A Brief History of Exeter by Dick Passmore
The Great Conduit stood from 1441 - 1770 (Jenkins entry 17)
A
Brief History of Exeter
Early occupation
The
Anglo-Saxons occupied
Exeter during the 7th century and an Abbey was built, approximately on the site
of the existing Cathedral. Then followed the Danes, who took the city in 876,
but were dismissed from Exeter by King Alfred only to return
about one hundred and fifty years later! They were at first repelled, but, led
by King Sweyn, later gained
access to the city and plundered it, setting buildings alight and destroying
the Abbey. They left the city in virtual ruin, and never returned. The Normans took over
England in 1066, and shortly afterwards found Exeter, already a busy town, with
almost five hundred houses and a population of some 2,500. The occupation of
Exeter by the Normans saw the rebuilding of the Abbey – probably one of the
highlights of Exeter’s history, for it was the Normans who started to create
what is now the magnificent Cathedral of St. Peter, set in the
centre of the city. The twin towers of today’s Cathedral are indeed of Norman
origin.
The
Castle
George Oliver in The History of the City of Exeter devoted
a chapter to the origins of the castle and walls which he attributed to King
Athelstan at some time
between 925 and 941 giving the outline traced by Kerslake (see 46). Despite
extensive destruction by Sweyn, as mentioned above, the city rose again under
the support of Canute and Edward the
Confessor so that by the
time of the conquest Exeter had gained city proportions. However, the castle is
not documented in the Domesday Survey of 1086 and was
possibly only completed some time later. The gateway certainly leads one to
suspect completion during, or shortly after, Norman architectural influence.
John
Leland is reputed to
have visited Exeter in 1542 on his extensive travels and a manuscript plan of
the castle dating back to the 16th century is extant (35). However, although
long credited to Leland himself, the manuscript plan in the British Library may
be a later speculation of what Leland saw, produced some years after his death (in
1552).
Norden (36), who surveyed the castle in 1617, gives us the most detailed description of the castle. He shows the sally port in the extreme North East corner, and a tower between the entrance gate and the South East corner, but omits the bastion clearly shown by others (e.g. manuscript maps of 1600 or the manuscript maps of Hooker) between the entrance gate and the north west (i.e. Athelstan’s) tower. However, the castle shown on one of Hooker’s drawings of St. Sidwell’s fee (see 61) clearly shows both the bastion and Norden’s tower. However it is safe to assume that at some time both existed. The plan in Jenkins’ History of Exeter in 1806 (18), based on the so-called Leland plan, moves the sally port back towards the sessions house in the centre and shows both bastions (but not the tower between the gate and the south east corner). In an article in 1912 C B Lyster, writing about the city walls (Devon & Cornwall, Notes & Queries Vol. VII), noted that there were archaeological finds that showed the foundations of both. One is left with the supposition that the south bastion was so ruined by the beginning of the seventeenth century that Norden did not consider it worth drawing.
Parishes
Frederic Kelly’s
Directory of Devonshire (e.g.
1893, p.171) mentions that in 1222, Exeter had 19 churches, two of which (St.
Sidwell’s and St. David’s) "stood without the walls”. White’s Directory of Devonshire for
1850 states that prior to 1658 Exeter had 32 churches (probably including the
suburbs and non-conformists), although 12 had been sold in that year (p.81).
The same directory states that in 1850 the city and suburbs had no less than 21
parish churches and several episcopal chapels. It was during the thirteenth
century that parishes first appeared in Exeter, although there had been many
churches constructed during earlier centuries, none had defined areas, or
parishes as we now know
them. The newly created parishes tended to follow the lines of streets and
lanes, and people resident within those areas would attend the church within
that parish, each parish having its own priest. Although some of the parishes
disappeared long ago, early maps of Exeter show the names of parishes within
the city. It was not until 1956 that parish boundaries were revised, some being
amalgamated with adjoining parishes, with priests looking after the spiritual
needs of two, three or perhaps four parishes. That system still exists today.
View of the High Street in Wheaton's Hand-Book of Exeter, 1846.
A famous visitor to remark on Exeter’s wealth and success was Daniel Defoe. In the early 1700s he remarked that Exeter
was full of gentry and good company, and
yet full of trade and manufacturers also. Apparently it was said in those
days that few places could boast both of these “virtues”.
It was at this period that Exeter’s woollen and cloth trade started to
prosper. Mention has already been made
of grist mills, but there were a considerable number of woollen mills in the
area as well, located alongside the river. Later there were also paper mills,
but the woollen mills were, perhaps, of far more significance in the early
days.
It was at this period that Exeter’s woollen and cloth trade started to
prosper. Mention has already been made
of grist mills, but there were a considerable number of woollen mills in the
area as well, located alongside the river. Later there were also paper mills,
but the woollen mills were, perhaps, of far more significance in the early
days.
