The Destruction of the High Street Before 1942

"The city wears the marks of its history proudly; and the High Street has an aspect of antiquity without rival in the West. It ranks indeed among the most picturesque thoroughfares not merely in Devon, but in the kingdom...it is a paradise for the antiquary."

'Tourist's Guide to Devonshire' 1880

The image above is an albumen print from c1875. It is one of the earliest surviving photographs of Exeter's High Street, almost contemporary with the quote from the 'Tourist's Guide to Devonshire'. Almost none of the buildings shown still exist today. The most prominent exceptions are The Guildhall, its crumbling and blackened portico shown prior to later restoration of the stonework, and, to the far left, the lower floors of the Turk's Head inn. From this perspective at least, the High Street looks almost unchanged from the 17th century. The photo below shows the same view c1910. As can be seen, the High Street's "aspect of antiquity" was already vanishing.

For much of Exeter's history the High Street was the city's oldest, widest and most prestigious street. But today, apart from a handful of notable exceptions, very little of historical interest survives above ground.

So what happened to this "most picturesque" of thoroughfares? Clearly the Exeter Blitz played a major role as approximately 50% of the High Street was destroyed during a single bombing raid in 1942. Of the remaining 50% around half, including a number of listed buildings, was demolished between 1950 and 1980 by Exeter City Council for redevelopment.

The High Street on the eve of World War II was the product of centuries of architectural evolution. Much has been written about the damage inflicted upon Exeter during World War Two and it's tempting to write about the effect of the Exeter Blitz on the High Street in isolation (the buildings right were indeed destroyed in 1942). But in terms of the architectural losses at least, the bombing of the High Street must be considered as part of a more general history of destruction and demolition which started long before the outbreak of war. To understand what was lost it's perhaps necessary to understand what was there before.

From the 19th century onwards a theory has been put forward that the High Street is on the same alignment as a prehistoric ridgeway. This ridgeway is said to have run from over the high land of Stoke Hill, down Old Tiverton Road, through Sidwell Street and along the High Street to a large settlement overlooking the River Exe at a point close to where Bartholomew Street West is today.

It's a great theory and perfectly plausible but as far as I know there's no direct archaeological evidence for it. There were people living on the site of Exeter before the Second Augustan Legion arrived cAD55. An Iron Age round house was unearthed during the construction of the Guildhall Shopping Centre in the 1970s, and in 2002 a small Iron Age farmstead was excavated at Southernhay. Unfortunately these scattered remains aren't enough to conclude that the site was a major prehistoric tribal centre or that it was connected to a ridgeway along the course of the High Street.

The street plan of the Roman town that evolved out of the legionary fortress cAD75 seems to have been largely replaced when Alfred the Great refounded Exeter at the end of the 9th century.

Nearly all of the streets within the city walls are either Saxon or later. But the High Street is one of the very few streets in Exeter that probably does have a Roman origin. It's believed to have evolved at the same as the Roman civitas of Isca Dumnoniorum and was the main Roman road through the settlement. Again, any direct archaeological evidence for the metalling of the Roman High Street seems to have been destroyed by the installation of underground water conduits in the Middle Ages and by the insertion of sewers and modern utility pipes.

The 1765 map above left is by Benjamin Donn. It shows the old city surrounded by the city walls. The extent of the modern High Street is highlighted in red. The surviving stretches of the grid-like Anglo-Saxon street plan are highlighted in purple. It's easy to see how the High Street and Fore Street form one major thoroughfare travelling through the city for east to west with smaller streets extending away from it. Donn labels the main thoroughfare "Fore Street or High Street". The names are often used interchangeably in earlier documents but everything mentioned in this post refers to the extent of the High Street as we know it today.

The image right is a detail showing the High Street from Hogenberg's 1587 map of Exeter. The East Gate is at the top. Below The Guildhall, depicted before it acquired its portico, is Broadgate with the Broad Gate leading into the cathedral precinct. The tower of St Petrock's is almost obscured by houses. At the very end of the street, standing in the centre of the road, is the Great Conduit where the High Street met North Street, South Street and Fore Street.

By the beginning of the 11th century Exeter was about the sixth richest settlement in late Saxon England and by the close of the same century it was a cathedral city. Chapels and churches had sprung up all across the city. During the medieval period there were a large number of chapels on the High Street. St Petrock's Church, still standing, is close to the corner of the High Street and South Street. The Guildhall, which has been in the High Street since at least the 12th century, had a chapel dedicated to St George, demolished when the portico was added in 1593. A little further up, on the corner of the High Street and Goldsmith Street, was Allhallows Church. On the south side of the High Street is St Stephen's Church. On the north side and closer to the East Gate was St Lawrence's Church (severely damaged in 1942 and later demolished). A chapel dedicated to St Bartholomew was probably located in an upper chamber of the East Gate itself. Next to it, from c1200 onwards, was the medieval hospital dedicated to St John, later St John's Hospital School, which also had its own chapel. At the west end of the street stood the Great Conduit, a colossal pinnacled Gothic water conduit built in 1441 and demolished in 1770.

As might be expected, there were numerous inns and taverns in the High Street. The 15th century New Inn next to St Stephen's Church was one of the largest medieval inns in Exeter. There was also the Green Dragon almost opposite St Lawrence's Church, the Swan near St Martin's Lane, as well as the Phoenix, the Rose & Crown and the Eagle. Prior to the East Gate's demolition, the Salutation was located in the gatehouse's huge drum towers.

Until the 18th century the High Street was also the home to many of Exeter's wealthiest citizens. A few of their houses still exist to show what much of the High Street would've looked like in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries e.g. Nos. 41 & 42 High Street left and No. 46 High Street below right. Dating to c1520, No. 46 is the oldest surviving domestic building on the High Street. In 1695 Celia Fiennes thought the High Street was comparable with any street in London and when the antiquarian William Stukeley visited Exeter in 1727 he observed that the High Street was "a street full of shops well furnished". Markets were held in the High Street until the creation of the Higher Market and Lower Market in the 1830s.

