Churches of Exeter - A to St Mary

George's Meeting House
Holy Trinity Church
Riverside Christian Centre *
Sacred Heart Church
St Andrew's Church
St Anne's Chapel
St Catherine's Chapel
St David's Church
St Edmund's Church
St Leonard's Church
St Martin's Church
St Mary Arches Church
St Mary Major Church
St Mary Steps Church

Georges Meeting House, South Street

This is a fine example of a Presbyterian Chapel, that was founded in 1760. and named George's Meeting House, the coronation year of George III. It was financed by the Bowring and Baring families of Exeter, amongst others.

The facade is of red brick, framed with light coloured quoins (edge stones). There is a front porch with Tuscan columns and a shallow pitched roof. The interior, a simple rectangular space with a plain, flat, plaster ceiling, was designed to allow the resident preacher to be seen and heard clearly from the carved pulpit, imported from their earlier meeting house in James Street. There are Ionic columns lining three sides supporting an oak panelled gallery.

The congregation declined during the 20th-century, and the building was sold in 1987, as an antique centre. It was later used to retail furniture and artifacts from around the world and was known as the Global Village. J D Wetherspoon purchased the old church and opened their second pub in Exeter on 16 January 2005. It was the first Wetherspoons, and also the first pub in Exeter to not allow smoking. Their conversion has preserved many of its features and saved a fine building from further dereliction.

Holy Trinity Church, South Street

No longer a church, Holy Trinity occupies a site, just inside the old South Gate, that has had an ecclesiastical presence since medieval times.

A church of St James was in existence near Holy Trinity in 1222. Hoskins surmises that it was absorbed into Holy Trinity at the time of the Black Death. Certainly by 1387 there was a reference to 'the waste place where the church of St James formerly stood'. In 1664, Trinity Green, just outside South Gate was consecrated, and the rest of Southernhay planted with 200 elms. The old Holy Trinity Church was demolished in 1819 when the South Gate was removed.

The present Holy Trinity was built in 1820 at a cost of £7,295. It was a time of extensive church building, and the new church was not constructed to a high standard to save money. The architect was Robert Cornish who produced a simple, gothic style with a castellated top that according to White's Devonshire Directory, in 1850 'has about 1000 sittings, of which nearly 100 are free'. The turret contains a clock and bell. To my eyes the stucco surface is rather dreary.The church was taken over by the White Ensign Club in 1977 as a meeting place and social club. There is a large model of the York Class HMS Exeter on display and other HMS Exeter memorabilia.

Sacred Heart Church

This Catholic Church is built on the site of the Bear Inn, the former town house of the Abbots of Tavistock.

Designed by C E Ware and Leonard Stokes in 1881, the church was built in the early 1880's - the tower was not completed until 1926. The original design shows a pointed spire on the tower.In a French, Gothic style, it incorporated a 15th-century window from the Bear Inn on the staircase leading to the choir loft.

Nikolaus Pevsner, did not take to the building and said it 'not worthy' of Stokes. It does appear to be a little cramped on its site in South Street, with the slope making it appear squat.

The interior uses a variety of materials including Pocombe, Bath Corsham and Portland stone. The stained glass windows were made by Frederick Drake, a local glass worker.

St Andrew's, Exwick

When this church was built in 1842 as a chapel of ease, it was considered to be 'the best example of a modern church we have seen yet' by the Camden Society. The Reverend John Medley wished the interior of the new church to be similar to that at St Thomas, although on a smaller scale. The original design was to incorporate a spire, but it was never built.

At this time, Exwick was growing due to the arrival of the Bristol and Exeter Railway at St David's, and the Buller family paying for the Exe to be bridged at Station Road. The foundation stone for the church was laid by J W Buller.

It took John Moore over twelve months to build the chapel at a cost of £1,400. Finally, on 26th September 1842 it was consecrated by the Rt Rev Bishop Coleridge. After the ceremony, a meal of roast beef and plum pudding was given to 250 local poor children in a nearby tent.

Entrance to St AndrewsThe chapel had free seating throughout, with no reserved pews for the Buller family. Built of Pocombe and Portland stone, the interior had stonework from Caen in Normandy, installed by Mr Rowe of St Sidwells. The east window was based on the design of stained glass at York Minster and the alter rails were a copy of those in the chapel of Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey - they didn't aim low for inspiration.

When William Gibbs of Tyntesfield, who made a fortune importing guano, purchased the living of Exwick from the Buller's in 1872, he made Exwick independent of St Thomas.