The various mills in the city produced cloth in huge amounts, and this was sold
all over the country. Few of these mills are shown on maps. The Fulling Mill at
Blackaller Wear is shown on one or two maps and is clearly visible on Tozer’s
map (15), but others are either not shown or are indiscernible. Later, during
the 1600s, serge became more popular as it was far more hard-wearing, and most
mills turned to that material to enhance their trade – hence Celia Fiennes’
comments noted earlier. Local cloth merchants became extremely wealthy and
constructed their out-of-town houses in the suburbs of the city, many of which
still exist, although few now remain as private residences, many having been
converted into apartments and others used for corporate reasons. One should
note the extensive rack-fields - a sign of the extensive fullers’ trade. The
extent of the industry is shown on various maps by the extent of the
rack-fields: two rows in 1587 (1), five fields in 1709 (8), seven fields in
1792 (15), five in 1805 (16) and none by 1845 (31).[1] Rack Lane, close to the
West gate, is named after the numerous drying racks located in that
street.
Growth
of the city
During the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Exeter started to grow, and records show
various taverns, houses, shops and other buildings springing up, making the
city a busy place in which to live and work. Taverns, it has to be said, were
of considerable importance in those days. Not only were they ale-houses – and
thus of social importance, they were also meeting places, and places of
entertainment. They were also a useful means of providing an address; when
Hermann Moll’s Fifty-Six New and Acurate Maps was
published in 1708 it was printed by John Nicholson at the
Kings-Arms, John Sprint at the Bell in
Little-Britain and Andrew Bell at the
Cross-Keys and Bible in London, for example. In Exeter the Seven Stars inn also
served as one of the city’s earliest theatres, and is thought to have hosted
John Gay’s The
Beggars Opera in 1728 as the first performance outside London. The city
was filling up within the old walls, and space was becoming valuable.
The end of the
12th century also saw one of the most important additions to Exeter – the
underground water supply. Until then,
citizens would collect their own water from the Exe, or pay water-bearers who
would carry pails of water on yokes throughout the city, selling the water from
the River Exe to houses and businesses. The introduction of piped water was of
significant importance to the city, although Minchinton (1987) states that
water bearers were still existent in the early 19th century. The underground
system commenced with the tapping of a spring in the higher part of the parish
of St. Sidwell, owned by the Dean and Chapter. They were the first to take
advantage of the new system, and were able to supply the Cathedral with fresh
water. The water was brought underground into the Cathedral Close where it
terminated in the newly-built St. Peter’s Conduit. A further supply was taken
to Fore Street, to serve St. Nicholas’ Priory. However, more importantly, in
1346 an agreement was made whereby the water from St. Peter’s Conduit could be
taken to another new conduit in South Street. This was later demolished and in
1441 the new Great Conduit was constructed at The Carfax - the junction of High
Street, Fore Street, South Street and North Street. The conduit stood until the
late eighteenth century, having supplied Exeter with water for over three
hundred years. The Great Conduit can clearly be seen on various maps, including
those of Hooker (1), Speed (2), Braun & Hogenberg (3) and Izacke (7) and is
reference 6 on Nicholls’ plan (page 12). Today, Exeter’s “underground passages”, as they are
now named, are in fact the narrow, low tunnels constructed to carry water from
St. Sidwell’s, open to the public where visitors can see a small section of the
original passages and pipework. It must be said, however, that they are not
suitable for those who suffer from claustrophobia.
From the Roman
days, when it was a walled city, Exeter and its population have both grown
century by century, until Exeter is now a city of some 125,000 people, taking
up an area of several square miles. Being walled, the city was somewhat insular
(as were many other cities and towns), and although the walls were designed to
protect the city, on more than one occasion those walls have been breached and
the city invaded – notably by the Danes c.876, and William the Conqueror in 1068. In
1496 Perkin Warbeck attempted to
take the city, but was repelled. Henry VII visited the city shortly afterwards
and presented it with a Sword and Cap of Maintenance as a gift, in
gratitude for the city’s loyalty to the Crown. Both the Sword and Cap are
retained to this day as part of the city’s Regalia. In 1549 Hooker witnessed the
siege during the Prayer Book Rebellion. During the
English Civil War, Exeter was
besieged and taken over by the Royalists in 1643 only to be surrendered to
General Fairfax in 1646. Since
then the city has been free of any form of siege, although it was, of course,
seriously affected by German bombing raids in 1942, as will be seen later.
Exeter documented
Exeter
has been inhabited for over two thousand years, and the main thoroughfare, High
Street, has been in continuous use during that period, and was originally one
of several ridgeways around the city. The story of Exeter is therefore of great
interest to historians, and has been documented since at least the 15th century
(and possibly earlier), by way of manuscripts, books and maps. Certainly John
Hooker’s numerous writings such as his Catalogue
of Bishops in
1584 and his other works, many only extant as manuscripts, of around that time
are amongst the earliest and provide us with a good perspective on life in
Exeter at that time. Almost a century later Richard Izacke wrote his Antiquities of the City of Exeter - a
book now sought by collectors - and which provides the modern reader with a
catalogue of events, both major and trivial, but which nonetheless give us a
vivid impression of life at that time. His son’s continuation is also a
valuable contribution to Exeter’s historical writings.
