New ‘Discovering Exeter’ Booklet on Sale: ST LEONARD’S AND THE QUAY

Exeter Civic Society has published a revised edition of its definitive historical and architectural guide to St Leonard’s and the Quay. It is the first revision in over 40 years and is part of a programme to update all the guides to the areas outside the city centre in the Discovering Exeter series. The next ones will cover the Sidwell Street area and St Thomas’ and Exwick in West of the River. Although much of the original guide has stood the test of time, there is a great deal that is new – even some ‘new’ history. Recent archaeology has revealed a mediaeval graveyard around the site of the St Mary Magdalene hospital for lepers near Bull Meadow. And close inspection of Braun and Hogenburg’s map of 1618 suggests that the beam of the gallows which stood on the corner of what is now St Luke’s carpark went right across the road. A grisly experience for anybody travelling along Magdalen Road. The last public hanging there was in 1819.

The guide also reveals quirky new facts. Who knew, for example, that there was a skating rink on the site of 93 Magdalen Road from 1876 to 1877, one of three in Exeter, when the craze for roller skating swept across Britain from America. Or that the Rupert Annual was published from the Old Rectory on Matford Lane between 1993 and 2004.

But the biggest changes have of course been in the built environment, with both small and large developments. For example, The Deaf Academy on Topsham Road which stood there since 1828 has been demolished and replaced by the ‘St Leonard’s Quarter’ residential accommodation. The Wellingtonia Park estate has appeared on land once owned by James Veitch, although his house and a giant Wellingtonia still stand.

The Quay has also been a part of that. Although, rightly, the buildings have not changed substantially, it has been greatly reinvigorated and refurbished since the original guide was published in 1982 and is now a major attraction to Exeter residents and tourists alike – probably not something the original author imagined could happen.

Change will continue. St Luke’s had playing fields in 1982. They are now a car park which may soon be developed as part of a health science centre. Part of the grounds of County Hall may be sold off for development. But the guide captures a point when St Leonard’s can still claim to be ‘flowery and bowery’ as the novelist George Gissing who lived there from 1891 to 1893 described it.

The guide has two guided walks around the area, picking out all the interesting features. It costs £5 and is available via Exeter Civic Society’s website. Copies will also be on sale at the Magdalen Road Fair on 7 December. You can order it from us as well (£7 if posted), please contact us under  exetercivicsociety@gmail.com if interested or visit our merchandise pages: for the 2nd editions: https://webcollect.org.uk/exetercivicsoc/event/discovering-exeter-second-editions, or for all other merchandise: https://webcollect.org.uk/exetercivicsoc/event/merchandise.