Walk 3. East through Heavitree to Sowton and Pinhoe.
The walks outside the walled city are not intended to be followed slavishly. The sites are scattered and often not worth the long trek to hunt them out, but may provide points of interest if you are in the area.
Thomas Benet. Barnfield Road.
The Protestant reformer Thomas Benet, who was burned at the stake in Heavitree in 1531, is commemorated on the Martyrs Memorial at the junction of Barnfield Road and Denmark Road. One of the panels by Harry Hems shows Benet fixing a copy of his writings denying the authority of the Pope on the door of Exeter Cathedral.
Martyrs Memorial, Exeter.
Martyrs Memorial, Exeter.
Thomas Benet nails his theses to the door of the Cathedral, Martyrs Memorial, Exeter.
George Gissing. Heavitree Road.
The novelist George Gissing rented a room when he found it impossible to work at his home in Prospect Park which he shared with a wife who, he claimed, was mentally unstable and often became violent. He wrote in his diary 4 October 1892 “Things going so badly in the house that I had to go and engage a sitting-room, at 7 Eaton Place, Heavitree Road, to use daily as a study.” This is now renumbered 25 Heavitree Road. In the 1894 directory Miss Maria Louisa Thompson, who let out lodgings, is listed at 7 Higher Eaton Place.
25 and 27 Heavitree Road, Exeter, the refuge of George Gissing.
Haighton Library. St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road.
This library serves St Luke's campus of the University and the Postgraduate Medical School in the fields of education and medicine.
Haighton Library, St Luke's campus, University of Exeter.
Exeter Health Library. RILD Building, Barrack Road.
In a wing of this ultra-modern complex, the centre of medical research in Exeter, is to be found Exeter Health Library, whose origins go back to 1812. Many of the historical books are now held in Exeter Cathedral Library.
RILD Building, Exeter Medical School, Exeter.
Richard Ford. Church Street, Heavitree.
Richard Ford (1796-1858), writer and traveller is remembered by an Exeter Civic Society plaque near the junction of Meadow Way and Church Street, Heavitree. His home in Heavitree House on this site was surrounded by gardens in the Spanish style. His main claim to fame is his Handbook for travellers in Spain, published by John Murray in 1845.
Plaque to Richard Ford, Church Street, Exeter.
Richard Hooker. Fore Street, Heavitree
The influential theologian Richard Hooker (1554-1600) was born in Heavitree. This art installation designed by Michael Fairfax and erected in 2008 celebrates his writings, particularly his concept of natural law, which has an added resonance in an age of environmentalism. The controversy surrounding the artwork is summarised in the Exeter Memories website.
Memorial to Richard Hooke, Fore Street, Heavitree.
Higher Cemetery. Hamlin Lane.
The largest cemetery in Exeter has several literary links. Bram Stoker's brother George Stoker died in the military hospital at Streatham Hall (now Reed Hall on the University campus) and is buried in Exeter Higher Cemetery. The monument to those who lost their lives in the Exeter Theatre fire of 1887 is also located here.
Theatre fire memorial, Higher Cemetery, Exeter.
Execution broadsheets. Gallows Corner.
Devon executions were conducted here from at least 1604 until the New Drop was opened at the County Gaol in 1795. These occasions were accompanied by the sale of execution broadsheets, normally compiled before the event and carried by hawkers in the crowds. There is a good collection of these in the Westcountry Studies Library.
Broadsheet for criminal executed at Heavitree 1781,
Westcountry Studies Library).
Sowton Industrial Estate.
Several undertakings in the literary sector have moved from the city centre to Sowton, among them William Pollard and Co. Ltd who have premises in Oak House, Falcon Road, Sowton Industrial Estate.
William Pollard & Co., Falcon Road, Sowton Industrial Estate.
William Pollard and Co. Sowton Industrial Estate.
They moved from their former premises in Southernhay taking with them their wrought iron gates which now form the entrance to a memorial garden.
William Pollard & Co., Falcon Road, Sowton Industrial Estate.
Short Run Press. Sowton Industrial Estate.
Based at 25 Bittern Road, Short Run Press has since 1981 been run by the Gliddon and Couch families. Its name is on the box, and it works to produce short run publications with global publishers, learned societies, small presses and numerous individual authors.
Short Run Press, 25 Bittern Road, Sowton Industrial Estate.
Besley and Copp. Sowton Industrial Estate.
At 3 Orchard Court, Heron Rd, is the premises of the firm that was established by Thomas Besley in South Street about 1801.