The poet Robert Southey stayed at Exeter in 1797 and left a vivid description of the city. "Exeter is ancient", he claimed, "and stinks. One great street runs through the city from east to west; the rest consists of dirty lanes". The "great street" was the High Street, including Fore Street. Southey's dismissal of the rest being "dirty lanes" is probably fairly accurate. In the words of Hoskins, "for centuries the High Street had been the only street of any consequence". This might be overstating it a little but it's hard to imagine now what Exeter must've been like before the middle of the 19th century. The city's other main streets, South Street and North Street, were much narrower than they are today. Curling away from the main routes was a network of even narrower streets, like Catherine Street, Gandy Street and Paul Street, or Preston Street, Smythen Street and Stepcote Hill in the West Quarter.

Areas of dense housing were connected by a tortuous network of passageways and alleyways. Musgrave's Alley and King's Alley, both destroyed in 1942, were two that led directly off the High Street. Further down the street were Lamb Alley and Exchange Lane, both leading into the Cathedral Close, as well as Bussel Lane and Parliament Street, leading into Waterbeer Street to the north. The fact that few of these streets and byways had a flagstone road surface meant that they probably really were just "dirty lanes". The High Street would've seemed exceptionally spacious in comparison with nearly every other thoroughfare in the city.

The painting by John Abbot White above dates to 1797 and shows a market taking place in the High Street. The artist must've been leaning out of the first floor window of No. 45 High Street to get this view (the decorative cornice of No. 46 is visible to the far left). It's a fascinating snapshot of what the High Street looked like at the end of the 18th century. A large number of oversailing houses from the 16th and 17th centuries are still evident. It's even possible to trace a little of the history of many of them, even though much has now been demolished. To the far right is No. 211 High Street, one of a pair of 17th century houses. Next to it is No. 210, built over the chancel of Allhallows Church. Then there's the narrow entrance into Goldsmith Street and what is now the site of 'Millets' on the corner. Some of the houses do still exist almost unchanged since Abbot White painted them, such as No. 200 High Street with a semi-circular window set high into the gable end. Fortunately The Guildhall is still standing.

The image below shows a detail from Hedgeland's model of the city as it appeared in 1769. This was townscape familiar to Southey. The image shows just one half of the High Street. The Great Conduit is on the far right almost blocking the entrance into South Street. St Petrock's Church is still obscured by houses as it was when Hogenberg engraved his map almost two centuries earlier. On the far left St Martin's Lane leads into the Cathedral Close spanned at its far end by St Martin's Gate, one of the precinct's medieval gatehouses. Allhallows Church can be seen, on the corner of Goldsmith Street, as can the barn-like structure of The Guildhall itself almost in the centre of the image.

One thing that is vividly conveyed by Hedgeland's model are the long tenement plots upon which the individual houses were built. Nearly all of the houses shown are built at a right angle to the streets. This maximised the number of properties that could front onto the street while allowing them plenty of space at the rear for other rooms and yards. Even such an eminent property as No. 229 High Street was built in the same way.

In many cases these tenement, or burgage plots dated back to the 10th and 11th century. In subsequent centuries they were sometimes subdivided and two houses built where there had previously only been one but the outline of the plots often remain the same. Even when a house was demolished and rebuilt it was often rebuilt on the same plot.

It was the resulting architectural variety that largely contributed to the pre-war character of not just the High Street but Exeter as a whole. The majority of these plots remained intact for nearly one thousand years until 1942 and the subsequent redevelopment of the city, even if the buildings that originally occupied the burgage plots were long gone.

People talk about history being lost when a structure is lost, which is true, but for me it was the destruction of these ancient footprints that destroyed the city as a living historical entity on a quite profound level. The aerial view above left shows one of the fragments of the High Street where the medieval tenement plots have remained intact. Compare these with the colossal redevelopment on the other side of the street (now 'Marks & Spencer').

Given both its central location and its importance the High Street was one of the first parts of the city to experience wholescale modernisation. According to Alexander Jenkins writing in 1806, it was around 1768 that "the spirit of improvement" began to manifest itself in Exeter. Jenkins cited the rebuilding of the Green Dragon inn by William Praed "in a more modern style" as the start of the process. Later in the 19th century this period in Exeter's history is given a slightly different slant. Referencing Jenkins, a report in the 1866 issue of the 'Transactions of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society' claimed that the years of 1768 to 1770 were "a terrible time for 'public improvements in Exeter', effected through the destruction of architectural antiquities".

The report cites the demolition of the North Gate in 1768 and the construction of the Royal Clarence Hotel over "some antique frontage" as well as the demolition of the Great Conduit in 1770, the demolition of Bedford House, "the ancient seat of the Dukes of Bedford", and the demolition of the Green Dragon inn "and other houses". Perhaps the Victorians shouldn't have protested too much given their own predeliction for razing historical structures to the ground (such as the College of the Vicars Choral). The vast and beautiful late medieval East Gate in the High Street above right came down in 1784. Jenkins, who liked to think of himself as something of an antiquarian, thought that this was "a very great and necessary improvement".

Throughout the latter half of the 18th century and well into the 19th century, a number of the older properties in the High Street received 'Georgianised' stucco facades with sash windows replacing oriels.

One such example which still exists is No. 195 High Street standing on the corner of Parliament Street and the High Street (the pale pink building left). It has a very plain facade dating to c1820 but behind the frontage is a timber-framed property of c1700 which was part of an even earlier house from the 16th century. No. 195 still contains a number of interesting features, including a fine late 17th century staircase, none of which are apparent just from looking at the exterior. Such alterations make it difficult to tell a building's age just by looking at the outside, especially if those buildings now no longer survive.

Unfortunately very little is known about the vast majority of historical buildings destroyed in Exeter over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries, even if images of the properties still exist.

For example, the photo right shows a number of pre-war properties in the High Street which were destroyed in 1942. The gabled building at No. 6 High Street stood on the corner of the High Street and Bampfylde Street. (Bampfylde Street was a very narrow lane which, before 1942, led to Bampfylde House and Catherine Street.) No. 6 is clearly timber-framed and probably dated to the 16th or 17th century. But that's about as much as can be said about it. The house to the right of No. 6 was probably of a similar age with a remodelled facade but similar windows. The same was possibly true of the Three Tuns at No. 8 High Street. It's all possibly, perhaps and maybe. It's only relatively recently, with seemingly nondescript properties being subjected to rigorous archaeological investigations, that the often hidden history of Exeter's remaining buildings has come to light.

