Samuel Powell's House - Matthew McMurray

This carefully researched and well illustrated book tells the
compelling story of one of the most important eighteenth century
houses in the medieval Wiltshire town of Devizes.
It draws
together three years of painstaking survey work and documentary
research to build up a detailed picture of every element of the
house.
Special attention is paid to examining and illustrating
its architectural details, fixtures and fittings, including,
stonework, woodwork, plasterwork and decoration.
It charts the
changes made to the house over its 286 year history as well as
telling the often colourful stories of its owners and occupiers,
which include one of the real life inspirations for C.S.
Forester's Horatio Hornblower.
Built in the most modern style by
an aspirant cloth merchant, as an expression of his hard won
social position, its subsequent rental and neglect by absentee
landlords through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries means it
is one of the least altered and best preserved houses in the
town.