BACKGROUND

In the last 30 years or so the West Country has seen perhaps the greatest concentration of archaeological work on bronze vessel casting of any area in the British Isles (if not northwest Europe). During this period five foundry sites (in their broadest sense, including bell foundries) have been excavated in Exeter, with further sites elsewhere, notably at Crediton in Devon and Taunton and South Petherton in Somerset, serving to fill out the picture (Fig. 11.1). At the same time the collection of cast domestic vessels formed by Roderick and Valentine Butler and now acquired by Somerset County Museums (which delegates were privileged to see during the conference which formed the basis of this volume) has provided a significant further dimension to the study of these vessels, which were almost ubiquitous in the post-medieval household during the two centuries of concern to the conference. Much further research has gone into the industry in parallel with these endeavours, with the result that, even without excavated evidence, foundries have now been specifically located at places where they were previously unknown. This is an unusual situation in artefact studies: one in which a detailed archaeological study of a number of manufacturing sites can be matched on a large scale with a complementary collection of the products manufactured therein.