While
later writers tried to imagine what Exeter looked like before the Middle Ages
(e.g. Kerslake or Freeman) the earliest contemporary maps of Exeter, for
example Hooker’s map of 1587 (1), depict the walled city on the north bank of
the River Exe, with just a few outlying settlements, and those being mainly
agricultural. Hooker’s is the first printed map of the city and, as such, shows
not only what it was like in 1587 but probably what it had been like for the
previous three or four hundred years and, to some extent, how it would remain
until the end of the 18th century. The south east quarter, East Gate to South
Gate, including the Cathedral was inhabited by the well-to-do, with both sides
of the High Street and Southgate Street a mixture of shops and merchant’s
houses. The rest of the city was populated by the poorer artisans and workers,
becoming poorer towards and beyond the walls. Yet, as Hooker drew it, the city
was full of courts, gardens and even small fields; such industry as there was
is mostly confined to the south west slope down to and beyond the West Gate
where the whole cloth trade was situated.
But
Hooker was to some extent misleading - it was difficult to show that the west
end of High Street was narrow and
steep, for example. The principal road to the West Gate and thence to
the bridge was through the Shambles, Butcher’s Row
and down
Smythen Street; too steep for
wheeled traffic, it was only suitable for the pack-horse and the pedestrian
brave enough to climb beside the open-drain and it would remain in this state
until the 19th century. Hooker shows clearly, however, that there was little
development beyond the walls except close to the four main gates and the Water
Gate leading down to The Quay.
The maps from the 17th and early 18th centuries
are interesting as they all differ slightly in some respects, but all retain
the basic layout of the city and its more prominent buildings. Many include the
names of such buildings and also the names of churches, and some will include names
of areas and large houses outside the city walls. Good examples are the maps in
Richard Izacke’s history of
Exeter and the map included in his son’s continuation. The former (7) depicts
Exeter in the third quarter of the seventeenth century, while the latter (with
Sutton Nicholls plan, 9
illustrated over) presents Exeter in the first quarter of the eighteenth
century. However, later maps, such as that of Tozer in 1792, give
a much more detailed image of the area within and without the walls (see 15).
During the 17th
and 18th centuries, various authors produced their versions of the city’s
history, and during the early 19th century several more histories were
produced, including those of Jenkins (17), Oliver (with an early
view of the castle precincts, 35), Freeman (53) and Thomas
Brice (1802) etc. Most included a map of the city. Printing processes were
being developed year by year, and as books and maps became easier to produce in
numbers, so they became more readily available to the public in shops, reading
rooms and other similar institutions. As will be seen in the following pages,
the mapping of Exeter has been considerable over centuries, and in themselves
the maps tell a large part of the city’s history.
Andrew Brice, mentioned above, was one of the first people to produce an Exeter newspaper. His first enterprise was The Postmaster, subtitled The Loyal Mercury. He went on to produce several journals, including The Weekly Journal, or the Old Exeter Journal as it was also known. After the death of Brice the paper continued being produced by his partner, Barnabas Thorn, and subsequently by Thorn’s son until it was purchased by Robert Trewman who renamed it The Flying Post.
Exeter’s national importance
A
few centuries ago, Exeter held a proud place in England. It was one of the more
important areas for trade, and one of the oldest places in the country.
Certainly, in earlier days, Exeter was one of the three most important cities
in England. The reasons for this importance are quite simple. Firstly, early
Exeter was suitably located on a plateau approximately one hundred feet above
the River Exe. The ground
around the city was most suitable for excavating building materials - bearing
in mind that early buildings in the area were constructed of timber and ‘cob’,
the latter being a mixture of mud, straw and even dung, which, when mixed
together and dried out, formed a suitable material to construct walls. The
river Exe was easily accessible for
a good supply of fresh water,
and, in those days, fish in abundance. The area surrounding the city was
eminently suitable for agricultural use, the soil being rich and fertile.
Hundreds of acres of farmland around Exeter were able to grow large areas of
corn and other crops, whilst the fertile meadows allowed cattle and sheep to
graze freely. Thus Exeter had a continual supply of fish, meat, and crops, with
many grist mills supplying sufficient amounts of flour for making bread. It
was, as were most towns and cities of that era, “self sufficient” in most
respects.
