16.     John Hayman (Cole & Roper)                                                     1805

 

In 1801 John Britton (1771-1857) received a commission to prepare the text for the Beauties of Wiltshire, the first county in the series of the Beauties of England and Wales. John started as a cellarman in Smithfield, then became an attorney’s clerk and gave that up when he became interested in archaeology and had published his first work the Adventures of Pizzaro in 1799.  By 1805 he was writing about Devon and in that year he arranged with John Roper for the engraving of a county map by George Cole and a map of Exeter drawn by John Hayman. He went on to complete the Beauties with E W Brayley (1773-1854), a fellow antiquarian, and it proved a great success. It led to further illustrated county books of which Devon Illustrated was published in 1829, and Cornwall Illustrated in 1831 (and brought together in 1832).

The plan was also issued in the British Atlas, first published 1810, published for the Proprietors^[1]. From 1810 editions appeared for Vernor and Hood and in 1816 for Baldwin, Cradock & Joy, and in 1816 English Topography by the Rev. J. Nightingale was issued by the same publishers. The Curiosities of Great Britain … London: Tallis & Co (1835) also contained a county map but no changes to map area (only plate number or imprint etc., see B&B 67 for the county map).

Britton was one of the most productive writers of his time. An author of numerous books on the antiquities and topography of Great Britain, he was so popular that the Britton Club was formed in 1845 and a sum of nearly £1,000 was raised by a subscription for his intended autobiography. 

Title: EXETER

Size: 220 x 180 mm with SCALE 800 feet = 24 mm or 1 Mile = 174 mm.

Signature: Engraved by J. Roper from a drawing by J. Hayman and Drawn and Engraved under the Direction of J. Britton. Note: To Accompany the Beauties of England and Wales and imprint: London: Published for the Proprietors by Vernon & Hood Poultry, June 1st, 1805.^[2] 

The Bishop’s & the City Arms are top left and at the bottom there is a vignette of East View of Exeter Cathedral &c. signed Hayman dd. and Woolnoth sc. The REFERENCE table is shown in wards above the scale bar. A north point is shown. The plan covers the same area as Tozer except that Holloway is extended as far as Parker’s Wall and the Cotton Factory by Trews Wear. As David Smith points out it was specially commissioned and Hayman used extensive local knowledge. [2A]

Outside the city walls: Bridge Street is named between the bridge and Fore Street with Frog Lane passing below; the notes Devon/Exeter are shown by the bridge; the western New Cut is omitted and a New Canal bypasses Blackaller Wear; the road from Bedford Circus has been extended and now passes through Barn Field (the crescent dating to 1800). There are numerous additions including Little Silver beside St. Davids, the two sets of Barracks off the New Road, and an Aqueduct to the City Conduits at the head of Longbrook (beside Lions Holt and the Ammunition Ground). Fryers Hay, previously full of serge racks is now built up with Graves Street and Colleton Crescent (only completed in 1805 after three years) but other fields are still dotted with rack symbols, even though their total area is dwindling, for example, Bull Meadow, between Holloway Street and Magdalen Street. Only one Turnpike Gate is shown: the gate opposite Parker’s Wall on Holloway Street.

Inside the walls: the Wards have only an initial as reference; most religious meeting houses are shown as well as all the churches; the Old Jail (Tozer) is now the Methodists Meeting House; St. John’s Hospital is called the Grammar Sc.; the Treasury, by the cathedral has been removed; North Street is widened by the old gate; and the chapel is omitted within the castle. The Quaker’s Meeting House was built in Magdalen Street in 1806 but is already shown and is in the key. The Mount Pleasant inn on the river has become the Knave of Clubs.

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^[1] Issued in parts without a title page.

^[2] Volume IV containing Devon and Dorset is dated 1803 (title page) but the three maps (Devon, Dorset and Exeter) are all dated 1805.

[2A] Amended 2022: David Smith; The British Atlas, 1810 – A Reassessment of the town maps; in the IMCoS Journal; March 2017.

 17.     John Hayman (Alexander Jenkins)                                                 1806 

John Hayman´s original map (previous entry, 16) was used as the basis for another map of the city included in Alexander Jenkins’ History of Exeter published in 1806 (see above). The plan, though drawn to a smaller scale, uses the same technique as for Hayman’s 1805 plan. There is greater emphasis on the suburbs so that toll gates can be seen and a number of houses are shown, e.g. Franklin, Barley, Haccombe and the two Cleaves to the west; Cowick Priory and Alphington House to the south; and Liverydole Chapel to the east. The area actually covered is from Littlejohn’s Cross to the Tiverton Gate and from Exwick Mill to one mile out from Larkbear, the city boundary. The Exeter/Devon boundary is clearly pecked (omitting the northern part). Heights are hachured and Country Seats drawn in elevation. This map has more written information even within the city and appears to be more accurate.

A proof copy exists (see below) before improvements, e.g. parish names include word Part or Pt, Franklin and Cowick Priory and a number of other country houses corrected, the Artillery Barracks have a new wing and outbuildings, and a picture of Mt Radford house replaces the previous plan.

