Walk 4. North to the University and Saint David.
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.
Longbrook Street.
A number of writers lived in the roads leading off Longbrook Street.
William Clifford. Longbrook Street.
William Kingdon Clifford (1845-1879) mathematician and philosopher, was born at 82 Longbrook Street. His writings foreshadowed the theory of relativity and influenced the work of Einstein. There is an Exeter Civic Society plaque on the house. His work also demonstrates that literature covers all subjects, not just fiction and poetry, but there is a literary link of another kind to this Georgian terrace. The main character in George Gissing's novel Born in exile, written while Gissing lived in Exeter, had his dwelling on the upper floor of "a row of small houses placed above long strips of sloping garden" some with a "latticed porch which gives the doors an awkward quaintness".
William Clifford's birthplace, Longbrook Street, Exeter (Google Street view)
Harry Hems. Longbrook Street.
Harry Hems (1842–1916), the noted architectural and ecclesiastical sculptor, had his workshop at 85 Longbrook Street at the sign of the Lucky Horseshoe. Irascible and impulsive, he was a great self-publicist and with the help of cuttings agencies amassed more than twenty large volumes of news cuttings relating to his work all over the globe. These are now held by the Westcountry Studies Library.
The Lucky Horseshoe, Harry Hems workshop, Longbrook Street, Exeter.
Gene Kemp. West Avenue.
The children's author Gene Kemp (1926–2015) lived at 6 West Avenue. She grew up near Tamworth, Staffordshire, and went to Exeter University, becoming a teacher at St Sidwell's School in Exeter in the 1970s. From 1972 she wrote stories for younger readers about a pig named Tamworth, named after the town she grew up in. She found inspiration for many of the characters in her books amongst the friends of her children and the school where she taught. Her best known book is The turbulent term of Tyke Tiler (Faber, 1977). Set in the fictional Cricklepit School, it charts the pleasures and pains of friendship and growing up.
Gene Kemp's residence, West Avenue, Exeter.
George Gissing. Prospect Park.
The tortuous and tortured life of novelist George Gissing (1857-1903) brought him to 24 Prospect Park in 1891 and he stayed there with his family until 1893. While he was there his most famous novel New Grub Streeet was published, which dealt with the commercialisation of literature. His main work written in Exeter was Born in exile, published in 1892, which is partly set in Exeter, a terrace of houses in Longbrook Street probably inspiring the setting for the home of the novel's hero Godwin Peake who, while there, attempts to woo the daughter of a local gentry family, who is improbably named Sidwell. But a better feel of Exeter is gained from the 1903 publication The private papers of Henry Ryecroft, a semi-fictional autobiographical work, the journal of a man living comforably in Exeter on a private income. The work is arranged by the seasons of the year and Ryecroft's evident love of nature has endeared the book to Japanese readers.
George Gissing's residence in Prospect Park, Exeter.
Lawrence Sail. Union Road.
The poet Lawrence Sail grew up after World War 2 at no. 24 (now 45) Union Road. He gives an atmospheric account of his years there in Sift : memories of childhood (Exeter: Impress Books, 2010).
Lawrence Sail's childhood home in Union Road, Exeter.
Mary Willcocks. Pennsylvania Road.
The novelist and suffragette Mary Willcocks moved to 35 Pennsylvania Road after her mother died in 1913. In 1939 she was living at 88 Pennsylvania Road and died at 1 Pennsylvania Crescent in 1952.
Mary Willcocks's home in Pennsylvania Road, Exeter.
University of Exeter.
The University College led the way in moving from the city centre. The development of the Streatham campus was initiated to the north of the city in the 1930s.
Roborough Library. University of Exeter.
Opened in 1940, this was the first of several university libraries on the Streatham campus.
Roborough Library, University of Exeter
Old Library. University of Exeter.
A new reading room was constructed in the 1960s to relieve pressure on the Roborough building. It now houses the Special Collections and the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum.
Entrance to the Old Library, University of Exeter.
Special Collections Department. University of Exeter.
