy Logic and Weights-of-Evidence, validated using the Receiver Operator Characteristics curve were both found to have accuracies of 0.891. In contrast, the Random Forest model had an accuracy of 0.989. New exploration targets are refined by the derivation of a Confidence Metric which clearly identifies three new areas for follow-up work. Metadata from the Random Forest model has been used to measure variable importance and identify superfluous data which can guide future exploration campaigns. The three geological phenomena are synthesised to demonstrate their relationship where the identification of geological lineaments in granite areas corresponds with highly variable granite distribution which is often found in close proximity to tungsten mineralisation targets. The research therefore enhances our understanding of granite distribution and structural geology with practical applications for mineral exploration. Machine learning is applied widely throughout to stream-line workflows and aid more objective decision-making. Methodologies developed herein are highly applicable to other temperate regions and could assist exploration for tungsten and other metals.

Geoscience operates at the boundary between two worlds; the visible and the invisible. Increasingly, new geological technologies such as hydraulic fracturing, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and radioactive waste disposal are drawing the public’s attention to the ‘invisible’ world of the geological subsurface. This presents unique communication challenges because these technologies exist in a realm that can never be physically seen. This thesis addresses this issue by examining the psychological perceptions of residents in three villages in the south west of England. A representative sample from each village was qualitatively interviewed and mental models were constructed from the resultant data using the ‘mental models’ technique (Morgan et al, 2002). The mental models were then quantitatively tested using a questionnaire to assess the perceptions that a broader sample of the residents of these locations hold towards the geological subsurface. The results from the mental models assessment identified the principal perceptions held by the majority of the public surveyed. In particular, the study revealed the connection between the visible surface and the invisible subsurface and how different participants engaged with that boundary; choosing either a geoscience-centric or an anthropocentric approach to penetrating the surface. These approaches utilised by non-experts differed from those employed by the experts, who used a regionally specific geoscience-centric approach to visualising the subsurface. The work provides an important empirical baseline from which to develop a science-led strategy to engage the general public with new technologies and to increase our understanding of the more broadly held conceptions of the invisible subsurface.

Divided into three parts, this thesis maps a cultural history of Barbary captivity; concentrating on the early 17th century leading up to the Civil Wars; an aspect of British-Muslim contact within which the West Country is overrepresented in the archives. However, this wealth of material contrasts sharply with the paucity of popular and public-facing representations. Situating these accounts within wider contexts, this thesis investigates this contrast, exploring the social, cultural, emotional and economic impact of Barbary captivity upon understandings of place and identity. The first part examines representations of being taken captive, the terror and distress of West Country inhabitants, and the responses and concerns of the authorities. The on-going failure to protect the region and its seafarers exacerbated this distress, producing marginalised geographies of fear and anxiety. The second part explores the themes of memory and identity, arguing that how captives were remembered and forgotten had implications for localised and national identities. For those held in Barbary, families and communities petitioned and undertook ransom collections to redeem the captives, providing reminders to the authorities and appealing for wider remembrance as part of the processes of Christian compassion. Nevertheless, the majority of captives were ‘forgotten’, neither ransomed nor leaving their individual mark within the historical record. This part concludes with a discussion of the role of memory in managing and articulating the ‘trauma’ of captivity. The final part examines mobile and fluid identities, concentrating on returning captives and Islamic converts. Early modern theories of identity situated the humoral body of the captive as susceptible to ‘turning Turk’, contributing to wider negotiations of national, ethnic and religious identities. Cultural anxieties were preoccupied with the ill-defined borders of the geographically displaced material body, generating mutable, hidden and shameful identities. In conclusion, sites of cultural trauma are produced, indicated by the subsequent silence regarding this aspect of localised history.