Transport
in earlier centuries presented merchants with a problem, for their wares needed
to be distributed far and wide, even abroad. Horse traffic was slow, and
railways did not come into being until the early nineteenth century, with motorised vehicles arriving much later
still. Exeter, however, had the advantage of being close to the English
Channel, with a river running alongside the city. Over the years, Exeter
developed into a port of great importance, and in those days, boats could sail
from the English Channel, up the estuary of the River Exe, and dock alongside the
quay in Exeter to load and offload goods. Various buildings still stand adjacent
to the quay relating to the work carried out there. A few yards away from the
docking area is the Custom House, a magnificent
building dating from 1681, and said to be the first commercial building in
Exeter constructed of brick. It was from here that all revenues were collected
– all goods being weighed on the King’s Beam that is still
in existence a few yards from the Custom House. Nearby is the Wharfinger’s
House, where lived
the “manager” of the wharf, or quayside. Also nearby is Cricklepit Mill, once a
fulling mill but later converted to a corn mill and also used for a time as a
saw mill. The mill has, in the past few years, been totally restored and is now
in complete working order – a popular tourist attraction.
The
undeniable fact of Exeter’s prominence in trading by shipping was not
appreciated by the Countess Isabella de Fortibus, a member of
Devon’s Courtenay family. In the 13th century, she decided to construct a weir
across the river to prevent large ships going to the port of Exeter. There was,
in her mind, solid reasoning in her decision and action.
The
Courtenay family were the Earls of Devon, living at Powderham Castle – as indeed
they still do. They owned huge tracts of land surrounding the city, including
the smaller port of Topsham, a short distance up the estuary from the English
Channel. The Countess realised that the family were losing a lot of trade to
Exeter, and needed to make more use of the port of Topsham. By preventing shipping heading onwards to Exeter, ships would be forced to
offload at Topsham, the nearest port to Exeter, thus providing additional
income for the family by way of tolls and fees on the cargoes offloaded at
their port. Exeter would be deprived of these fees by the weir being
constructed. In 1284 the weir was created, with a small central gap of less than thirty
feet, thus allowing only smaller boats to continue up river. The larger sailing
ships were now forced to dock at Topsham, paying their dues to the Courtenay
family, and then having the added expense of requiring their goods to be
transported to Exeter by horse and cart. The area close to that weir is now
known as Countess Wear, or sometimes
more correctly referred to as Countess Weir, as it perhaps should be known.
Exeter’s
wool and cloth industries
Probably the
most important factor that made Exeter a place of considerable wealth and
importance was the cloth and woollen trades of the 16th, 17th and 18th
centuries. In 1698 Celia Fiennes visited Exeter
and gave a glowing report of what she saw and found here.
Cathedral Yard from Thomas Moore's History of Devon, 1829
A large amount
of the combed wool was sent out to the cottage industries of country spinners
and weavers who returned it later to market as woven serges. Other towns such
as Tiverton carried out the earliest processes but again returning the serge to
Exeter. The raw wool was brought in, sorted, spun, combed and woven. The
dampened fabrics were then beaten in the fulling-mills, a process in Devon
called tucking. The fulled material was then
taken to be stretched and dried in the rack fields. When dry it was teased to
raise the nap and then sheared for a smooth finish. Finally it went to the
drawer to repair blemishes and to the hot pressman. If colour was required this
was now done but only to commission. All of this work with the trading and the
packing was carried out in the south-west part of the city and down on Exe
Island and Shilhay.
Daniel Defoe claimed that
Exeter’s weekly serge market was second only in size to the Brigg Market at
Leeds, in Yorkshire, the largest in England at that time. He further maintained
that the Devon woollen industry was the
most important branch of the woollen manufacture in the whole of England.
Exeter was certainly recognised as being of considerable importance within the
woollen trade, and also in other trades.
Throughout the 18th century Exeter’s wool trade slowly decreased due to the considerable number of mills being built in the north of England, and also the impact on trade caused by the European wars. In the middle of the 18th century Exeter’s wool trade was only half the size it had been at the beginning of the century. By the end of the 1700s it had virtually died in the city although some woollen and serge racks can still be seen in the maps of Hayman (16, 17 and 20). It is interesting to note that the only surviving Trade Guild in Exeter is that of the woollen trade – The Incorporation of Weavers, Fullers and Shearmen, who still meet at their own Guild hall – Tuckers Hall – in Exeter’s Fore Street. This guild hall must not be confused with the magnificent Guildhall in High Street – one of Exeter’s oldest buildings still in daily use, mainly for civic functions, although exhibitions and various meetings are frequently held there. The ancient Tuckers Hall, still overseen by a Beadle, is one of Exeter’s finest buildings, containing many relics of the trade.