The University of Exeter Library’s Special Collections department hosts the archives of famous writers such as William Golding, Ted Hughes, Charles Causley, Agatha Christie, Daphne du Maurier and Sir John Betjeman.
Agatha Christie archive, University of Exeter Special Collections.
Bill Douglas Cinema Museum. University of Exeter.
This is home to one of the largest collections of material relating to the moving image in Britain, including books, posters, panoramas, printed optical toys and a wealth of other cinema related memorabilia. The 85,000 items are well represented in the Museum's website.
The Piccadilly peepshow, an early satirical item in the Bill Douglas Museum.
Forum Library. University of Exeter.
The current library building was built in 1983 with considerable funding from the Gulf States and is now the main University library, now incorporated in the Forum complex.
The Forum Library, University of Exeter.
Floella Benjamin. University of Exeter.
Floella Benjamin was awarded the degree of honorary D.Litt by the University of Exeter for contributions to the cultural life of the United Kingdom and served as a much-loved Chancellor of the University of Exeter from 2006 to 2016. She is the author of children's books including her autobiographical Coming to England, about moving from Trinidad, which is now used to teach modern history to young people. Many will remember her as presenter of "Play School" on BBC television.
Floella Benjamin
Northcott Theatre. University of Exeter.
The Northcott Theatre, the seventh building in Exeter to be used as a theatre, was opened 1967. It takes its name from George Vernon Northcott (1891-1963) who made a generous endoment to help establish it but died before it was opened. Its extensive archives are held in the University of Exeter Special Collections.
The Northcott Theatre, Exeter.
University of Exeter Press. Reed Hall, Streatham Drive, Exeter, EX4 4QR
With the University being a hotbed for research and creativity it should be no surprise that the is a cluster of academic presses associated with the institution. The University of Exeter Press is one of only a handful of university presses in the UK. It is internationally recognised for its excellence in humanities publishing. It has included a number of important local historical studies among its publications, culminating in the Historical atlas of South West England, published in 1999.
Historical atlas of South West England, published by the University of Exeter Press.
Impress Books. Innovation Centre Phase 1, North Park Rd, Exeter EX4 4RN
Impress Books was founded in 2004 as an independent publishing house focusing on previously unpublished writers of non-fiction and fiction. Their non-fiction list was launched with Being Luis in June 2005 and has continued to flourish with the addition of titles such as The Russian Countess: Escaping Revolutionary Russia and Of Sirens and Centaurs. They moved into publishing fiction in 2006 with 100 Ways to Improve the World. They run the Impress Prize for New Writers and publish crime, historical and literary fiction, focussing on new writers and voices from or about the marginalised in society, but they do include local items in their output, for example Exeter Cathedral: the first thousand years, 400-1550 by Nicholas Orme. .
Exeter Cathedral: the first thousand years, by Nicholas Orme, an Impress Books publication.
Pelagic Publishing. University of Exeter.
Pelagic Publishing, an independent academic publisher of books on wildlife, science and conservation, set up to tackle the lack of practical books available on ecology and conservation, was founded in 2010 by Nigel Massen, who also runs the University of Exeter Press. The publications are not specifically local in content, but a recent publication in 2021 is by Devon based naturalist Ian Carter: Human, nature : a naturalist’s thoughts on wildlife and wild places.
Human, nature : a naturalist’s thoughts on wildlife and wild places, by Ian Carter, a Pelagic Publishing title.
Imprint Academic. Upton Pyne.
Established in 1985, Imprint Academic publishes books and peer-reviewed journals in philosophy, politics, psychology and religion. Societas is an imprint of the Group which also owns the short-run printers Imprint Digital. Among local sciientific researchers it publishes the writings of Exeter physician Edzard Ernst on complementary and alternative medicine.
Don't believe what you think, by Edzard Ernst, an Imprint Academic publication.
Imprint Digital. Upton Pyne.