This thesis examines the experiences and impact of wartime mobilization in the county of Devon. It argues that a crucial role was played by the county’s elites who became the self-appointed intermediaries of the war experience on a local level and who took an explicitly exhortative role, attempting to educate Devonians in the codes of ideal conduct in wartime. These armchair patriots, defined by the local commentator Stephen Reynolds as ‘provincial patriots’, superintended the patriotism of Devon’s population, evaluating that patriotism against the strength of their own. Through a critical exploration of Reynolds’ definition of Devon’s elite as the police-men and women of patriotism, this thesis reveals the ambiguities, constraints and complexities surrounding mobilization and remobilization in Devon. The evidence from Devon reveals the autonomy of Devon’s citizens as they attempted to navigate the different challenges of the war while they weighed-up individual and local interests against the competing requests that the ‘provincial patriots’ prescribed for them. In many cases, their responses to the appeals and prescriptions from Devon’s elite were informed by what they considered to be an appropriate contribution to the war effort. Therefore, the choice to participate in the measures introduced in the name of war effort in Devon was not a binary one. A tension between individual survival and national survival in the county was apparent in the encounters between Devon’s elite as agents of mobilization and the county’s populace during the war. Through various campaigns of superintendence in order to police the patriotism of Devon’s people, the ‘provincial patriots’ attempted to navigate through the terrain of these competing priorities and resolve this tension. In their endeavours to mobilize Devon’s populace, the authority of Devon’s elite was criticised and they faced constant negotiation between individual priorities and those of the nation. This analysis of the complexity of the Devonian experience of the First World War is sceptical about the ‘total’ nature of the First World War because the war to some Devonians was not the pre-eminent issue and did not absorb all of the county’s efforts. Rather, a significant part of Devon’s population was primarily concerned with individual priorities and that of the county throughout the war years.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the evolving relationship between food and tourism through the twentieth century. Devon, a county in the South West of England, and a popular tourist destination is used as the geographical focus of the case study. Previous studies have tended to focus on particular locations at a fixed point in time, not over the timescale of a century. The research presents a social and economic history of food in the context of tourism. It incorporates many food related interests reflecting the topical and evolving, embracing leisure, pleasure and social history, Burnett (2004). Food is presented from the perspectives of production and consumption, not only its commercial provision in the hospitality industry, but also that emanating from the domestic, home, and farmstead. The significance of food and tourism is emphasised by Hall and Sharples (2003), and Croce and Perri (2010) in the development of Food tourism (and Wine tourism), reflecting increasingly specialised and niche interests. However, this thesis aims to show how food and tourism encompasses, food, culture, and history, and plays an important role in the economic development of the county. The thesis presents multiple data sources, primary and secondary, questionnaires and in-depth interviews. It utilises these in conjunction with numerous historical records and archival materials to investigate evolving trends and patterns in the food and tourism evolution. A case study demonstrates ways in which food is an experience, attraction, and motivation to visit a destination, and shows how tourism’s relationship with food has evolved throughout the twentieth century.

Artefacts relating to tin smelting from tin mills or 'blowing houses' in Devon and Cornwall, plus material from smelting sites that cover a range of dates from the Bronze Age through to the 19th Century, were examined: these include metallic tin, furnace linings, ore samples and slag. Analysis of tin slags from over forty sites was carried out, to determine microstructure and chemical composition. Techniques employed included optical and scanning electron microscopy, X-ray fluorescence and ICP mass spectrometry. Analysis indicates that slag appearance and composition are heavily influenced by local geology. Composition, particularly iron content, is shown to have a strong effect on slag melting point and viscosity, and the implications for the purity of metal produced are discussed. Bringing together the evidence provided by slag chemistry, documentary sources and smelting remains in the archaeological record, changes in tin smelting technology through time, and the consequences thereof, are considered.

Torre Abbey was a rural Premonstratensian monastery in south-east Devon. Although in many ways atypical of its order, not least in the quality and quantity of its surviving source material, Torre provides an excellent case study of how a medium-sized medieval monastery interacted with the world around it, and how the abbey itself was affected by that interaction. Divided into three broad sections, this thesis first examines the role of local landowners and others as patrons of the house in the most obvious sense, that of the bestowal of lands or other assets upon the house. Torre was relatively successful in this regard, and an examination of the architectural and archaeological record indicates a continuation of that relationship after the thirteenth century. The second section notes areas of conflict with the laity. Disputes could and did arise over both temporal and spiritual affairs, as well as through the involvement of a number of lay figures in the administration and patronage of the house. In both respects, notable incidents in the mid-fourteenth century highlight the complexities of the canons’ relationships with the secular world. These are further explored in an analysis of the abbey’s role during the Hundred Years’ War and the Wars of the Roses, two conflicts which greatly affected the locality, but required vastly differing approaches by the canons. Finally, the effect of society on the canons themselves is considered. It is possible to recover some picture of their origins, both social and geographic, as well as some idea of the size of the community in the fifteenth century, and discuss the repercussions for an understanding of monastic recruitment. Finally, the dynamic of the community over the entire history of the abbey is considered in terms of the scattered source material, utilising both architectural and documentary evidence.