Besley and Copp, Orchard Court, Sowton Industrial Estate.
Storm Press. Sowton Industrial Estate.
Previously known as Exeter Design and Print Ltd, Stormpress Ltd with premises at 4 Orchard Court, is a relative newcomer, having been established in 2002, just two centuries after its neighbour Besley and Copp. .
Storm Press, Orchard Court, Sowton Industrial Estate.
Meteorological Office. Fitzroy Road.
While the archives of the Meteorological Office are housed nearby in the Devon Heritage Centre, the Met Office building houses the nation's most extensive library of resources devoted to weather forecasting and climate change with weather records dating back to the 18th century.
Meterological Office, Exeter.
Devon Heritage Centre, Great Moor House, Bittern Road, Sowton Industrial Estate. Great Moor House.
The Devon Record Office moved from the centre of Exeter to Great Moor House in 2005 and the Westcountry Studies Library joined it in 2012. Together they provide the region's largest resource of written documentation relating to all aspects of Devon's heritage. It now forms part of South West Heriage Trust, based in Taunton. See the website for further details.
Devon Heritage Centre, Great Moor House, Sowton Industrial Estate.
Devon Heritage Centre, Great Moor House, Sowton Industrial Estate.
Pinhoe Library. Main Road, Pinhoe.
The Pinhoe branch of Devon Libraries, run by Libraries Unlimited, has an active friends group and organises a range of activities.
Pinhoe Library
Obelisk Publications. Pinhoe
Obelisk Publications was run from 2 Church Hill, Pinhoe from 1991 until James "Chips" Barber, the founder, died unexpectedly on 28 February 2005. With his wife Sally he produced some 200 guides, histories and books of walks and illustrations covering localties in Devon, usually as A5 booklets of 32, 48 or 96 pages.
Obelisk Publications, Pinhoe (Google Street view).
David and Charles. Pynes Hill.
Based in Tourism House, Pynes Hill, Exeter EX2 5WT, this is a different publisher from when it was based in Newton Abbot. Gone are the transport and industrial history titles and the firm now publishes abouth fifty titles a year, chiefly on crafts, and also provides online learning courses. For details see its website.
David and Charles, Pynes Hill, Exeter (Google street view).
The walks outside the walled city are not intended to be followed slavishly. The sites are scattered and often not worth the long trek to hunt them out, but may provide points of interest if you are in the area.
Thomas Benet. Barnfield Road.
The Protestant reformer Thomas Benet, who was burned at the stake in Heavitree in 1531, is commemorated on the Martyrs Memorial at the junction of Barnfield Road and Denmark Road. One of the panels by Harry Hems shows Benet fixing a copy of his writings denying the authority of the Pope on the door of Exeter Cathedral.
Martyrs Memorial, Exeter.
Martyrs Memorial, Exeter.
Thomas Benet nails his theses to the door of the Cathedral, Martyrs Memorial, Exeter.
George Gissing. Heavitree Road.
The novelist George Gissing rented a room when he found it impossible to work at his home in Prospect Park which he shared with a wife who, he claimed, was mentally unstable and often became violent. He wrote in his diary 4 October 1892 “Things going so badly in the house that I had to go and engage a sitting-room, at 7 Eaton Place, Heavitree Road, to use daily as a study.” This is now renumbered 25 Heavitree Road. In the 1894 directory Miss Maria Louisa Thompson, who let out lodgings, is listed at 7 Higher Eaton Place.
25 and 27 Heavitree Road, Exeter, the refuge of George Gissing.
Haighton Library. St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road.
This library serves St Luke's campus of the University and the Postgraduate Medical School in the fields of education and medicine.
Haighton Library, St Luke's campus, University of Exeter.
Exeter Health Library. RILD Building, Barrack Road.
In a wing of this ultra-modern complex, the centre of medical research in Exeter, is to be found Exeter Health Library, whose origins go back to 1812. Many of the historical books are now held in Exeter Cathedral Library.
RILD Building, Exeter Medical School, Exeter.
Richard Ford. Church Street, Heavitree.
Richard Ford (1796-1858), writer and traveller is remembered by an Exeter Civic Society plaque near the junction of Meadow Way and Church Street, Heavitree. His home in Heavitree House on this site was surrounded by gardens in the Spanish style. His main claim to fame is his Handbook for travellers in Spain, published by John Murray in 1845.
Plaque to Richard Ford, Church Street, Exeter.