A short-run journal and book printers based in Upton Pyne which started printing books for their parent publishing company, Imprint Academic, in the late 1990s. By 2007 they were printing books for many well-known publishers and self-publishing individuals. They produce paperback and hardback books using state of the art equipment dedicated to short-run book printing.
A selection of books printed by Imprint Digital.
Kent Kingdon. Taddyforde.
Situated on New North Road, Taddyford House was rebuilt in the 1870s after a fire in 1850 by Kent Kingdon, a keen support of the Royal Albert Memorial. He left the considerable fortune of £50,000 when he died in April 1889, much of it forming the Kent Kingdon Bequest for the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Free Library. Over the years this bequest has assisted in the purchase of many art works for the Museum and books for the public library. It still continues, much diminished by the effects of inflation, but has achieved a new importance since the withdrawal of support to the Westcountry Studies Library by Devon County Council.
Taddyforde, the home of Kent Kingdon, Exeter.
Sir Allen Lane. Saint David's Station
The founder of Penguin Books, Sir Allen Lane (1902-1970), critical of the publications on offer in station bookstalls, came up with the idea of the famous paperback imprint while waiting for a train at St David’s Station, on his way back to London from a weekend visit to Agatha Christie. He had been apprenticed to John Lane and Charles Elkin Mathews at the Bodley Head.
The present WHSmith bookstall at St David's Station.
It is appropriate that the founder of the Penguin imprint should be honoured by an orange plaque rather than a blue one.
Head Weir Paper Mill. Bonhay Road.
The Mill on the Exe is on the site of Head Weir paper mill which had been producing paper from 1798 until its closure in 1967. It was largely demolished in 1982, before the pub was built on the site.
The Mill on the Exe, on the site of Head Weir paper mill, Exeter.
W. G. Hoskins. St David's Hill.
The landscape historian was born at 28 St David's Hill where the Devon History Society have unveiled a blue plaque. As well as his classic history of the county Devon, first published in 1954 and still in print, he also wrote Two thousand years in Exeter, first published in 1960 and revised and updated by Hazel Harvey in 2004.
The birthplace of W. G. Hoskins
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.
Longbrook Street.
A number of writers lived in the roads leading off Longbrook Street.
William Clifford. Longbrook Street.
William Kingdon Clifford (1845-1879) mathematician and philosopher, was born at 82 Longbrook Street. His writings foreshadowed the theory of relativity and influenced the work of Einstein. There is an Exeter Civic Society plaque on the house. His work also demonstrates that literature covers all subjects, not just fiction and poetry, but there is a literary link of another kind to this Georgian terrace. The main character in George Gissing's novel Born in exile, written while Gissing lived in Exeter, had his dwelling on the upper floor of "a row of small houses placed above long strips of sloping garden" some with a "latticed porch which gives the doors an awkward quaintness".
William Clifford's birthplace, Longbrook Street, Exeter (Google Street view)
Harry Hems. Longbrook Street.
Harry Hems (1842–1916), the noted architectural and ecclesiastical sculptor, had his workshop at 85 Longbrook Street at the sign of the Lucky Horseshoe. Irascible and impulsive, he was a great self-publicist and with the help of cuttings agencies amassed more than twenty large volumes of news cuttings relating to his work all over the globe. These are now held by the Westcountry Studies Library.
The Lucky Horseshoe, Harry Hems workshop, Longbrook Street, Exeter.
Gene Kemp. West Avenue.
The children's author Gene Kemp (1926–2015) lived at 6 West Avenue. She grew up near Tamworth, Staffordshire, and went to Exeter University, becoming a teacher at St Sidwell's School in Exeter in the 1970s. From 1972 she wrote stories for younger readers about a pig named Tamworth, named after the town she grew up in. She found inspiration for many of the characters in her books amongst the friends of her children and the school where she taught. Her best known book is The turbulent term of Tyke Tiler (Faber, 1977). Set in the fictional Cricklepit School, it charts the pleasures and pains of friendship and growing up.
Gene Kemp's residence, West Avenue, Exeter.
George Gissing. Prospect Park.