 

Title: EXETER

Size: 205 x 235 mm with Scale Quarter of a Mile in chains 20 = 26 mm or 1 Mile = 104 mm.

Signatures:  Engraved by B. Baker & D. Wright, Islington and From a survey & drawing by J. Hayman.

Imprints: Engraved for Alexr. Jenkins History of Exeter and Published by P. Hedgeland, High Street, Exeter April 19, 1806. 

The broad hatched border has been enlarged for the title (compared to 16) and there is a North point. Whereas the list on Hayman’s earlier plan (previous entry) included all religious meeting places this Reference Key only relates to the churches. The northerly barracks are now described and the new Artillery Barracks shown (bottom right); Hoopers Buildings can now be seen next to the Workhouse on the Honiton-London Road. There appear to be fewer buildings shown about Larkbear by Mt. Radford, and though Bull Meadow has lost its racks, there are further rack fields shown along Magdalen Street. The plan also shows nearly all the toll gates on the main roads. At Exwick a factory and mills are shown; possibly Mr Pim’s paper mills which burnt down only three years later. Within the city the streets, most important buildings, the Guildhall, inns, hotels, Tuckers Hall, the theatre, the partly built crescent in Barn Field and even the markets are shown and lettered.

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 20.     John Hayman (T and H Besley)                                                      1828 

Thomas Besley was born in 1760 and advertised himself as printer, bookseller and stationer or bookbinder and was listed in various directories of the time at Southgate Street (1801 and 1811); at Holy Trinity (1803); and at 76, Bell Hill, South Street (between 1816 and 1834). Thomas and Jane had 6 children including Thomas Junior (he became an independent printer in Exeter) and Henry who eventually became partner and successor to the family business. Few local printers published extensively but Henry Besley could claim to have been one of the most prolific of local publishers.

It would appear that the Besleys were in contact with John Hayman (see 16) and managed to obtain the plates which had been used for his map of 1805. They expanded the plates, added new title and imprints and included the map in the Exeter Itinerary And General Directory - June 1828. This was Printed and Published by T and H Besley, South Street. Issues of the directory are extant only for the years 1828, 1831 (no change to map), 1836 and 1839. 

Title: EXETER in 1828

Size: 230 x 210 mm with SCALE 800 feet = 24 mm or 1 Mile = 174 mm.

Imprint and signature: To Accompany the Exeter Itinerary & General Directory and Exeter, Published by the Proprietors, T & H Besley, Printers &c. South Street. 

Hayman’s map of 1805 has been revised and has been extended to the east, to include the houses at the top end of St. Sidwell Street (e.g. Peerless Place and Salem Place) and the City Workhouse and Baring Crescent on the London Road. Coaver and Bellair (built by John Vowler, a rich grocer, in 1710) can now be seen. The Reference Key has been revised (e.g. Quaker’s Meeting House is now St. Sidwell’s Church) and turned into a scroll. There are a number of new buildings or alterations: the County Bridewell is shown beside the County Gaol and the nearby Barracks are slightly reduced; the Proposed Basin is shown near Trews Wear and the Deaf and Dumb Institute, established 1826, nearby has been added. Mount Radford has become a school (1827). The Racket Court has given way to Dix’s Field (named after previous owner). A new canal has been cut at Great Shilhay. In addition the new gas works, built 1815-1817, has been included on Exe Island. This was situated in Archer Lane, between Tudor Street and Bonhay Road. Colleton Crescent, surprisingly, looks uncompleted. There are a few errors: Broad Gate has not been changed although it and 2 adjoining houses were taken down in 1825 for road widening.

The map was revised for inclusion in the Exeter Guide and Itinerary of 1836 (now only published by H Besley, see below). The main change is that the reference key is removed and placed below the map; in the space now uncovered, considerable development is shown such as the New Road is extended from Bedford Crescent and back into Paris Street. Reference 35 is now the Friends’ Meeting House, newly opened, at the new Friar’s Walk. The new Queen Street is already shown as far as the city wall with a suggestion of extension but not yet named (opened 1837).

There are roads and houses between Magdalen Road and Holloway Street (not all complete). The North Road is new and winds from Longbrook Street out to the Bridewell and Gaol before joining the previous New Road and passing near the new reservoir (1833). Here it meets another new road which crosses Pound Lane and meets Northernhay Row near the New City Prison. The Bristol & Exeter Railway is now shown but without start or end: it appears from the compass on the banks of the Exe, follows the river on the northern bank before crossing both Great Shilhay and the river and ceases at the New Basin. The line was enacted in 1836 but not connected to the city until 1844.

For the 1839 directory the map was altered: the new road to the New City Prison has been deleted; the layout of the roads around Magdalen Road has been realigned (corrected) with a new road to join Paris Street; and new properties have sprung up between Longbrook Street and the New North Road. There are outlines of buildings at the New Basin: these were possibly supposed to be the new coal wharfs or the rival gas works built at Haven Banks and opened in May 1839.

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