Anyway, be that as it may the High Street underwent a series of other major changes over the course of the 19th century. By 1820 the corner of the High Street with London Inn Square had been rebuilt with a terrace of four Regency townhouses (destroyed in 1942). The construction of the terrace and the contemporary Devon and Exeter Subscription Rooms resulted in the demolition of part of the city wall.

The Rose and Crown inn at Nos. 256-258 High Street (near 'Boots') left was demolished in 1834. The Phoenix inn and the Swan inn were demolished at around the same time for the construction of Queen Street. The Swan had an interesting porch supported by grotesque figures carved in oak (something similar once existed at the early 16th century King John Tavern in South Street). Nos. 206 & 207 High Street were both rebuilt c1830. The late medieval house of Thomas Elyot at No. 73 High Street was demolised in 1845.

St John's Hospital School was almost completely rebuilt in 1852. Since 1633 the school had been located on the site of a medieval hospital founded c1200 and dedicated to St John. The hospital's massive High Street frontage had already been largely remodelled in the late 18th century right but the work of 1852 resulted in the loss of the remaining medieval fabric, including parts of the original quadrangle around which the hospital had been constructed. The new buildings were largely demolished just under 30 years later in 1879 when a new Post Office was constructed on the site. The Eastgate Arcade, which opened in 1881, was also built on part of the former school. The Arcade and Post Office were both destroyed in 1942.

In 1876 No. 34 High Street, part of 'Colsons' where 'Dingles' stands today, was remodelled from the first floor upwards. (A large part of the 'Colsons' store survived the Blitz until it was demolished during post-war redevelopment in the 1950s). Bedford Street, leading to Bedford Circus and formerly as narrow as St Martin's Lane, was widened in 1878 resulting in several properties being demolished at its corner with the High Street (William Pread's "modern" building that replaced the Green Dragon inn disappeared at this time).

The image left is based on a sketch of c1860 by George Townsend. It shows, from left to right, Nos.  263-267 High Street. No. 263, with its oversailing upper floors and oriel windows dated to c1600 and was demolished around 1870. No. 264 High Street, its smaller timber-framed neighbour, was of a similar age and was destroyed in 1942. Next to it, with the half hipped roof, is No. 265. Dating from the 18th century or earlier it was demolished when the new Apothecaries' Hall was built in the site in 1893. Nos. 266 and 267 High Street were constructed from the recycled stone of the East Gate after it was demolished in 1784. Just visible is the statue of Henry VII that stood in a niche on the first floor. This building was also destroyed during the Exeter Blitz.

The peculiar little early 17th century house at No. 210 High Street, built over the chancel of Allhallows Church, was demolished for road-widening in 1879. A group of tall timber-framed houses from the late 17th century or earlier at Nos. 212-219 High Street, conspicuous in the albumen print at the top of this post, were gradually removed at the corner of Queen Street and the High Street between c1880 and 1900. Nos. 55, 56 & 57 High Street, including the Eagle tavern which dated to the 15th century, were all destroyed by a major fire in October 1881. The timber-framed Apothecaries' Hall at No. 246 High Street, which dated to the 17th century or earlier, was demolished in 1893

By now the High Street was clearly in danger of losing much of its historical character and ancient patina. As early as 1871 a report in the 'Exeter Flying Post' stated that "the High Street is wonderfully picturesque, with its quaint gabled houses" but that these houses were "gradually being improved away to give place to modern abominations of stucco".

A number of other unfortunate demolitions and alterations took place between 1900 and the 1930s. The corner of North Street and the High Street right, where 'Athena' is today, was rebuilt by the start of the 20th century. Who knows what lay behind the Georgianised facades. Allhallows Church was demolished for road-widening in 1906.

According to Harbottle Reed, No. 199 High Street had a central courtyard overlooked on one side by "a massive timber front of 15th century date having cusp headed lights". Although No. 199 still survives, hidden behind another plain stucco facade, the 15th century timber work described by Reed was demolished in 1904. Nos. 70 & 71 High Street, next to St Petrock's Church, were demolished for road-widening in 1903. The property was described by Reed as being "a very fine specimen of early 16th century timber work" with an interior "sumptuous with linen fold door panels and moulded framing". At No. 72 High Street a 16th century timber-framed facade that formed part of an inner courtyard was demolished in 1905. A second facade of a similar age, which overlooked the cathedral at the rear, survived until it was demolished by the city council in the 1950s.

No. 65 High Street, on the corner of the High Street and Broadgate, had a very unusual, early groin vaulted cellar made from brick before it was demolished in 1904. Several houses that obscured the north wall of St Petrock's were demolished at the same time.

The Half Moon inn left, which dated to the late 17th century, had already had its timber-fronted facade and oriel windows replaced in the 19th century. But the interior contained several very fine plasterwork ceilings from c1680, possibly the creation of Thomas Lane. The extensive premises were completely demolished in 1912. (One of the ceilings was salvaged in its entirety and can be seen in the city's museum.) The site was used for the renowned Deller's Cafe which opened in 1916 before being badly damaged in 1942. Nos. 23 & 24 High Street were two very tall gabled properties with oriel windows which stood next to the Half Moon inn. They probably dated to the 17th century and were demolished in 1923.

In 1925 the red brick late 17th century front of No. 234 High Street was replaced. Nos. 59 & 60 High Street were demolished c1925 and replaced with a single structure. No. 59 dated to the 18th century or earlier. No. 60 dated at least to the 16th century. Fragments of wall paintings dating to late 1500s were uncovered at No. 60 along with sections of a thick medieval wall, all of which were destroyed during the demolition.

Perhaps most shocking of all was the demolition of No. 229 High Street right. This late Tudor townhouse, again with a modified facade, contained some of Exeter's finest surviving Elizabethan and Jacobean interiors. The house was demolished in 1930 and the interiors were removed and shipped to America. The 15th century Church of St Lawrence's was destroyed in the bombing of 1942 but it had already been threatened with demolition in the 1930s. One of the last pre-war demolitions to take place was the removal of No. 190 High Street in 1933 (where 'MacDonalds' is today). Again, there's no record of what the building was like before it was destroyed.
described as "a modern intrusive shop".

The image left is an animated early stereoscopic photograph of the High Street from c1885.

I'm not sure there's necessarily any pattern to be traced in this brief history of the some of the documented demolitions that took place in the High Street between the start of the 19th century and 1942. Obviously cities, streets and individual buildings evolve over the centuries.