In 1873, the original architect, John Hayward was brought back by William Gibbs to remodel the church and enlarge it. This work was paid for by Gibbs, who was also responsible for St Michael's Church at Mount Dinham. The chancel was lengthened and polished marble pillars were installed, creating a north aisle; stencils illustrating the Benedictine's were added to the chancel ceiling by Mr Roberts of St Thomas. It was at this time that a new, large vicarage was built opposite, above Exwick Road for the new vicar, William Cobham Gibbs.

The war memorial dates from June 1920, while electric lighting was added to the church in 1931. The Exwick Parish Institute, now known as the Exwick Parish Hall was built on land next to the church in 1921. The toll house on the opposite corner of Station Road belonged to the Buller's and, to avoid paying a toll, locals would nip through the churchyard on the way to St David's. Tolls were discontinued on 7th October 1901, by the Mayor.

St Anne's Chapel & Almshouse, Blackboy Road

Originally on the site of a medieval hermitage, a chapel dedicated to St Anne the patron saint of weavers, was built in 1418. Situated in the centre of the fork of Old Tiverton Road and the original Bath Road, now Blackboy Road, it is a tiny corner of old Exeter.

After Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the Mainwaring family became the owners and endowed the almshouses for eight poor folk between 1561 and 1617. During the Civil War in 1646, the buildings were used as a fortified post by the forces of Fairfax and were badly damaged.

Restored in 1838 and then again in 1907 by W D Caroe, who was responsible for St Davids Church. The chapel has a tiny timber-ribbed barrel vault roof. It is now used by the Greek Orthodox Church as a centre of worship in Exeter.

St Catherine's Chapel and Almshouses

Were founded by Canon John Stevens in 1457 to house thirteen poor men. The Dean of the Cathedral took on the upkeep of the almshouses when Stevens died, then Edward VI suppressed it, only to be restored to the Dean by Elizabeth I. The Chapel became a carpenter's shop while the almshouses were divided into two to provide accommodation for elderly women.

In 1894, Lady Hulham of Exmouth financed their restoration and they were handed over to the Church Army as a hostel. During the second war, servicemen were billeted in the buildings. The bombing of May 1942 destroyed the Almshouses and Chapel. Rather than clear the ruins, the City Council landscaped the ruins as a memorial to that dreadful night. The redevelopment of Princesshay will see the area behind the ruins opened out and rear access created.

 The glass panels are an artwork entitled Marking Time. The door shaped panels have pieces of medieval pottery, glass through to a Coke can that have been excavated by archeologists during the building work, sandwiched between the panes. Apparently, the type of ring pull on a Coke can will help future archeologists to date 20th-century artifacts with some precision.

St David's Church

There has been a daughter church of Heavitree at St David's, since the late Anglo Saxon period. A deed of Bishop Henry Marshall of 1194, mentions, among others, St David's Church. Jenkins in his History of Exeter wrote of St David's Church in 1805:

"The church, which is situated on the summit of a hill, (called in ancient records St. David's Dune) is small and irregular, consisting of a nave and one aisle, without a chancel; the communion table being situated in the eastern angle of the nave. The whole of the building is remarkably low, as is the tower, which is square, containing four small untunable bells; the church is light, well seated, and kept-in good repair. The present edifice cannot lay claim to great antiquity, as it was built in the fifteenth century."

The next church was built, in a Wren influenced, Greek Doric style by James Green. Green was familiar with Telford's, St Mary Magdalen Church, in Bridgenorth, and it is likely he was influenced by its design. The foundation stone was laid on 4th June 1816. The octagonal tower was capped by a dome, giving it the nickname 'the pepperbox church' because of the resemblance of its tower to a Georgian silver pepper shaker. James Green, also built Elmfield House, now the Imperial Hotel, just close by and was employed as the County Surveyor. Green's church was burnt down in 1890, and in June 1897, when the remaining structure was being demolished, a copper plate was found embedded in a wall near the entrance. The plate listed the names of the committee responsible for its construction, and was placed there by Green in 1816.

The present building was commissioned by the vicar, the Rev C J Valpy French, and designed by W D Caroe. Constructed of limestone, on the same footprint as the old church, the building work was completed by 1900.The cramped site forced Caroe to use internal buttressing, which he pierced to form aisles on each side. Half the £18,000 cost was funded by the Thornton West family. Sir John Betjeman wrote that it was "the finest example of Victorian church architecture in the south west".