Exeter toll houses and turnpikes
During the 18th
century, roads were being improved largely due to the Turnpike Trusts. Thus travel
became easier and quicker, and contact between cities and towns increased, as
did trade. Early tracks and roads connecting towns and villages were not
‘owned’, and were therefore not maintained. With the advent of the Turnpike
Trusts, this altered, and roads became an important part of life, not just for
businesses, but also for the public. From the fourteenth century, the idea of
levying tolls to upkeep roads was in place, but Turnpike roads came into being
in the mid seventeenth century. Turnpike Trusts were regulated by Parliament,
but the day-to-day running was left to local worthies or councils, who formed a
“trust”. They were responsible for sections of road, and subsequently charged
for the upkeep of them. The system did not reach Devon until the 1750s, and
Exeter in 1753. There then began the appearance of turnpikes and toll-gates, with suitable
toll-houses alongside. Various charges were set, and tolls were levied
according to usage. For example, a person on horseback may be charged one
penny, a farmer with a small flock of sheep ten pence, and a carriage with six
horses one shilling – but of course ten pence today is vastly different from
the 1800s! Exeter had many toll-gates, none of which survive, and only one or two of the former toll
houses remain in the area, such as those in Topsham Road and New North Road.
The toll system continued until the advent of the railway in England in the
early 1800s, but by the end of the 19th century it had virtually ceased. The
railway became an easier means of transport for both passengers and goods. Today, of course, the idea
of levying tolls is commonplace on roads and bridges in many countries.
Exeter
in the 19th century
So
we move on to the nineteenth century, and see an improvement in the city,
although the French Wars during the
latter part of the 18th century had prevented much of the city’s exports going
to Europe. Exeter at the beginning of the nineteenth century had around 20,000
citizens. Various areas were literally taken over by the considerable number of
wealthy merchants who still survived, despite the Wars. Pennsylvania, for
example, was popular for its magnificent views across the city, and several
large houses were constructed there, including the splendid properties of
Pennsylvania Park. Other areas
were to follow the pattern, and out-of-town houses were constructed by the
wealthy, with many still surviving to this day. Within the city, large houses
were constructed in terraces, such as Colleton Crescent, Barnfield
Crescent etc. Other
properties were detached, or semi detached, as can be seen in Baring Crescent.
Other areas were to follow the
pattern, and out-of-town houses were constructed by the wealthy, with many
still surviving to this day. A good example can be found in the houses of
Topsham Road. Larkbeare, seen in Braun & Hogenberg (1618) and Izacke
(1677), was one of three properties known with this name. Great Larkbeare
and Little Larkbeare stood at the bottom of Holloway Street, at the
junction of today’s Robert’s Road. The modern Larkbeare still stands
next to St Leonard’s church. Mount Radford, was earlier known as Radford
Place (see Speed, 1610). In the 1700s, this house was occupied by the
Baring family, creators of Barings Bank. Adjacent to Mount Radford was
Parkerswell, seen in Hayman (1805). This house was probably constructed
a few years before, possibly at the end of the 18th century. Coaver was probably also built
at the end of the 18th century, or the early 19th century and is shown in Hayman’s maps of 1806
and 1828. Bellair, also seen in Hayman (1806 and 1828), was built in
1710 by wealthy grocer John Vowler. Both Coaver and Bellair,
together with their respective land, have in recent years been incorporated
into Devon County Hall, headquarters of the Devon County Council. Maps before
1900 do not extend much further than Bellair, but there are several
other properties in Topsham Road that were built by wealthy merchants, and
these include Otago, Buckerell Lodge, Wear House, Fairfield,
Abbeville, Feltrim etc.
Several local businessmen
became rich as a result of the “building boom” of the time, including
brickworks owner and property developer John Sampson, and builders William
Hooper and Matthew Nosworthy. Much of their work can still be seen in Heavitree, Polsloe,
Southernhay and other areas. Hooper, for example, was responsible for Higher
Summerlands (destroyed in the Exeter Blitz), Lower Summerlands, Baring Place, the elegant Chichester Place, and much of St. Leonard’s Road. Nosworthy is remembered for his properties in Barnfield
Crescent, Colleton Crescent and the original Dix’s Field (also destroyed in the Exeter Blitz). Sampson’s Lane, in
Polsloe, is named after John Sampson. Two of Exeter’s markets, the Higher
Market in Queen Street, and the Lower Market in Fore Street were built by Hooper, but designed by the respected
architect Charles Fowler, who was also responsible for the design of London’s Covent
Garden, and, more locally, the
gatehouse of Powderham Castle, home of the Earls of Devon. The Higher Market still exists,
but in its new role as a shopping mall.
Markets were of considerable importance to the city, being held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, although later reduced to just Fridays. Fairs would be held on the third Wednesday of February, May and July, and the second Wednesday in December. The markets and fairs were for both for cattle and merchandise. The ancient Fair named Crollditch is now The Lammas Fair and is still acknowledged in the city.
Transport improves
Victorian
Exeter saw the arrival of the railway. Despite Besley including the line of the
South Devon Railway in his maps of 1836 and 1839 (20) and projecting a line to
cross Bonhay and Great Shilhay, the first trains did not arrive in Exeter until
1844, the line being officially opened on 1st May with a grand dinner being
held in the goods shed. And, of course, the Bristol and Exeter Railway Station
was built near the Red Cow Inn and the line crossed the river avoiding Bonhay
etc. as seen in Warren’s map, also executed for Besley (30). Within 20 years
Queen Street station was
constructed as the rival London & South Western Railway entered the city.