In England there never was the same level of preservation of historical cityscapes as could be found in pre-war continental Europe, particularly in Germany where entire city centres were filled with pre-industrial Gothic architecture almost untouched since the Middle Ages. Any gradual pattern or trend that might've existed at Exeter was interrupted by the almost total destruction of the upper High Street during the Exeter Blitz. It's not possible to know what might've been demolished in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s had the Blitz never happened.

Most English cities that were left largely untouched by air-raids during World War Two were subsequently defaced by post-war townplanners anyway e.g. Winchester and Worcester. Sadly, the post-war history of the High Street suggests that Exeter would probably not have fared any better. That said, and even though the pre-war High Street would never have been preserved in aspic anyway, it would certainly have been more characterful than it is today if the bombing of 1942 had never occurred. What exactly would've survived remains a matter of pure conjecture.  

Part Two of this series of posts, 'The Destruction of the High Street in 1942' can be found here. Part Three, 'Destruction of the High Street After 1942', can be found here.

Below are some colourised photographs of the High Street from c1900 to c1910.

Sources

The South Gate, South Street

The image left attempts to give some idea of how the exterior of Exeter's South Gate might've appeared today had it not been demolished in 1819. Located at the end of South Street, the South Gate was the main entrance into the city for nearly 1700 years.

Built by the Romans, altered by the Saxons and rebuilt by the Normans, the gate acquired its final form in the Late Middle Ages and remained little altered until it was pulled down at the beginning of the 19th century.

The first Roman gatehouse on the site was built c140 AD, a product of the transformation of Isca Dumnoniorum from a former military fortress into a civilian settlement. As the population had increased the perimeter of the settlement was extended outwards to cover the area still bounded by the city walls. A defensive ditch with an earthen bank topped by a wooden palisade was constructed around the newly-enlarged civitas. The Roman South Gate would've been part of this expansion and was originally built of wood. (Timber from this earliest incarnation of the South Gate was excavated in February 1989.) In c180 AD the wooden palisade and bank were replaced with a thick stone wall, parts of which can still be seen today, and the South Gate was rebuilt in stone at the same time.

The aerial view of Exeter right shows the circuit of the Roman and medieval city walls highlighted in purple (missing sections are highlighted in red). No. 2 marks the former location of the South Gate. South Street can clearly be seen heading towards the city centre where it meets Fore Street, North Street and the High Street at the ancient crossroad known as the Carfoix.

The Roman South Gate is the only one of Exeter's Roman gatehouses for which archaeological evidence has been found and its remains still lie beneath the modern road. The stone gatehouse consisted of two tall square towers flanking a central entrance. It was about 55ft (17m) wide, including both towers. Unfortunately very little is known about Exeter during the so-called Dark Ages, but the South Gate, along with the city walls, must've remained standing after the decline of the Roman administration of Britain in the early 5th century. When Alfred the Great refortified Exeter between 880 and 895, one of the measures taken to improve security probably included rebuilding the South Gate.

(The late medieval South Gate is shown in Hogenburg's 1587 map of Exeter left. The crenellated wall with an archway is presumably the priest's house projecting over the street from the tower of Holy Trinity church.)

Christopher Hendersen in his 2001 paper 'The Development of the South Gate of Exeter and its Role in the City Defences' believed that the Anglo-Saxon gate was probably constructed primarily of timber but also included some "elements" of the old Roman gate that were still standing some 600 years after it had first been built. Hendersen also believed that the late 9th century gatehouse was itself probably rebuilt again, this time in stone, during the 11th century, either just before or just after the Norman Conquest.

For some reason, perhaps French raids on the south coast of England, the South Gate received a massive overhaul between 1410 and 1420, transforming the earlier structure into what Hoskins called "one of the most impressive things of its kind in England". Like the outer face of the East Gate, the new South Gate was also probably built of the extremely durable grey/purple volcanic trap quarried from a variety of sites around Exeter. The early 15th century South Gate consisted of a bastion in the form of a rectangular block. The rear of the block lay flush with the line of the city wall and projected outwards over the old town ditch. The block was flanked on either side by huge drum towers, each tower being of four storeys and at least 50ft high. There was a drawbridge set into the carriageway and deep ditches ran away on either side.

A central passageway some 16ft (5m) tall, the interior of which was constructed with rib vaulting, ran through the centre of the bastion and a niche on the outer face contained a statue. The exterior face also had arrow slits and carved shields set into square stone plaques. The towers were subdivided into separate rooms and there were also chambers in the part of the gatehouse that spanned the central passageway. When the Tudor antiquarian, John Leland, visited Exeter in 1542 he believed that the South Gate was "the strongest" of the city's four main medieval gatehouses although the East Gate was perhaps larger.

Alexander Jenkins left an eyewitness description of the South Gate as it appeared in 1806: "The gate is a massy [massive] building of hewn stone. The entrance from the suburbs is through a lofty pointed arch, flanked by circular towers, over the gateway is a niche, where lately stood a mutilated statue in a magisterial robe; this front is likewise decorated with angels, supporting the Royal and City arms; the interior arch of the gateway from its semi-circular form, appears of Saxon construction, and is probably some remains of the ancient gate".

The image above is one of the few surviving depictions of the interior elevation of the early 15th century rebuilding. This view was obscured for centuries by the priest's house of Holy Trinity church which spanned South Street almost directly behind the gate. The drawing was executed in the very short space of time between the demolition of the priest's house and the gatehouse itself. The location of what was probably part of the side wall of the priest's house is highlighted in purple. The semi-circular inner archway of the gatehouse is clearly visible. The north wall had stone mullion windows with what looks like cusped tracery. The upper chambers could be accessed from the top of the city walls via a doorway. The debris on the ground to the left is demolition rubble from the church and the priest's house.

The fact that the exterior arch was pointed and the interior arch was semi-circular strongly suggests that the gatehouse built between 1410 and 1420 also retained elements of a much earlier structure. The disparity between the two styles of arch was noted in the 1720s by the English antiquarian William Stukeley. He wrote that "one arch of South-gate seems to be Roman", a surviving component of the gatehouse built one-and-a-half thousand years earlier.