Thomas Glass (1709-1786), an influential Exeter Physician, who wrote of the disease of smallpox in 1767, is buried in St David's Churchyard. The yard was closed by Order in Council in March 1981, and put into the care of the City Parks Department. Some of the old gravestones have been moved to the side to make it easier to mow the grass. The green in the front of the church was briefly used for allotments during the Second World War - when the enthusiastic gardeners started digging up skulls and leg bones, it was decided to close it and return it to grass.

Situated on the main road to North Devon, St David's was a poor impoverished area after the Normans invaded because the Saxon inhabitants of the city were driven out to this area. The building of the Ironbridge in 1832 and coming of the railway in 1845, saw a spate of private building along St David's Hill and the area became more prosperous.

St Edmund's, Exe Bridge

The remains of this church, on the ruins of the old Exe bridge, in the middle of a traffic island probably date from around about 870. King Edmund 849-870 had many chapels dedicated to him at this time, so a Saxon church on a possible Roman or Saxon ford may date from this time. The church was rebuilt when Walter Gervase had the Exe bridge constructed from 1190. Walter was Mayor of Exeter in 1231 and 1239 and was buried along with his wife, by the church.

It is also thought that Exeter's first printing press was installed in the church by John Williams the rector from 1554 to 1572, with a press supplied by Tavistock Abbey. In 1800, the tower was extensively damaged by lightning - an etching for Thomas Sharpter's History of Cholera shows a pointed spire on top of the tower in 1832.

In 1833, extensive repairs were undertaken and the church rebuilt at a cost of £2,000. It has also been referred to as St Edmunds on the Bridge.

The remains of St EdmundsThe Parish of St Edmunds stretched from the ancient bridge, across Exe Island and Bonhay, almost to Head Weir with its north western boundary under the walls of Exeter. The population of St Edmunds in 1801 was 918, which increased considerably during the 19th Century as industrialisation spread across the area.It was damaged by fire fire in 1969. The traffic scheme of the 1960's and 70's that created Western Way required the demolition of many properties in the area - the partially demolished church was reprieved when the remains of the old Exe bridge were discovered and excavated by archaeologists during 1975.

St Leonard's Church, Topsham Road

The parish of St Leonards was the smallest parish in Devon and most rural close to the city wall, until 1877 when it was absorbed into the County of the City of Exeter.

The first chapel on the site of the present church was built by Richard of Redvers, the 1st Earl of Devon or his son Baldwin in the first half of the 12th century. In 1222 the parish boundaries were defined. Sixty or so years later, Master Lucas, a priest of St Leonards was implicated in the murder of Walter Lechlade, in Cathedral Close in 1283.

In 1566, a new church was built with the patronage passing from the Courtenay's to the Hulls of Larkbeare, after Henry VIII executed Henry Courtenay in 1538 for treason. In 1831, this church was replaced by another, built by  Andrew Patey, but after 40 years it had to be demolished because it was structurally unsound.

The present church dates from 1876 when the Baring, the Earl of Northbrook laid the foundation stone for "a thanksgiving for his safe return from India". S Robinson designed it, aided by John Hayward's son. The church is in a Victorian Gothic style. In 1881, Mrs L A Miles, in memory of her husband, paid for the 145ft spire which was complete by 1884. The church is now run in an evangelical Church of England style.

St Martin's Church  

This is one of the oldest churches in Exeter and was consecrated by Bishop Leofric on 6th July 1065. As Bishop Leofric came from Burgundy, the church was dedicated to St Martin of Tours, the patron saint of beggars. Some original Anglo-Saxon stonework in the walls remains from this period including the use of Beer stone. The church is on a cramped and skewed site, forcing the nave and chancel onto different axis. Most of the church was refurbished in the late 14th and 15th century, including the windows while the furnishing dates from the 17th and 18th-centuries. The roughcast tower is built of red Heavitree sandstone. The roof is a typical Devon style 'wagon' roof. The porch was added in the 19th century.

Inside, the church has several interesting memorials, including one to the Hooper family. The ten commandments have been found under the paintwork behind the altar. The west window was in a poor state of repair - in the 1970's it was recommended that it be replaced. It was preserved and 75% of the original remains.

The single bell weighs about 11 cwt (550 kilos) and was cast in 1675 by Thomas Pennington III from Exeter. The defunct parish of St Martins stretched from Broadgate to St Martins Lane and the High Street to Cathedral Yard and covered only 1.75 acres (0.7 hectares). In 1821 there were 329 residents in 62 houses - now all the houses are shops and offices.