Its arrival was forecast on Featherstone’s small map circa 1858 (40). The
railway system throughout the country was fast increasing as business people
saw a much quicker and easier method of transporting their wares from one place
to another, and
passengers were able to reach their destinations far more quickly. A
journey from London, for which with the Telegraph post coach had taken
17 hours, could now be done in just four and a half on the express train. And
despite low wages, the average worker was able to afford a ride on the railway
on the increasing number of free days.
Wages
were comparatively low and hours were often long, with some workers toiling
from 6.00 am until 5.30 pm. In the mid
1800s, a labourer would be earning less than one pound a week, but more skilled
people were able to command from four pence to six pence an hour, and for a
fifty-six hour week they were able to earn almost two pounds. By the early
1900s, working hours reduced to around 48 per week and there were more public
holidays but pay rates remained fairly constant.
At
the same time, the Exeter Canal was seeing a
boom in trade, with ships bringing coal, timber, oil and other goods into the
city. On the Quayside, large
warehouses were constructed (still standing and well-used today) by businesses
who relied on shipping for bringing their goods to Exeter. Large iron foundries
were constructed in the lower part of the city, the Victorian era being renowned
for ornate ironwork in buildings and in the streets of the city. Three of
Exeter’s best-known foundries were Bodleys
(founded 1790), Willeys (founded 1860) and Garton & King, the latter being
able to boast of their beginnings in the mid 1600s!
The tramcar system of public
transport in Exeter started with horse drawn vehicles, but at the end of the 19th, electric
trams were in operation – powered by electricity running from the Rockfield
Works in New North Road. This is shown as “Electricity Station” in
Walker Boutall (1895) and Ward Lock (1898). In 1905 a new Power Station was
opened in Haven Road, and the Rockfield Works was sold. From 1905 until 1931
trams continued to be powered from Haven Road.
To
provide for this increase in transport needs, new roads had to be built and
some maps are still available which show the thoughts of those contemporary
city planners. Hackett’s maps, especially, indicate the road needs of the 1830s
and project the routes of the New North Devon Road past the barracks and the
New Road extending from Bedford Crescent out into the suburbs (see 21, 22 and Hackett
II ).
Exeter as a Meeting Place
Being such an important city, Exeter
was obviously the place for merchants, traders, and the general public to meet.
The ale-houses mentioned previously were, of course gathering places for all
and sundry. It is claimed that Sir Francis Drake took coffee in Mol’s Coffee
House, and ale in the Ship Inn in Martin’s Lane. The former claim is debatable.
John Dyer leased the building (previously the Anneuller’s College) from 1585
and some Armada negotiations took place there but it wasn’t really a coffee
house until about 1726 when it was advertised in Brice’s Weekly Journal.
A large room on the first floor is decorated with no less than forty-six coats
of arms of the more noted Devon families who presumably made Mol’s a rendezvous
when they visited Exeter. However, hotels and larger ale houses were frequently
used for meetings. Some two hundred members of the Devonshire Chamber of
Agriculture met at the Half Moon Hotel, in High Street four times a year. In
1850 they played host to the Royal Agricultural Show and two guides were
produced specially for the occasion (see 33 and 34).
The Exeter Literary Society,
established in 1841, met at their premises in Barnfield Road, now The Barnfield
Theatre. Here there were reading rooms in which the weekly lectures took place,
with smaller discussion groups using other rooms in the building. In 1850 the
Society had no less than 550 members. Maps will show earlier meeting places
such as Taylors Hall and James Meeting Place.
There were other meeting places of
perhaps more formal surroundings. The Devon and Exeter Institution, at No 7 The
Close, is a reading room and library for its members. The Institution was
founded in 1813 “for promoting Science
Literature and Art, and for illustrating the Natural and civil History of the
County of Devon and the city of Exeter” and remains in constant use today for meetings, lectures and
research.
The Victoria Hall in Queen Street,
no longer in existence, was built in 1869 to provide a room large enough to
accommodate two thousand people expected for the British Association Meeting
held in Exeter that year. There were also ancillary lecture rooms, committee
rooms and a sale room. It was also the venue for concerts, exhibitions, public
dinners and balls. During the Meeting it was used as the location for the
Geography section as well as for Inaugural and Other Addresses.
In 1894 Exeter was again host to a prestigious meeting when the Church Congress was held in October (61).