The idea that the interior arch of the late medieval South Gate was part of the original Roman building has been banded around ever since. As late as 1971 Aileen Fox wrote that "it is possible that the round arch that is shown on the inside of the South Gate in early nineteenth century prints was a Roman survival". Wacher went further in 1975 when he stated that the arch "almost certainly" dated to the Roman period. A partial excavation of the site in 1992 indicated that parts of the Roman gatehouse had been demolished by c1200. A small guide to the city walls, written in association with the Exeter Archaeology unit and published in 1998 maintained that "the archway was probably Roman". Chris Hendersen, in the above-mentioned paper of 2001, supported Jenkins' belief that the archway was probably late Saxon or early Norman and dated to the 11th century. Unfortunately, now the South Gate no longer exists, it's not possible to say categorically whether the arch was Roman or Saxo-Norman in date, although the latter seems most likely.

Chris Hendersen described the process whereby the Roman/Saxo-Norman arch at the South Gate might've been retained. Before it was rebuilt in the early 15th century, the exterior face of the South Gate was flush with the city wall and didn't project out from the city as it did after 1420. Following the construction of the bastion and the two flanking towers, what was once the exterior arch of the Saxo-Norman gatehouse became the interior arch of the early 15th century gatehouse.

It probably didn't seem worth rebuilding a semi-circular arch that was being protected by the tremendous strength of the new outwork. This is perhaps why the new exterior arch was a pointed Gothic arch in keeping with the 15th century and yet the interior remained as an old-fashioned semi-circular arch, familiar to the Romans, Saxons and Normans. Two very similar archways to that which has prompted so much discussion still exist in Exeter at the gatehouse of Rougemont Castle above left. The two castle arches of c1068 are constructed from white sandstone. The interior arch at the South Gate was similar in appearance. The general colour scheme of the castle gatehouse, with its contrast between the white dressed stone of the arches and the purple volcanic trap of the walls, is also very reminiscent of what would've been the colouring of the South Gate.

Another uncertainty surrounding the architecture of the South Gate was the close proximity of the house used by the priest of Holy Trinity church. The church was sited just within the city walls, almost adjacent to the South Gate itself. Jenkins complained in 1806 that the South Gate and the church's bell tower constricted the flow of traffic in and out of Exeter, a situation "rendered still worse by an arched building adjoining the tower, once the habitation of the Priest, but now of the Sexton". An 1853 article by William Harding also refers to this property. Harding cites a document relating to the parish of Holy Trinity dated 18 May 1615 which, according to him, "mentions also the Parsonage House, which was built over the king's high way; the entrance to which was by a Gothic door, forming an inconvenient projection into the street".

This structure, with a pointed gable roof, is shown in the drawing above right. The arch of the South Gate itself can just be seen in the distance. The few surviving images of the priest's house suggest that it too had semi-circular arches but it was quite separate from the South Gate as a gap existed between the front wall of the priest's house and the back wall of the South Gate itself although the two were built of a similar material. In fact, prior to 1819, anyone walking down South Street would've had their view of the South Gate almost completely obscured by the presence of the overarching priest's house.

The South Gate and the priest's house were accurately depicted by Caleb Hedgeland on his early 19th century model of the city, a detail of which is shown left. The early 15th century reconstruction of the South Gate is highlighted in red. The priest's house is highlighted in purple connected directly to the church of Holy Trinity. Holy Trinity was itself remodelled around the same time that the South Gate was rebuilt. Was the priest's house originally part of the South Gate and only later used by the priests? Was it constructed at the same time or was it part of an earlier building? Unfortunately I can't find out much else about it.

In c1600 the roof of the South Gate was strengthened to take guns and the height of the gate raised, but apart from these slight alterations the South Gate remained unchanged until the beginning of the 19th century. From the 16th century onwards the gatehouse was used as the city prison. The prison reformer, James Neild, visited the South Gate prison in 1806 and recorded that "it consists, amongst others, of two rooms in the Keeper's house called the Long Room and the Shoe".

According to Neild, the Shoe received its name from a shoe that was hung by the prisoners from a length of string and suspended from "the iron-grated window towards the street". The idea was that charitable passers-by would put a small amount of money into the shoe (hence the phrase "living on a shoestring"). Neild recorded that the Shoe was used by debtors that "bring their own beds and pay six-pence per week". The image right is an early 20th century postcard depicting a fictional view of prisoners lowering a shoe to pedestrians. The artist has shown the prisoners as being incarcerated in the priest's house of Holy Trinity rather than the South Gate.

The Long Room was used by the debtors for exercise, there being no courtyard. There were nine other rooms that could be let out by the jailer according to the debtors ability to pay. Jenkins reported that the room called the Shoe had formerly been a chapel as the remnants of the Ten Commandments, painted on the wall, could still be seen. He also believed that the debtors were sometimes allowed access to the tops of the towers, "which command a fine prospect", so they could enjoy some of the fresh air.

The felons had a much worse time of it. Neild stated that "on the side opposite of the Gaoler's apartments are the three wards appropriated to the felons, dark, dirty and offensive; - we went into them with lighted candles: they have no chimney for ventilation; no courtyard belonging to them; nor water, except what was brought by the Keeper". There were three cells, two for men and one for women, located in the western side of the gatehouse. Jenkins related that these cells were all on the ground floor and "from their damp situation, and darkness, may not improperly be termed dungeons". The presence of an open sewer flowing from nearby Southernhay didn't add much to the comfort of those unfortunate enough to be imprisoned there. The largest felon cell was just over 12ft high, 18ft wide and 11ft deep. Above these cells were two day rooms with fireplaces accessed from below via a trap door. Jenkins wrote that John Howard, the 18th century prison reformer, believed that the South Gate prison was one of the "most unwholesome and dismal places of confinement" in England.

In June 1818 the foundation stone for a new 'House of Correction' was laid by the mayor at Northernhay where the Rougemont Hotel now stands. According to the 'Exeter Flying Post', the mayor declared that the construction of the new prison would take approximately 12 months "when the completion of their labours would be the destruction of a building which has long outraged humanity, and disgraced the city of Exeter". It's likely that the gatehouse would've been removed irrespective of the presence of the prison itself.

All of the city's other medieval gatehouse had already been removed for street improvements and the South Gate was the last one to go. Exactly one year later, in June 1819, an advertisement right appeared in the 'Exeter Flying Post' announcing the sale of building material from the South Gate, comprising bricks, stone, woodwork, floor joists as well as doors, windows and slate and lead from the roof. Parts of the South Gate must still exist in Exeter, spread around the city in various houses. (Old beams from 17th century houses demolished outside the South Gate in the 1970s were reused in a similar way e.g. at a house in Sylvan Road, Pennsylvannia.) The priest's house of Holy Trinity was demolished, along with the church, at the same time.

