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Martin
Biddle.
Nonsuch
Palace: The Material Culture of a Noble Restoration Household.
Oxbow,
2005.
ISBN
1900188341.
Hardback.
544p,
229 b/w illus, 81 tbs.
Publisher's
recommended price £60.00
Nonsuch in Surrey was Henry
VIII's last and most fantastic palace. Begun in 1538, at the start of
the 30th year of Henry's reign, the palace was intended as a triumphal
celebration of the power and the grandeur of Henry VIII and the Tudor
dynasty. The site was chosen for its fine countryside and hunting
potential. Although the layout was fairly typical for a house of this
period, arranged around two main courtyards, there its 'ordinariness'
ends. The palace was ornately decorated with intricate Renaissance
designs in carved and gilded slate and plasterwork, with two great
octagonal towers, five storeys high at either end. The king wanted
people to be astonished at his new palace, and to say that they had
never seen such a fine palace before, hence its name - 'Nonsuch.'
Excavations in 1959-60 uncovered a large amount of material from all
periods, from occupation to demolition (1538-1684). The finds fall into
two categories: architectural and domestic. This volume, the second in
the series, publishes the domestic finds, including a large amount of
complete or reconstructible glass, ceramics (such as tin-glazed wares,
stoneware and earthenware), coins and tokens, clay pipes, pewter
vessels, objects of iron, bone, ivory and leather, and a wooden pocket
sundial.
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