![\"An](\"http:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/historicenvironment\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2013\/10\/Post-medieval-Pottery-finds.jpg\")
<\/a>The Dartmoor tin industry expanded as did other forms of metal mining, such as the silver-lead mines of Combe Martin. Stone and slate quarrying for immediate local use and for export have left a legacy of abandoned quarries across the county. The pottery industry of North Devon expanded considerably to supply the growing local dairy industry and pottery was exported to the colonies in the new world. Ball clay was also worked, firstly for tobacco pipe manufacture and then to supply the pottery industries of the midlands. Lime kilns now dot Devon\u2019s coast, estuaries and riverbanks, as well as its rural hinterland, supplying lime for the improvement of agricultural land and for the mortar and renders seen in so many of Devon\u2019s buildings. However, the wool and cloth industry remained at the heart of the Devon economy, leaving a legacy of mostly water-powered mills and their associated weirs, leats and \u2018rack\u2019 field names.<\/p>\nPorts such as Exeter (with Topsham), Dartmouth and Barnstaple ranked amongst the wealthiest in England in the 17th<\/sup> century. This has left a legacy of fine architecture, ancillary industries such as boat buildings and waterfront archaeology in many of the settlements around Devon\u2019s coast and estuaries.<\/p>\n The warehouses of Exeter and the quays of Dartmouth, Barnstaple and Bideford are among the best evidence for Devon\u2019s long and extensive involvement in maritime trade.<\/p>\n Find out more about these sites by viewing the Devon Historic Environment Record<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Extensive rebuilding took place in the 17th and 18th centuries in most of Devon\u2019s towns. Timber-framed houses of a particular west country style are notable. In the countryside farmhouses are built in characteristic vernacular styles using locally distinctive materials such … Continue reading