From Ravenstein onwards, historians considering the causes of migration have stressed the importance of economic factors. Whilst work related issues have been shown to prompt the majority of migrations, the role of extended kin deserves further attention. Plakans and Wetherell found that, the ‘placing [of the] domestic group within a larger kin context’, seen as the next logical research step as long ago as the 1970s, was an issue that remained largely unaddressed in 2003. Here the impact of the extended family, on migration decisions and the likelihood of residential persistence, is investigated. Evidence for community cohesion has been sought and kinship links have been investigated; both have been found to influence the residential patterns of individuals. This research has revealed that, whilst economics may provide the impetus for a move, cultural factors and the role of non-resident kin played a far greater part in the decision to migrate, or not, than most previous studies have acknowledged. It has been shown that, although kinship impacted upon both, reasons for emigration were very different from those for migration. The substantial role played by religious belief, not only as a motivation for the emigration of extended family groups, but also as an issue influencing the choice of destination, is a particular feature of the findings of this study. In 1994, Pryce and Drake were ‘making a strong plea for the adoption of rigorous intellectual approaches in migration research’ and the methods used here address this appeal. A technique of total reconstruction and longitudinal tracing has been employed in order to investigate the inhabitants of three small areas of North Devon. A comprehensive range of sources has been used and an in-depth examination of exemplar migrants and the residentially persistent, has allowed possible motivations to be scrutinised. In this way, the details of the structures and processes observed become clearer. In the context of family reconstitution, Barry Reay wrote of ‘a dearth of such studies of nineteenth-century England’ and it is intended that the methods used in this research will facilitate a wider understanding of the factors that motivated migrants in Victorian rural England. Whilst considering the influences of kin and community on migration patterns in the three study areas, the relative roles of other factors have been taken into account. It has been necessary to look at economic patterns and to investigate how, for example, farming and fishing, and any nineteenth century changes therein, affected the lives of the inhabitants. In an area where, and at a time when, non-conformist religion took a particular hold, the effect that the faith of these individuals had on their decisions to move, or stay put, has been assessed. Thus, the issues of faith, fish, farm and family are all borne in mind when studying the motivations for the migration decisions of the inhabitants of the three settlements.

Recent work has sought to explain the striking variations in municipal hospital provision in the 1930s by quantitative analysis. Such work has not so far provided a hypothesis which satisfactorily explains the range of variations found. This study, grounded in an analysis based on the Advocacy Coalition Framework and the results of three case studies of events in the county boroughs of Plymouth and Exeter and in Devon County Council, uses a qualitative methodology developed by iteration between a deductive approach drawing on recent work and an inductive approach using a computer-assisted analysis of primary source material and proposes a new hypothesis. The hypothesis developed is that where a local authority inherited a Poor Law workhouse as a result of the Local Government Act (1929) development would be more likely to occur in places where councillors exhibited strong progressive beliefs in accountability to the wider community and in their social responsibility towards that community; where they had successful experience of direct hospital provision in other fields; and when they had available a committed entrepreneur able to marshal support for change within the council. In addition to its empirical findings the study contributes to the development of public policy theory by suggesting improvements to the Advocacy Coalition Framework. Such improvements comprise recognition of the importance of ‘deep core’ as well as ‘policy core’ beliefs to policy change, consideration of path dependency as a significant method of policy learning, and of the roles of entrepreneurs and policy brokers. Finally the study draws attention to the relevance of the study to current practice in the implementation of public policy and proposes specifically that local NHS agencies should give greater prominence to identifying and supporting individuals with the skills of policy entrepreneurs.