These two pots (small inside large), excavated from a house site in Monnow Street, Monmouth, represent the first example found in northern Europe of a cooking process using un-slaked lime and water. Food sealed in the inner pot was cooked by the heat generated from the reaction between water and un-slaked lime in the space between the inner and outer pots. Henry of Grosmont, Duke of Lancaster and Lord of Monmouth described this method of cooking in his devotional book 'Le Livre de Seyntz Medecines' of 1354, noting that the slow cooking time gave a man time to walk between 'five and seven leagues'. Source: Display boards, Nelson Museum & Local History Centre.