Richard Hooker. Fore Street, Heavitree
The influential theologian Richard Hooker (1554-1600) was born in Heavitree. This art installation designed by Michael Fairfax and erected in 2008 celebrates his writings, particularly his concept of natural law, which has an added resonance in an age of environmentalism. The controversy surrounding the artwork is summarised in the Exeter Memories website.
Memorial to Richard Hooke, Fore Street, Heavitree.
Higher Cemetery. Hamlin Lane.
The largest cemetery in Exeter has several literary links. Bram Stoker's brother George Stoker died in the military hospital at Streatham Hall (now Reed Hall on the University campus) and is buried in Exeter Higher Cemetery. The monument to those who lost their lives in the Exeter Theatre fire of 1887 is also located here.
Theatre fire memorial, Higher Cemetery, Exeter.
Execution broadsheets. Gallows Corner.
Devon executions were conducted here from at least 1604 until the New Drop was opened at the County Gaol in 1795. These occasions were accompanied by the sale of execution broadsheets, normally compiled before the event and carried by hawkers in the crowds. There is a good collection of these in the Westcountry Studies Library.
Broadsheet for criminal executed at Heavitree 1781,
Westcountry Studies Library).
Sowton Industrial Estate.
Several undertakings in the literary sector have moved from the city centre to Sowton, among them William Pollard and Co. Ltd who have premises in Oak House, Falcon Road, Sowton Industrial Estate.
William Pollard & Co., Falcon Road, Sowton Industrial Estate.
William Pollard and Co. Sowton Industrial Estate.
They moved from their former premises in Southernhay taking with them their wrought iron gates which now form the entrance to a memorial garden.
William Pollard & Co., Falcon Road, Sowton Industrial Estate.
Short Run Press. Sowton Industrial Estate.
Based at 25 Bittern Road, Short Run Press has since 1981 been run by the Gliddon and Couch families. Its name is on the box, and it works to produce short run publications with global publishers, learned societies, small presses and numerous individual authors.
Short Run Press, 25 Bittern Road, Sowton Industrial Estate.
Besley and Copp. Sowton Industrial Estate.
At 3 Orchard Court, Heron Rd, is the premises of the firm that was established by Thomas Besley in South Street about 1801.
Besley and Copp, Orchard Court, Sowton Industrial Estate.
Storm Press. Sowton Industrial Estate.
Previously known as Exeter Design and Print Ltd, Stormpress Ltd with premises at 4 Orchard Court, is a relative newcomer, having been established in 2002, just two centuries after its neighbour Besley and Copp. .
Storm Press, Orchard Court, Sowton Industrial Estate.
Meteorological Office. Fitzroy Road.
While the archives of the Meteorological Office are housed nearby in the Devon Heritage Centre, the Met Office building houses the nation's most extensive library of resources devoted to weather forecasting and climate change with weather records dating back to the 18th century.
Meterological Office, Exeter.
Devon Heritage Centre, Great Moor House, Bittern Road, Sowton Industrial Estate. Great Moor House.
The Devon Record Office moved from the centre of Exeter to Great Moor House in 2005 and the Westcountry Studies Library joined it in 2012. Together they provide the region's largest resource of written documentation relating to all aspects of Devon's heritage. It now forms part of South West Heriage Trust, based in Taunton. See the website for further details.
Devon Heritage Centre, Great Moor House, Sowton Industrial Estate.
Devon Heritage Centre, Great Moor House, Sowton Industrial Estate.
Pinhoe Library. Main Road, Pinhoe.
The Pinhoe branch of Devon Libraries, run by Libraries Unlimited, has an active friends group and organises a range of activities.
Pinhoe Library
Obelisk Publications. Pinhoe
Obelisk Publications was run from 2 Church Hill, Pinhoe from 1991 until James "Chips" Barber, the founder, died unexpectedly on 28 February 2005. With his wife Sally he produced some 200 guides, histories and books of walks and illustrations covering localties in Devon, usually as A5 booklets of 32, 48 or 96 pages.
Obelisk Publications, Pinhoe (Google Street view).
David and Charles. Pynes Hill.
Based in Tourism House, Pynes Hill, Exeter EX2 5WT, this is a different publisher from when it was based in Newton Abbot. Gone are the transport and industrial history titles and the firm now publishes abouth fifty titles a year, chiefly on crafts, and also provides online learning courses. For details see its website.
David and Charles, Pynes Hill, Exeter (Google street view).
This page last updated 13 August 2021
