Monuments and Memorials

Monuments and Memorials
Statues & Sculpture
Murals and Wall Art

Clocktower - Queen Street

Located at the top of Queen Street, the Clock Tower has for many years acted as a prominent landmark when giving directions or as a place to meet. It was erected by Mrs Louisa A Miles in 1897 in memory of her husband who died in 1881 at the age of 81.

Miles had lived for many years in Dix's Field with his first wife who was older than him. Miles and Louisa had married in 1870 when Miles, a widower was 70 years old and Louisa then 50, in Western-Super-Mare. Miles was a retired army officer, Exeter Magistrate and philanthropist. He was an expert on animal welfare, especially horses. In 1846, Miles wrote the Treatise on the Horse's Foot which was the most authoritative book on the subject at that time, and remained so for the rest of the century.

In July 1877, Miles was concerned about the many horses that were plying between Exeter St David's Station and the city centre. He paid for a granite drinking fountain for horses to be placed in the centre of the intersection of New North Road, and Queens Street.

After his death, his widow, Louisa determined to build a lasting memorial to her husband in the same position as the horse fountain. It took several years for the plans to be finalised as they became more elaborate. Designed by the 27 year old, local architect, Thomas A Andrews, the interior of the clock tower is hollow and has a stairway to the top, allowing for the then clockwork movements, to be wound. The tower was constructed by the local stone masons, J Easton and Sons, Paris Street.

There is a large plaque on one side that bears the above inscription. The other three sides bear the text from the Book of Proverbs, the Miles' coat of arms and a door leading to the interior. The original horse fountain is still in place. The first horse to drink from the fountain after the Clocktower was opened, was the horse that had drawn Mrs Miles to the opening ceremony. Louisa Miles also funded the spire for St Leonard's Church - she died in 1907 at the age of 89.

With the increase of traffic during the second half of the 20th century, the Clocktower has come in for criticism because of the poor traffic flow and accidents. There was a call to remove it, but it was made into a Grade II listed building and is now protected.

'Phoenix' Memorial and Blitz Fountain

The night of the 4/5th May 1942 was remembered with the Exeter Phoenix Blitz Fountain at the end of Princesshay, near Eastgate. One hundred German bombers dropped 10,000 incendiary bombs and 75 tons of high explosives on Exeter, destroying much of the heart of the city. That night, 1400 houses, were destroyed, of which 700 were in Newtown. About 80 died and over a hundred injured. The fountain was sculpted by Roger Dean using fibreglass, and unveiled on the 50th anniversary in 1992.

Land Securities were going to relocate this piece near Broadwalk House in 2007 after it was removed for the Princesshay redevelopment. However, its construction of fibreglass and heavy weight meant that it could not be removed without it being damaged. Roger Dean was therefore commissioned to produce another piece on the same theme for the new siting - the double sided memorial is situated between Roman Walk and Broadgate House.

The Devon War Memorial

The memorial can be found in Cathedral Yard, just opposite Broadgate. It was designed by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens and made out of a single piece of Haytor granite. It is a rather elegant design which reminds one of the many early stone crosses that are found in the south west. The Haytor quarry, which supplied the granite for London Bridge (the one in Arizona!), was reopened in 1919 especially to extract the stone for the memorial.

Lutyens wrote of the memorial "... it is very simple and a monolith and its subtlety in lines means labour, care and thought. It is out of one stone, the biggest I could get.... it should endure for ever".       

Unveiled in May 1921, by the Prince of Wales (photo above), the dates for the First War are shown as 1914-1919 as Britain was still at war in Russia during 1919.

Sir Edwin Lutyens was principle architect for New Delhi and designed the Cenotaph in London, as well as two important projects in Devon - the Drum Inn in Cockington, Torquay (1936), and Castle Drogo on the edge of Dartmoor (1910-1930) which is said to be the last castle to be built in England.

Exeter War Memorial

This memorial for World War One to the dead of Exeter, was dedicate on 29th April, 1923 with pupils from Exeter schools in attendance. It cost £6,000 and is considered to be one of the finest of its type in the country.

The Bronze Figures

Around the base there are figures in bronze of a soldier at rest, a sailor astride the hull of a ship with a figurehead in the form of the Exeter City Coat of Arms, a prisoner of war inspired by the work done by Lady Owen and a group of Exonians with prisoners of war in Germany and a VAD nurse alongside a sheaf of corn and a shrapnel shell, representing agricultural and arms work done by woman.

The 8 ft high figure of Victory trampling over the Demon of Tyranny and Wrong, also in bronze, stands on the top of the granite pedestal. The bronze figures were cast by Singer of Frome in Somerset. They were founded in 1848, by John Webb Singer, a watchmaker, who became interested in casting metal ornaments. Singer's were commissioned to cast the John Angel sculpted figures in 1922. The company merged with the Morris Art Bronze Foundry and moved to London in 1927. They were also responsible for the figure of Justice on top of the Old Bailey.

A bronze plaque on the monument is dedicated to the 958 men and women of Exeter who died between 1914 and 1918. Additional bronze plaques for the dead of the Second World War are on the base.

