How medieval is a medieval house?: Whitestaunton Manor, Somerset (original) (raw)
This essay presents speculative interpretations of archaeological observations made by the author during the structural and decorative refurbishment of Whitestaunton Manor House near Chard in Somerset between 2004 and 2011. The bulk of the data recorded during the intermittent 'watching brief' operation conforms to received models of historical building development and would be of little interest to readers of this journal, but three ensembles of archaeological details challenge conventional explanation, whilst a fourth is of methodological significance for others engaged in this sort of work. The author suggests, tentatively, that Whitestaunton Manor House displays, inter alia, evidence of non-economic re-use of salvaged fabric and structures in the 17th and 18th centuries for polemical purposes, comparable to the use of spolia in continental Europe.
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