Changes in the City
Exeter’s
layout has, of course, changed dramatically since Roman days, although the
basic “enclosed” city can still be seen in aerial photographs, and much of the
Roman wall is still in place. Probably one of the most important changes was
that of the High Street/Fore Street link to the west. Hooker’s map of 1587
shows the High Street continuing down to the River Exe, but to the northern
side of the West Gate. The road that ran down directly to the West Gate was
Stepcote Hill – then the main exit route from the city centre. Nicholls has Strip
Coat Hill! Going out of the West Gate took the traveller across the bridge
crossing the Exe, and into St Thomas. Stepcote Hill today remains very much as
it was, but it must have been very difficult to traverse as it is steep and
cobbled - although William of Orange managed it (with 200 blacks from his
plantations) in 1688. The upper storeys of houses corbelled out and the first
floors on either side were extremely close. The layout is clearly shown in
Braun & Hogenberg’s map of 1618, and in Donn’s map of 1765. However, by the
late eighteenth century things had changed, and Tozer’s map of 1872 shows the
High Street leading down to Fore street, which in turn went down to the new
river crossing to the north of the West Gate. Stepcote Hill was now redundant as
a main exit.
Exe
Bridge was at one time a mere timber structure, replaced in the 1200s by a new
stone structure of seventeen arches, as can be seen in various maps of the 16th
and 17th centuries. In the latter part of the 18th century,
this bridge was also replaced, although several of the original arches can now
been seen between the plain and uninteresting 20th century
structures, Exe Bridge North and Exe Bridge South.
Rocque’s
map of 1764 shows a Workhouse situated a considerable distance from the City,
on the London Road. This was recently the site of the Royal Devon and Exeter
Hospital at Heavitree, although much of that (at the time of writing) is set to
be demolished for a supermarket! Tozer is interesting as he shows several
important changes. We now see the new Devon County Gaol, together with smaller
changes such as New Cut, which takes the pedestrian from Southernhay to the
Cathedral. Also depicted is the Theatre in Waterbeer Street, but although this
building was in being in the early 1700s, it is not shown as such prior to
Rocque. The building can be seen, though not named as a Theatre. In 1787 a new
Theatre was constructed at the junction of Southernhay and the new Bedford
Circus, and can be seen on Tozer’s map. This theatre was destroyed by fire in
1820, and was replaced by another in 1821. In 1885 that building was also
destroyed by fire, but never replaced. For some reason, Freeman’s map of 1887
and Cassell’s of 1888 both continue to show the theatre.
Perhaps
Bedford Circus deserves a special mention. No longer existing, thanks to the
bombing raids in 1942, Bedford Circus has a “special” place in Exeter’s recent
history. Originally the site of a Dominican Monastery, it later became Bedford
House, the family home of Lord John Russell, the Duke of Bedford. It was in
this house that Queen Henrietta Maria (wife of Charles I) gave birth to
Princess Henrietta, having stopped off at Exeter during the Civil War in
England, as she fled this country for homeland, France. The house was
demolished in 1783, to allow Bedford Circus to be constructed. Portman (1966)
states that the Circus was completed in 1825. It contained some of Exeter’s
finest Georgian houses, most of which were five storeys if their basements are
included. The properties were largely owned, or at least occupied, by
professional businessmen such as accountants, solicitors, architects etc. It
was severely damaged during 1942, and although one or two properties such as
Bedford Chapel could have been saved, the whole area was demolished and the new
Bedford Street laid out. Sadly the modern construction was nowhere near as
attractive as the original. Bedford Circus can be seen in various maps
including Hackett (23), where the Bedford Chapel is shown as a detached
building to the south of the Circus – although not named as such.
Brown/Schmollinger 1835 and later maps do name it.
A myriad
of changes took place during the late 1700s, and early 1800s, but far too many
to individually mention here. Major developments included the extension to the
port. In Hayman’s map of 1828 we see the “proposed Basin” – an important
feature of Exeter to this day – for it stands at the end of the Exeter Ship
Canal, the only way that ships can now reach the City (see above). One of the
next important changes was the introduction of a new road from the High Street
towards the new projected railway station at St David’s. This road was built in
1834, and was named Higher Market Street until some years later, when it was
re-named Queen Street to honour the then monarch, Queen Victoria. The first map
to show this street appears to be that of Brown and Schmollinger in 1835. It is
interesting to note that on this same map, the gates of the City are no longer
shown, as the last gate to be demolished was the North Gate, in 1834.
The name
Besley is probably more associated with Street Directories, but of course many
of the directories included maps. The first map of Exeter specifically
commissioned for Besley (by Warren in 1845) is interesting in that it depicts
the new railway system running along the west side of the city. By this time,
considerable areas of land outside the city walls had now been developed for
housing. This map when compared with maps of the 1700s, for example, shows how
this development evolved. Warren’s map also clearly shows the two Markets,
Higher (Queen Street) and Lower (Market Street), both constructed in the 1830s
to the design of Charles Fowler.
