Streets of Exeter - I to O

Streets A to C
Streets D to H
Streets I to O
Streets P to Z

Isca Road

This road was the first council built estate in Exeter and dates from 1904 to 1907, on land donated by Henry Willey of Willeys Foundry. There were forty two, red brick, work mens' dwellings with a garden for rent, at a cost of 4 shillings and 9 pence per week (24 pence).

The road is situated off Willey's Avenue near Haven Banks. Isca is from the Roman name for Exeter, Isca Dumnoniorum. The Dumnonii were an ancient British tribe from the area.

A hit and run raid in 1942 resulted in a bomb hitting the end of Isca Road damaging some houses, and collapsing the church constructed of galvanised tin at the junction with Willeys Avenue, that Henry Willey had also provided in 1904. The church doubled as the boys section of the Comrie High School for Girls and Preparatory School for Boys, while the girls' school was on the corner of Chamberlain Avenue. One former pupil of the school remembers Tommy Cooper attending the school in the 1920s.

Nos 1 to 8 Isca Road were the first bomb damaged houses in Britain to be repaired by a scheme to train apprentices. A wall plaque on No 2 reads:

After a Government White Paper in 1943, the BATC (Building Apprenticeship Training Council) was inaugarated with Sir Malcolm Trustram Eve as the chairman. It was intended that as many as 10,000 boys per annum would be supplied to the building industry through the scheme.

In 1914, Isca Road contained no's 1 to 47 on one side and 2 to 50 on the other. It is interesting to go through their professions. There were nine labourers and six brass finishers. Other jobs that reflected the various foundries in the vicinity include, two ironmoulders, a tinman and a motor tester. There were other professions that weren't with the foundry such as two boot and shoe makers, a potter, gardener and four carters/wagoners. Two inhabitants were probably retired and there were three females, probably widows. All in all, a very working class section of Exeter's population.

Kalendarhay Lane

This name is derived from the word 'calendar'. The College of the Vicars, known as the Kalendars prepared the ecclesiastical calendar of obits (special masses). Hay derives from the word for enclosure. The lane itself links South Street with Cathedral Yard.

St George's Church stood on the west side of South Street, opposite the College until 1843, when it was demolished for road widening. After the destruction of South Street from bombing in 1942, a Saxon doorway from the church was uncovered. Just a scrap of wall and doorway, but one of the earliest, still surviving structures in Exeter. When it was decided to preserve the ruins of the College as a memorial to the bombing, St George's doorway was moved into the area in front of the ruins, where it can be seen today.

Lime Kiln Lane

Named after a lime kiln at its end, Lime Kiln Lane is situated in Higher Wear, Countess Wear. The lane leads towards the river, where the kiln is dug into a low cliff. Lime kilns were often situated on waterways, making it easy to import limestone from Berry Head and coal, predominantly, from Newcastle. The lime was used for building and agriculture. In White's Devonshire Directory for 1850, the limeburner in Countess Wear was listed as Davy and Son.

Much of the lime was used on the fields of St David's in the north of the city. Truckermucks, or carts without wheels, pulled by horses or oxen, were used to carry the lime up the Topsham Road, Holloway Street, up South Street and down North Street to St David's Down.

The traders and inhabitants of South Street and North Street found the roadway often blocked with overtunred truckermucks, and piles of lime. The truckermucks also damaged the surface, and eventually they were banned.

Lion's Holt

This name first appeared on maps in 1795 and is named after the field owned by E P Lyon. The area was used to burn the bedding and clothing of cholera victims during the 1832 outbreak.

It was also the site of the traditional spring that fed Exeter water through the Underground Passage for 600 hundred years. When the South Western Railway was built in 1857/58 the well was cut off when the navvies levelled the ground for the track which passed over the well.

Little Silver and Silver Terrace

Little derives from Litel, meaning outside, while Silver is the Latin Silva for wood - hence, 'wood outside the walls'. The earliest of the cottages in Little Silver, No 1 dates from the 17th century and has a four foot thick cob wall. No 5 is probably 18th century and the rest Victorian. The grassed area in the square formerly had a central square of cottages which were demolished in 1963 to give an open space. The rent for a house in Little Silver in 1837 was £9 per annum.

Little Stile - Cathedral Yard

The only gate into Cathedral Yard that is no longer in existence as a right of way, Little Stile was a postern gate of approximately 1.5 metres width, for pedestrians only. It was a route that continued from the pathway in front of the Three Gables, or artisans houses, to South Street, western side bounded by the Globe Hotel. There is a record of it once being named "Cook Row Street" on a map (D&CN&Q). Cook's Row was the top of Southgate Street.

The loss of the top of South Street and the Globe Hotel in the bombing of May 1942, led to a new entrance to Cathedral Yard being cut from South Street and adjacent to St Petroc's Church. Little Stile was blocked by the rebuilding of the new shops in South Street.

Richard Parker, who was hung as a naval mutineer was born in 1767 in Little Stile. In June 1797 he was involved in a naval mutiny at Sheerness that was fighting to improve the conditions of seamen.