The tortuous and tortured life of novelist George Gissing (1857-1903) brought him to 24 Prospect Park in 1891 and he stayed there with his family until 1893. While he was there his most famous novel New Grub Streeet was published, which dealt with the commercialisation of literature. His main work written in Exeter was Born in exile, published in 1892, which is partly set in Exeter, a terrace of houses in Longbrook Street probably inspiring the setting for the home of the novel's hero Godwin Peake who, while there, attempts to woo the daughter of a local gentry family, who is improbably named Sidwell. But a better feel of Exeter is gained from the 1903 publication The private papers of Henry Ryecroft, a semi-fictional autobiographical work, the journal of a man living comforably in Exeter on a private income. The work is arranged by the seasons of the year and Ryecroft's evident love of nature has endeared the book to Japanese readers.
George Gissing's residence in Prospect Park, Exeter.
Lawrence Sail. Union Road.
The poet Lawrence Sail grew up after World War 2 at no. 24 (now 45) Union Road. He gives an atmospheric account of his years there in Sift : memories of childhood (Exeter: Impress Books, 2010).
Lawrence Sail's childhood home in Union Road, Exeter.
Mary Willcocks. Pennsylvania Road.
The novelist and suffragette Mary Willcocks moved to 35 Pennsylvania Road after her mother died in 1913. In 1939 she was living at 88 Pennsylvania Road and died at 1 Pennsylvania Crescent in 1952.
Mary Willcocks's home in Pennsylvania Road, Exeter.
University of Exeter.
The University College led the way in moving from the city centre. The development of the Streatham campus was initiated to the north of the city in the 1930s.
Roborough Library. University of Exeter.
Opened in 1940, this was the first of several university libraries on the Streatham campus.
Roborough Library, University of Exeter
Old Library. University of Exeter.
A new reading room was constructed in the 1960s to relieve pressure on the Roborough building. It now houses the Special Collections and the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum.
Entrance to the Old Library, University of Exeter.
Special Collections Department. University of Exeter.
The University of Exeter Library’s Special Collections department hosts the archives of famous writers such as William Golding, Ted Hughes, Charles Causley, Agatha Christie, Daphne du Maurier and Sir John Betjeman.
Agatha Christie archive, University of Exeter Special Collections.
Bill Douglas Cinema Museum. University of Exeter.
This is home to one of the largest collections of material relating to the moving image in Britain, including books, posters, panoramas, printed optical toys and a wealth of other cinema related memorabilia. The 85,000 items are well represented in the Museum's website.
The Piccadilly peepshow, an early satirical item in the Bill Douglas Museum.
Forum Library. University of Exeter.
The current library building was built in 1983 with considerable funding from the Gulf States and is now the main University library, now incorporated in the Forum complex.
The Forum Library, University of Exeter.
Floella Benjamin. University of Exeter.
Floella Benjamin was awarded the degree of honorary D.Litt by the University of Exeter for contributions to the cultural life of the United Kingdom and served as a much-loved Chancellor of the University of Exeter from 2006 to 2016. She is the author of children's books including her autobiographical Coming to England, about moving from Trinidad, which is now used to teach modern history to young people. Many will remember her as presenter of "Play School" on BBC television.
Floella Benjamin
Northcott Theatre. University of Exeter.
The Northcott Theatre, the seventh building in Exeter to be used as a theatre, was opened 1967. It takes its name from George Vernon Northcott (1891-1963) who made a generous endoment to help establish it but died before it was opened. Its extensive archives are held in the University of Exeter Special Collections.
The Northcott Theatre, Exeter.
University of Exeter Press. Reed Hall, Streatham Drive, Exeter, EX4 4QR
With the University being a hotbed for research and creativity it should be no surprise that the is a cluster of academic presses associated with the institution. The University of Exeter Press is one of only a handful of university presses in the UK. It is internationally recognised for its excellence in humanities publishing. It has included a number of important local historical studies among its publications, culminating in the Historical atlas of South West England, published in 1999.
Historical atlas of South West England, published by the University of Exeter Press.