As with the slum clearances at the beginning of the 20th century, although the philanthropic sentiment can't be faulted it's impossible not to regret the demolition of the South Gate. As Hoskins wrote, "it's a vast pity that this magnificent gateway, one of the most impressive things of its kind in England, should have been destroyed like this and not by-passed as it could easily have been. Through this gateway many kings of England had passed from William the Conqueror onwards: it ranked with the cathedral, the castle, and the guildhall, as one of the grandest monuments to the Middle Ages in Exeter". The only city gatehouse left in England that was similar to the South Gate at Exeter is probably the surviving West Gate at Canterbury (the many surviving medieval gatehouses in York are of a quite different design).

The site today is marked by a late 19th century bronze plaque. The footprint of one of the square Roman towers and one of the early 15th century drum towers is marked out on the pavement in brick, highlighted in purple and red on the aerial view above left. Unfortunately the approach to the gate, an area that survived the Exeter Blitz of 1942 and which contained many historically interesting properties from the 17th and 18th centuries, has been totally spoilt by the construction of the inner bypass in the 1960s and 1970s. But that's a whole different story.

Sources

A Brief History of South Street

The photograph left shows half of the west side of South Street looking up towards the High Street at the end of the 19th century. The entrance into Coombe Street is to the far left. A narrow passageway underneath one of the buildings in the foreground led to Paragon House, a large, brick-built property of c1700 constructed around a medieval core. Many of the buildings shown dated to the 17th and 18th centuries and not a single one still survives today.

Given its current underwhelming appearance, it's hard to believe that South Street was for centuries the ceremonial entrance into Exeter and the location of some of the city's most important historical structures. Many of Exeter's wealthiest medieval, Tudor and Stuart citizens had private houses in South Street and it was the site of three medieval parish churches. Here could also be found the prestigious townhouses of the Priors of Plympton Priory and the Abbots of Tavistock Abbey. The 14th century kitchen and refectory of the College of the Vicars Choral also backed onto the street and, perhaps above all else, it was the site of the great South Gate, with its two enormous drum towers, described by Hoskins as "one of the most impressive things of its kind in England" through which passed many of the kings of England. The fact that almost none of these buildings has made it into the 21st century illustrates the magnitude of the losses.

The photograph right shows the east side of South Street from the same vantage point as the photograph above. The houses in the immediate foreground appear to date from c1700 or earlier. Of all the properties shown, only one survives today: the house built by Robert Russell in c1800 on part of the site of the Bear inn. Just the blank side wall of this property is visible in the photograph, about halfway up near the solitary dark figure in the road, just beyond the awning which stretches over the pavement.

The modern line of South Street doesn't follow its Roman predecessor. In the 2nd century AD, South Street ran slightly further to the west than it does today, skirting around the forum which occupied a large site in the centre of the city. Little is known about the development of Exeter in the four centuries following the end of the Roman administration but it seems likely that by the end of the 9th century the current line of South Street was established as a more direct route to North Street and the North Gate on the opposite side of the city. This would make South Street part of Alfred the Great's grid-like street plan that was laid out c880 AD. (Other late Saxon streets included Catherine Street, Goldsmith Street and Gandy Street.) Before 1942, George Street, Guinea Street, Sun Street, Coombe Street and James Street all had entrances into South Street from the west, from which it was possible to access the streets and passageways of the sprawling West Quarter.

The Roman South Gate that punctured the city wall at the end of South Street was modified by the Saxons before being remodelled in the 11th century and again between 1410 and 1420, when it achieved its vast late-medieval dimensions. (It's believed that the South Gate's Saxon archway survived all the later rebuildings until the entire structure was tragically demolished in 1819.) Just inside the city wall and adajcent to the South Gate was Holy Trinity church, possibly founded in the 11th century. The early 15th century structure (shown left c1800) was demolished at the same time as the South Gate itself and replaced with the mediocre building which stands near the site today. Further up, on the corner of South Street and Palace Gate, stood the short-lived church of St James. It was in existence by the end of the 12th century but its parish was merged with that of Holy Trinity and the church isn't heard of again after 1384. (Even today, beneath the post-war buildings, the ground is thick with the human remains of Exeter's medieval citizens close to the former site of the church.) St George's church was a Saxon foundation and stood on the corner of South Street and George Street. Although most of the medieval building was demolished for road-widening in 1843, part of the Saxon church was revealed following the blitz of 1942. Only a small part was salvaged before the rest collapsed.

No. 100 South Street was also the site of one of the most remarkable private houses in Tudor Exeter, known as King John's Tavern. The connection between the property and that particular monarch is obscure, and almost certainly fanciful, but the house itself dated to c1500. It stood opposite Little Stile, what is now the wide, post-war entrance into the Cathedral Yard at the top of South Street. The property was renowned for its opulent interior which included rich plasterwork ceilings with pendant mouldings, elaborately panelled rooms and a circular staircase, described in the early 19th century as "singularly beautiful" right.

The jettied upper floors of the exterior were supported on carved corbels decorated with "human and diabolic forms" and the entrance porch was supported on large grotesque figures carved from oak. 15ft of frontage was removed in 1835 and the rest of the property was demolished later in the 19th century. The more spectacular carvings as well as the panelling were salvaged during the demolition and were purchased by the travel writer, Richard Ford, to adorn his property in Heavitree. Constructed around an Elizabethan farmhouse, Heavitree House was transformed by Ford into a Gothic-Moorish fantasy, reflecting his interest in the Iberian peninsula. It's no surprise that Heavitree House was demolished by the city council in 1949 but the fate of the carvings from King John's Tavern remains unknown.

King John's Tavern was just one of many inns that once existed on South Street. As well as the Bear inn and the Black Lions inn, there was the the Black Horse, the Seahorse, the Mitre, the Grape, the White Hart (which still exists), the Lamb and the Bell, to name just a few. The Bell tavern was a particularly early recorded example and is mentioned in documents from 1447 to 1449. Apart from the White Hart, not a trace remains of any of them. Something of the street's general architectural character in the 16th and 17th centuries can be seen in No. 67 South Steet and in the two timber-framed houses which were demolished in 1855 to allow the rebuilding of the Baptist Chapel. A vivid description of South Street in its late medieval heyday can be found in the introduction of Ian Mortimer's book 'The Time-traveller's Guide to Medieval England'.