The Devon granite pedestal was from Blackingstone Quarry, Moretonhampstead and was quarried and erected by Messrs. Easton & Son of Northernhay Street. The total height is 31 ft on a 21 ft square.

The Artist

It is the work of John Angel FRBS, a local artist. Angel attended Exeter School of Art before going on to the Lambeth School under Sir George Frampton RA. He slowly acquired a reputation and was elected a Member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1919. After this commission, Angel emigrated to the United States, where he worked on the New York cathedrals of St Patrick's and St John the Divine.

World War One - Higher Cemetery

This memorial, has inscribed on bronze plaques, the names of the 187 fallen from World War One who are buried in Higher Cemetery. Their remains surround the Memorial Cross, or are buried near by. The memorial is situated close to the entrance of St Mark's Avenue.

World War Two - Higher Cemetery

The memorial for the fallen of World War Two who are buried in Higher Cemetery can be found at the eastern end of the cemetery. There are three blocks of graves for those who died in Devon, one for 29 German and one Italian, one for the dead of Commonwealth and Allied forces consisting of 31 graves, and one for the 65 British dead. There are graves of servicemen and fliers from Poland, Australia, Canada, Southern Rhodesia and New Zealand. Close by are the graves of two German flyers who were shot down over Devon, but not buried in the German block.

Livery Dole Martyrs

The protestant martyrs, Thomas Benet who died at the stake at Livery Dole and Agnes Prest who died at Southernhay are remembered on this monument on the corner of Barnfield Road and Denmark Road.

Thomas Benet came from Cambridge in 1524, having turned from the Catholic Church, believing they no longer worshipped God in the way Jesus commanded. Benet nailed a paper protesting against the supremacy of the Pope to the door of the Cathedral in October 1530. The Bishop was enraged as Benet eluded the authorities, until he was captured attending his own Excommunication service in the Cathedral. He was placed in irons and ordered to submit to the Pope, but he refused. On January 10th 1531 he was taken to Livery Dole and burnt at the stake. A local, John Barnehouse thrust a flaming faggot in his face and shouted "Here, heretic, pray to Our Lady or I'll make you do it!". Benet uttered "Father, receive my spirit!" and expired in the blaze.

Agnes Prest, a Cornish woman refused to accept the 'doctrine of transubstantiation' which her husband and children, all strong Papists believed. Her husband and neighbours took her to the local priest and she was imprisoned in Launceston, before being transferred to Exeter. She was charged with the crime of "Heresy chiefly against the Sacrament of the Altar and for speaking against Idols" and ordered to give up her beliefs. She could not accept that a piece of bread was the body God and thought the practice blasphemous. She refused to recant and on 15th August 1557 she was taken to Southernhay and burnt at the stake.

The monument was designed by Harry Hems, of Longbrook Street and erected in 1909 as the result of a public subscription.

Two sides of the obelisk show Benet banging on the door of the Cathedral and at the stake.

The plaque on the right reads:

Volunteer Force of Great Britain

This slightly 'wonky' memorial is to commemorate the founding of the Volunteer Force of Great Britain in 1852 - this was the military force that became in the 20th century, the Territorial Army.

Consisting of infantry, artillery, engineer and medical units, the Volunteer Force largely drew manpower from the rural areas. In December 1851, Louis Napoleon's coup, in France, drew attention to Britain's lack of defence against invasion. On 27th January 1852, Dr John Charles Bucknill, Superintendent of the Devon County Asylum called some like minded friends to a meeting with the aim of forming a corps of Rifle Volunteers to counter such a threat. The resulting Exeter and South Devon Rifle Volunteers, was the first of many local units throughout the UK to be formed. They initially drilled in the Castle Yard in civilian clothes; Mr Henry Shaw of Baring Crescent tried on the first specially designed uniform, having been chosen by Major Percival Brown as the fittest in the corp. At the general muster of 6th October 1852, the Oath of Allegiance was first taken. Surprisingly, Dr Bucknill was initially enlisted as a private.

Early in their history, the force was often criticised for their incompetence, and in 1861 some of Exeter's force were 'horribly disfigured' because 'by some strange oversight ..... (they) forgot to keep their sponge wet''.   

The Volunteer Force was used as mounted infantry during the Boar War. In 1908, they became the Territorial Force, and were known as Saturday Night Soldiers. They were organised in county forces whose principal use was for home defence. During the First World War, they were divided into units for home defence and units of men who had volunteered for overseas duties. Many ended up in the trenches of the western front.

The monument was designed by Sidney Greenslade and made by Harry Hems, with a base of granite and top of fluted Portland stone. The plaque notes that Queen Victoria knighted Sir John Charles Bucknill in 1894 for his part in founding the force.

Additional information on Exeter from an article by Arthur Rodway in the Devon Family Historian.

'The Kings Beam'

This iron contraption is included in this section, as it is a monument to a past age. It can be found under the canopy of the transit shed on the quay. It was cast in iron in 1838 by Bodleys of Exeter. The beam was used by customs officers for suspending weighing scales when assessing the duty on imported goods.