Impress Books. Innovation Centre Phase 1, North Park Rd, Exeter EX4 4RN
Impress Books was founded in 2004 as an independent publishing house focusing on previously unpublished writers of non-fiction and fiction. Their non-fiction list was launched with Being Luis in June 2005 and has continued to flourish with the addition of titles such as The Russian Countess: Escaping Revolutionary Russia and Of Sirens and Centaurs. They moved into publishing fiction in 2006 with 100 Ways to Improve the World. They run the Impress Prize for New Writers and publish crime, historical and literary fiction, focussing on new writers and voices from or about the marginalised in society, but they do include local items in their output, for example Exeter Cathedral: the first thousand years, 400-1550 by Nicholas Orme. .
Exeter Cathedral: the first thousand years, by Nicholas Orme, an Impress Books publication.
Pelagic Publishing. University of Exeter.
Pelagic Publishing, an independent academic publisher of books on wildlife, science and conservation, set up to tackle the lack of practical books available on ecology and conservation, was founded in 2010 by Nigel Massen, who also runs the University of Exeter Press. The publications are not specifically local in content, but a recent publication in 2021 is by Devon based naturalist Ian Carter: Human, nature : a naturalist’s thoughts on wildlife and wild places.
Human, nature : a naturalist’s thoughts on wildlife and wild places, by Ian Carter, a Pelagic Publishing title.
Imprint Academic. Upton Pyne.
Established in 1985, Imprint Academic publishes books and peer-reviewed journals in philosophy, politics, psychology and religion. Societas is an imprint of the Group which also owns the short-run printers Imprint Digital. Among local sciientific researchers it publishes the writings of Exeter physician Edzard Ernst on complementary and alternative medicine.
Don't believe what you think, by Edzard Ernst, an Imprint Academic publication.
Imprint Digital. Upton Pyne.
A short-run journal and book printers based in Upton Pyne which started printing books for their parent publishing company, Imprint Academic, in the late 1990s. By 2007 they were printing books for many well-known publishers and self-publishing individuals. They produce paperback and hardback books using state of the art equipment dedicated to short-run book printing.
A selection of books printed by Imprint Digital.
Kent Kingdon. Taddyforde.
Situated on New North Road, Taddyford House was rebuilt in the 1870s after a fire in 1850 by Kent Kingdon, a keen support of the Royal Albert Memorial. He left the considerable fortune of £50,000 when he died in April 1889, much of it forming the Kent Kingdon Bequest for the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Free Library. Over the years this bequest has assisted in the purchase of many art works for the Museum and books for the public library. It still continues, much diminished by the effects of inflation, but has achieved a new importance since the withdrawal of support to the Westcountry Studies Library by Devon County Council.
Taddyforde, the home of Kent Kingdon, Exeter.
Sir Allen Lane. Saint David's Station
The founder of Penguin Books, Sir Allen Lane (1902-1970), critical of the publications on offer in station bookstalls, came up with the idea of the famous paperback imprint while waiting for a train at St David’s Station, on his way back to London from a weekend visit to Agatha Christie. He had been apprenticed to John Lane and Charles Elkin Mathews at the Bodley Head.
The present WHSmith bookstall at St David's Station.
It is appropriate that the founder of the Penguin imprint should be honoured by an orange plaque rather than a blue one.
Head Weir Paper Mill. Bonhay Road.
The Mill on the Exe is on the site of Head Weir paper mill which had been producing paper from 1798 until its closure in 1967. It was largely demolished in 1982, before the pub was built on the site.
The Mill on the Exe, on the site of Head Weir paper mill, Exeter.
W. G. Hoskins. St David's Hill.
The landscape historian was born at 28 St David's Hill where the Devon History Society have unveiled a blue plaque. As well as his classic history of the county Devon, first published in 1954 and still in print, he also wrote Two thousand years in Exeter, first published in 1960 and revised and updated by Hazel Harvey in 2004.
The birthplace of W. G. Hoskins
This page last updated 8 September 2021