Oliver’s
reproduction of Norden’s plan of the Castle, which later became a court house,
is of particular interest today because from 2004 the castle ceased to be used
for Court and civic purposes, and became the property of a developer who
planned great things – including a restaurant and apartments that, in 2010,
have only partially come to fruition. Early maps (e.g. Tozer) depict the small
Chapel of St Mary that once stood just inside the Norman gatehouse, but the
chapel was demolished in the late 18th century. It was later
replaced with the Castle Keeper’s cottage, which is shown on later maps, but
can be confused with the original chapel.
From 1850
it is impossible to list the changes that have taken place in the City, but
many of these changes can be seen on the
maps of the late 1800s and early 1900s when one looks carefully. This was the
period when many roads, streets and crescents were created in the city. Since
then the City has seen constant change, with huge areas of housing and general
development.
Exeter in the 1939-45 War
The most significant changes to the City in modern times took place during the 1941/1942 bombing raids on Exeter during the Second World War.
Although
the events of the 1939-1945 war are outside the scope of this present volume
and have been discussed in full in other publications it is, perhaps, important
to mention how it changed the face of
Exeter. In 1942 Exeter received a series of bombing raids by the German
Luftwaffe. Exeter was of little importance to the Germans and was probably
simply unlucky to become a target. Air Marshal Sir Arthur Harris, then in
charge of Bomber Command, had wanted to experiment on bringing in waves of
aircraft instead of a single squadron and ordered experimental raids to be
carried out on Lübeck, a small, attractive town on the Baltic shores of
Germany. Lübeck was of little significance, apart from its location close to a
German submarine base. The raids on Lübeck left the town a smouldering ruin,
causing Hitler to order attacks on English towns and cities that were, like
Lübeck, historic and of great beauty. However, Exeter did have a fighter station responsible for the airspace west of Portland. It is popular
belief that targets were chosen from the Baedeker
Guide Books, the German equivalents of the Murray or A & C Black guides
of Great Britain.
During
the raids on Exeter - which became known as Baedaker
or reprisal raids - much of the city’s historic centre was devastated,
with many fine buildings lost. Especially hard hit was the area where the High
Street and Bedford Street join and some of the buildings to be destroyed
included Deller’s Café at the corner, a splendid building on three storeys and
not just a café, but an important meeting place for all and sundry. Other
buildings destroyed included the delightful Bampfylde House, which although
internally ravaged by fire, was capable of being restored but was demolished,
and the Hall of the Vicars Choral, the home for several vicars attached to the
Cathedral. The gas works at Haven Bank, shown on many pre-1900 maps, was bombed
but suffered the loss of only one tank but the Lower Market was caught in the
blazes around South Street, Market Street, Coombe Street and Fore Street and
was lost. The city library in Castle Street was taken over as a control centre,
but was largely destroyed by fire and had to be evacuated. The lovely Bedford
Circus, its development plotted so carefully in the 19th century maps, was
destroyed and demolished. The Lower Market was largely destroyed
in the Exeter Blitz, but the
granite shell remained and could have been restored, but was, sadly,
demolished.
Since WWII Exeter has become a much
larger city, if not as beautiful as it was. In more recent years, Exeter has
taken in outlying suburbs, such as Alphington and, Pinhoe and now has some
125,000 residents, and is a thriving, bustling community. Yet it has changed
dramatically, possibly for the worse in many respects. In his book W.G. Hoskins
(1960) regretted that Exeter was no longer a city of culture. There was, he
said, a profound difference between modern Exeter and that of one hundred years
ago. That, of course, is due to progress and modernisation, but Hoskins is
right in saying that the culture of Exeter – and probably many similar cities
– has changed. So has the architecture, so has the size and
layout. Indeed, so has the population itself changed, for we all now live in a
modern society that reflects little on the life of centuries past. Was Exeter a
better place in medieval times, or was The Georgian era better? Did the
Victorians live a better, more cultured life, or are we now living in better
times? Perhaps it is better for the reader to decide.
Despite all the change, despite the
intrusion of past invaders, despite the devastation caused by the last War, and
despite modern challenges, Exeter is still a delightful place in which to live
and work.[2]
Return to Introduction
Go to Catalogue of Maps
[1]
After 1688 woollen products were allowed to be exported free of duty and Exeter
became a major trading centre for both export and import as well as re-export.
Land transport was expensive and difficult and the coastal trade expanded
throughout the 18th century, and with the trade both canal and quay grew in
importance. The wool trade had two high points: in 1710 the value of the export
of serge to Holland was £386,000 (compared to Norwich at £239,000 and London
only £20,000); after a period of decline, the serge trade was worth roughly
£600,000 in 1777. The collapse that followed was effected first by the American
War of Independence and then by
the French revolutionary wars. By 1820 the port was only engaged in coastal
traffic and by 1820 the woollen trade was almost irrelevant in the city.
Vancouver (B&B 70, 1808) placed the collapse much earlier, stating that
exports in 1800 were worth only £24,000!
[2] I
would like to acknowledge the help of both Andrew Passmore B.Sc. and David
Cornforth.
Comments
Post a Comment