One curiosity about South Street is that for centuries it was called something else! From the Middle Ages into the 19th century each part of the street had its own separate name. The stretch extending from the corner with the High Street as far as Little Stile was called Cook Row, perhaps a reference to stalls that once sold food to passers-by. From Little Stile to Bear Street was known as Bell Hill Street. A lease of 1453 uses the name Bolehyllestrete and this must've been where the almost contemporary Bell tavern was located. From Bear Lane to the South Gate was called Southgate Street. These names were still being used well into the 1800s.

In 1660 the city's serge market was moved from the site of the cathedral's demolished cloisters to South Street. (Robert Lesyngham's late 14th century cloisters had been pulled down in 1656 following the English Civil War and the disbanding of the Dean and Chapter. An open cloth hall was built in place of the cloisters. Part of this mid-17th century hall still survives today.) Serge is simply a type of woven woollen cloth, the export of which made Exeter one of the richest cities in England until the trade collapsed following the Napoleonic Wars. The South Street serge market appears on Rocque's 1744 map of Exeter. Simply called 'The Large Market' it is shown occupying most of the area of Bell Hill. Donn's 1765 map, detail above left, explicitly labels the area outside the Bear inn as the 'Serge Market'. The market was held every Friday. Celia Fiennes visited Exeter in 1698 and described a "large market house set on stone pillars which runs a great length" upon which the packs of serges were laid. The street would've been heaving with people, full of noise and colour and packed with the city's citizens, merchants from all across Europe and people who had just come to see the spectacle. In 1727 Defoe described the South Street serge market as second only to Leeds as "the greatest in England".

In 1799 South Street became the location for one of the city's major water conduits. The magnificent Great Conduit, fed from natural springs via the city's underground passages, had stood near the Carfax (i.e. the crossroads at the junction of South Street, North Street, Fore Street and the High Street) since 1461. Described by Jenkins as a "very beautiful edifice", the Great Conduit was demolished and moved close to a house near the entrance into North Street in 1770. This was in turn removed in 1799 and a completely new conduit was built up against the rear wall of the refectory of the Vicars Choral in South Street above right.

The South Street conduit was the prime water source for anyone living in the overcrowded West Quarter. Thomas Shapter, who documented the city's cholera epidemic of 1832, recalled that "The conduit, situated in South Street, yielded a tolerably copious and constant stream to those, who waited with their long brown earthen-ware pitchers for their turn at the cock whence it was delivered." Writing some 50 years later, James Cossins recalled that "the supply at times was so limited that it would take half an hour to fill a bucket or pitcher". It wasn't uncommon to see thirty or forty people waiting anything up to three or four hours to fill their pitchers or buckets. Fights and broken pitchers were sometimes the result when the conduit, fed from the natural springs at Lyon's Holt near Sidwell Street, ran dry in the summer.

(The photograph right was taken c1890 from a point about halfway down South Street looking south towards the city walls. The entrance into Sun Street is just visible to the right. The then newly-built Catholic church, on the site of the townhouse of the Abbots of Tavistock, is to the left.)

The South Street conduit, and the resulting crowd of users, proved to be an impediment to passing traffic and in 1835 the conduit was moved to Milk Street, next to Charles Fowler's Lower Market. The new conduit was marked by a stone obelisk which remained until it was damaged by bombs in 1942 and subsequently cleared away. The stone balls on top of the South Street structure were moved following its demolition and relocated to the top of the tower of the church of St Mary Arches, where they can still be seen today. Cossins also left a description of South Street as it appeared in the 1830s: "The conduit then extended some eight feet from the wall of the College Hall" and Bell Hill was so narrow, and the jettied floors of the ancient properties oversailed the street so much, that "the upper parts of some of the houses were just within shaking hands distance".

These must've been ancient houses indeed which had gradually been extended out into the carriageway over many centuries. It was said that a portion of Bell Hill was so constricted that it wasn't possible for two coaches to pass each other. On 29 March 1829 it was announced that "the Commissioners of Improvement in this city have it in contemplation to widen South Street and abate the declivity of Bell Hill by removing the houses near the conduit". Some of these houses can be seen in the background behind the conduit in the illustration shown above.

Unlike North Street, which was widened in its entirety, only parts of South Street suffered the same fate. In 1830 many of the houses projecting out into the street were removed, or their depth was reduced and new frontages were added. In 1915 Ethel Lega-Weekes examined the properties on South Street that extended from the corner of Bear Street up as far as the College of the Vicars Choral at Kalendarhay. She reported that although the facades were 19th century the backs of the houses all contained much older material. She called them "spliced houses", part 19th century and part medieval, the rear walls forming the ancient boundary between the city and the church precinct. When these properties were destroyed in 1942 the thick stone walls at the back were left standing (although they were subsequently demolished).

Unfortunately, even before 1942, much of street's historical character had already been eroded. The South Gate and Holy Trinity church had been removed in 1819. (The medieval entrance into South Street via the South Gate is shown in the image above right. The three timber-framed houses to the left of the gatehouse were built following the English Civil War and survived until their demolition in the 1960s for the construction of the inner bypass.) St George's church followed in 1843.

The former townhouse of the Abbots of Tavistock Abbey was partly rebuilt c1800 but was totally demolished in the mid-1880s and replaced with the Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart. At least part of the former townhouse of the Priors of Pympton Priory remained as the Black Lions inn until it was destroyed by fire in 1873. Substantial medieval walls and windows survived the fire and were incorporated into the new building. (The 12th century stone capital shown above left was retrieved from inside the fire-damaged building.) The former medieval kitchen of the College of the Vicars Choral had also assumed the name of the Bear inn. The ancient structure was demolished in 1871 although Lega-Weekes claimed that parts of the old kitchen could still be seen in the cellars of the rebuilt premises. The south-east corner of South Street and Palace Gate was rebuilt in 1876, resulting in the demolition of several timber-framed properties. In 1912 oak panelling dating to the late 16th century was being levered from the walls at No. 3 South Street, probably prior to being installed at the neo-Tudor Gateacre Grange on the outskirts of Liverpool.