St Mary Arches Church, Mary Arches Street

Situated just off the top of Fore Street in what was a narrow alleyway and is now an important part of the one-way system, this little church has some important Norman features. It retains its Norman windows and the arches lining each side of the nave, separating it from the side aisles. During the 14th to 16th centuries, it was used as a centre of worship by many merchants and Mayors of Exeter. John Wesley was offered the chance to preach from the church - however, the arrangement was hastily cancelled when his doctrine was judged to be 'dangerous' and 'might lead people into enthusiasm or despair'.

The church escaped the actual bombing of 4th May 1942. However, while the sisters of St Wilfrid's Community held a communion service the next day, a smouldering incendiary bomb erupted. The sisters had to dash into the church to save the processional cross and crucifix. The 15th-century wagon roof was badly damaged and much original furniture was lost.In 1950, the church was restored by S Dykes-Bower. The roof, was rebuilt as a barrel vault, using timbers from a US landing craft that took part in the D-day landings and had been beached on the Exe estuary. The outside was not so well restored and imitation stone was used to make repairs.

The church is now the home of the colours of Devon's Home Guard, or 'Dad's Army' and those men who died defending Devon during the air-raids. See Home Guard Graves

St Mary Major - Cathedral Yard

A monastery or minster in what is known as Cathedral Close was established late in the 7th century. St Boniface who was born in Crediton was educated in this monastery in AD 680 before travelling to Germany. In 1003, the Vikings attacked Exeter and burnt down the building, only for it to be rebuilt a few years later. Soon after, the Bishop who was established in Crediton, was having problems with security after raids from Danish raiding parties. Bishop Leofric gained permission from William I to move the 'Bishop's stool' to the walled Exeter, and the minster became the cathedral. In 1114, Bishop Warelwast, nephew of the Conqueror, started building a new, vast Cathedral church to the south east.

In the years after the new Cathedral was complete, the old minster became the church of St Mary Major. When the 16 year old Catherine of Aragon was enroute from Spain to marry Arthur, the eldest son of Henry VII in 1501, she stayed at the Deanery, close to St Mary Major. The weather was very windy and the vane on the top of the church '...did so whistle that the princess could not sleep' - a workman was ordered to climb the tower and pull it down. In 1581 the tower was lowered and again in 1768.

The Victorians decided that the old church had had its day, and in 1865 it was demolished, along with part of the Vicars Choral buildings that were alongside. A new church, designed by Edward Ashworth was built on the old foundations. In the 20th century, the Lutyen's designed Devon War Memorial was placed close to St Mary Major and the car started to invade the Close. Apart from St James Chapel in the Cathedral, the Globe Hotel and a cottage on the opposite side of the Close, the area was largely unscathed during the 1942 bombing.

In the 1960's, with falling church attendances, it was decided that St Mary Major was no longer viable. In 1971 it was demolished, only to expose a hidden surprise, for beneath the church were found some ancient Saxon burials, the foundations of the old minster and a Roman Bath House dating from the 1st century. After the archaeological excavations were complete, the site was closed and grassed over, leaving a lovely, open area leading to the west front of the Cathedral.

St Mary Steps Church, West Street

The church of St Mary Steps was near the old West Gate, before it was dismantled. It is at the bottom of West Street, adjacent to Stepcote Hill. The original church dates from about 1150 and has some Norman, round arched windows. There is also a Norman font with an ornate, conical cover carved by Harry Hems in the 19th-century. Hems also made the altar and he carved the nave screen. The church was rebuilt in the 15th century and now consists of a main building and tower of red Heavitree sandstone. Hoskins is certain that the church was originally known as St Mary Minor, with St Mary Major in Cathedral Yard the senior church.

In 1744 the rector reported that "I have, upon the best calculation I can make, in my parish about 200 families. And of them, I thank God, I have not more than four whole families of Dissenters of any kind".

This was a time when so called Dissenters where growing in numbers and threatening the established church.

An interesting feature is the Matthew the Miller clock. Made in 1619-21 by Matthew Hoppin, it is said to be named after a local miller who lived his life precisely to the tick of the clock, thus helping the locals know the time. An Exeter rhyme of Matthew the Miller runs:

The figures are said to represent Henry VIII and two guards. They are animated with the guards striking a bell each, on the hour, while Henry nods sagely in the centre of the action. The clock was restored in 1980.