Despite the gradual modernisation of the facades in South Street, it's certain that many of the properties concealed much older cores. Alterations to No. 96 South Street in 1921 exposed timber-framing and very thick stone firewalls. The innocuous-looking house on the corner of South Street and Bear Lane concealed the remnants of a large 14th century stone tower. Until the 20th century, these "spliced houses" were common throughout Exeter, the ancient fabric hidden beneath later additions. If you scratched the surface then the past was everywhere, and South Street was no different.

The Destruction of South Street in 1942

South Street was badly affected during the Exeter Blitz of 04 May 1942, one of the so-called Baedeker Raids launched by Nazi Germany against some of England's most historic and picturesque cities. According to one eyewitness, D. P. Beckett, by the time the bombers left the city at around 2.50am, "South Street was impassable above Guinea Street owing to large fires on both sides". The prevailing wind was from the north-west causing the fires to spread down from the top of South Street, igniting one property after another. Beckett continued: "it became obvious that the firemen were unable to prevent the flames from spreading, particularly in South Street where, owing to the inflammable nature of the premises (all lathe and plaster) the fires were creeping upwards against the wind. After a building had been on fire for a few minutes, the beams would give and it would burst asunder, the entire structure collapsing like a pack of cards amidst a shower of sparks, leaving just a big heap of embers right across the street".

The photograph above right © Express & Echo shows the upper half of South Street soon after the Exeter Blitz. The ruins of the dining hall of the Vicars Choral can be seen in the centre. The aerial view left shows pre-war South Street running diagonally from top left to bottom right. Of all of the buildings visible only those highlighted in purple still survive today. The rest have disappeared either as a consequence of 1942 or following the construction of the inner bypass in the 1960s. The photograph illustrates the densely built-up nature of the pre-war city centre.

Over sixty properties fronting onto South Street were completely destroyed during the air-raid. Approximately twelve were demolished for road-widening during the post-war reconstruction and just fourteen pre-war buildings now exist today. The two main architectural casualties were the medieval refectory of the Vicars Choral and Paragon House, but it's impossible to say what else was lost as nearly all of the buildings were destroyed without any record made of their construction or history. (Paragon House itself, one of Exeter's loveliest buildings, is only known from a handful of surviving drawings and a couple of snapshots.) The Church of the Sacred Heart was only saved because Bear Street and the thick stone walls of the Bear Tower acted as a firebreak. The presence of Coombe Street helped prevent the fires spreading as far as the White Hart inn. Strangely enough, according to Thomas Sharp's colour-coded map of the damage, the timber-framed house of c1700 which stood on the north-west corner of Coombe Street and South Street survived even though its neighbour, of a similar construction, perished. Unfortunately the former property must've been demolished during the rebuilding. (This property is visible to the extreme left in the photograph at the top of this post.)

The drawing right © Devon County Council by George Townsend shows the picturesque north-east corner of South Street and Palace Gate in 1890, looking up towards the gatehouse of the Bishop's Palace in Palace Gate. This was the location of the church dedicated to St James which disappeared in the 14th century. The timber-framed property on the corner probably dated to the last half of the 17th century and survived the blitz unscathed. The late Georgian building, half of which is shown to the far left in Townsend's drawing, was damaged during the air-raid. Aerial photographs reveal that both the timber-framed property and the remains of the brick house were still standing in the mid 1950s. Thomas Sharp, Exeter's post-war townplanner, recommended the restoration of the damaged building, thereby reinstating a row of characteristic pre-war buildings stretching from the corner of Palace Gate to Bear Street. Instead, the corner properties were all demolished for road-widening in 1956.

The image left shows a modern aerial view of South Street combined with a pre-war street plan of the city. Based on Sharp's own map, the war-damaged sites are highlighted in red. Sites highlighted in yellow represent buildings that were demolished by the local authority during post-war redevelopment.

The 14th century Bear Tower and the medieval ruins of the townhouse of the Priors of Plympton, revealed for the first time since the fire of 1873, were swept away during post-war reconstruction as were several other surviving houses of a 17th century type. During the rebuilding of South Street the decision was taken to double the width of the pre-war carriageway. What were formerly narrow pavements, as can still be found in Fore Street, were extended to 15ft on both sides and the new shops were set back from the frontage line of their predecessors. The medieval street plan of Sun Street, George Street and Guinea Street was obliterated and a new, very wide entrance into Market Street from South Street was constructed, almost on the site of Paragon House.

The post-war architecture which replaced the destroyed buildings probably speaks for itself. It came from the desk of the city council's in-house architects and Hugh Mellor was being overly kind when he described it as 'drab'. Although they were designed to free up views of the nearby cathedral, several of the single-storey shacks are shockingly poor. (Pevsner and Cherry describe them as "mean, low shops".) Perhaps the grossest error of judgement came in the 1960s with the construction of Concord House (above, as seen from the inner bypass). It's hard to imagine a less appropriate building for its location and it dwarfs all the other post-war structures. The council's own conservation report calls the post-war structures "mediocre" and "nondescript" but quite rightly adds that later developments, including Concord House, "are worse". Having widened the street so drastically after the war to cater for wider pavements, more traffic and on-street parking, the city council has recently made South Street a one-way road.

The destruction of so much of South Street's architectural heritage in 1942 combined with the poor replacement architecture, the removal of the ancient street plan and the widening of the thoroughfare itself has resulted in the complete loss of the street's historical character. It has frankly been a total disaster. A few fragments do remain. On the east side, the Church of the Sacred Heart and the Grade I listed Unitarian George's Meeting of 1760 can still be seen left. The west side contains Nos. 58 to 68, a small collection of pre-war survivors all of which are Grade II listed below. These include the White Hart inn, built around the core of what was probably William Wynard's 15th century townhouse, and No. 67 South Street, a fine 17th century timber-framed property with important internal features. There are also several other buildings in this group, most of which are late Georgian with brick or stucco facades. It's perhaps symptomatic of the general post-war mentality that Thomas Sharp regarded the entire group as expendable and advocated their removal. Fortunately this plan was never carried through, although the properties are now isolated between Concord House and the post-war rebuilding of South Street on one side and the convergence of ten lanes of traffic at the site of the old South Gate on the other.

Views of modern South Street are shown below.


Sources