The Three Gables date from the mid-17th century. The three houses have cellars lined with Heavitree stone, and are of timber frame construction. In the 1980's, one was the office of Web & Bower, the publishers of a Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. They even had the original diary on show in a glass case.

Longbrook Street

First named in the 13th century, the road takes its name from the land and stream that was owned by Gilbert and John Long. The brothers founded the St John's Hospital School in 1238. The brook which crossed the street at the bottom of the hill near Queen's Terrace was waded by William I and his army, when he besieged Exeter in 1068. The ford was replaced by a wooden bridge which was itself removed when the brook was culverted in 1832.

Lucky Lane

This lane runs parallel to, and behind Colleton Crescent. It is probably a corruption of Larkbeare Lane. Some early maps of Exeter show it named Graves Street, which may refer to a possible graveyard belonging to the Greyfriars, who resided in the area from 1303, when they relocated from Little Britayne, now the Bartholomew Street area. When some housing was built, human remains were found when digging the foundations.

This area is in the middle of Friernhay which before the construction of Colleton Crescent and adjacent development, was packed with rack fields to dry the wool produced by the fulling mills. It came into the possession of the Colleton family at the beginning of the 19th century, allowing its' development. It is probable that the street was developed as a rear entrance to the Colleton Crescent properties, as they back onto the lane. The other side is also flanked by the rear gardens of some housing.

Maddocks Row - off Paul Street

The modern road that bears the council sign, Maddocks Row, is just a service road for the Paul Street carpark and the rear of Harlequins Centre. However, until the 1920's it was a terrace of eight buildings and was situated further up Paul Street, approximately where the entrance to the Guildhall Centre carpark can be found.

When the Romans built a wooden aqueduct to bring water from St Sidwells, they routed it around the north side of Rougemont, and into the city at Maddocks Row. Hoskins claims that the Row was named after the builder or landlord when a way was cut through the city wall in 1772. However, in the 16th century it was known as Murally Lane. For many years, it was where the Mayor, in procession with civic dignitaries, would mount the wall for his annual tour of inspection.

On the outside of the wall, where Maddocks Row emerged in Northernhay Street, can be found an early 18th century house. Inside the wall, Maddocks Row consisted of a mix of 18th century terraced houses and other buildings, facing up the hill. Their extensive rear gardens ran parallel with the city wall. The street directory for 1897 shows nine premises occupied by a mix of private residents and commercial businesses. By 1923, only three premises are listed.

1897
Maddocks row, 28 Paul street to Northernhay street.
1 Vincent Albert, lithographia printer
2 Loveluck Edmund, herbalist
3 Lee Samuel, bookbinder
4 Clay A. J.& Co. earthenware, merchants
5 Wiltshere John
6 Hookway Walter
8 Fulford Herbert Arthur, assistant overseer for St. Paul's parish
9 Fulford & Son, auctnra

1923
Maddocks row, 28 Paul street to Northernhay street
2 Rowe Charles
5 Arnold Boaz
8 Burns Philip

Between 1921 and 1925, this side of Paul Street, including Maddocks Row, was cleared and Exeter's first bus station created in the space. In 1987, the area was redeveloped and the Harlequins Centre built. Maddocks Row was rebuilt on the Paul Street side of the wall as the service road we see today.

Magdalen Street and Magdalen Road

In the 12th Century, a hospital for 13 lepers was built at a safe distance outside the South Gate, in what is now, Bull Meadow. The hospital was dedicated to St Mary Magdalene and hence, the road became known as Magdalen Street. In 1435 William Wynard continued the tradition by opening a hospice for 12 infirm paupers and priests in Magdalen Street. Magdalen Road crossed a deep valley that was filled in, during 1599, to ease the passage of hard working horses. Tozer's 1792 map of Exeter shows both Maudlin and Magdalen as names.

The shops along Magdalen Street, between the West of England Eye Hospital, now the Barcelona Hotel, and the bottom of South Street were compulsorily purchased in 1962 by the Council. In October 1974, the tenants were given seven days notice to quit to allow the construction of the gyratory road system that surrounds the modern Judge Jefferies pub and car park. The Acorn Inn and shops including the 60 year old cycle shop, Warnes closed and the buildings demolished. The Valiant Soldier on the corner of Magdalen Street and Holloway Street had already been demolished.

Since the opening of the inner bypass between Magdalene Street and Paris Street, Magdalen Road has had a series of traffic calming measures added to both reduce and slow traffic. The shopping area supports a range of interesting, independent shops - who needs a supermarket when you live here.

Martins Lane and St Martins Gate

Martins Lane that runs from the High Street into Cathedral Close was subject in 1286 to having one of the seven entrance gates into Cathedral Close, placed at its exit into the close. Classed as one of the superior gates, suitable for carts, and in the 18th-century, stagecoaches departing the Royal Clarence Hotel, the outline of a vaulted arch can still be seen on the side of the SPCK Bookshop. The position of the gate is still marked by opposite posts, with rings. The gate was removed in 1819 on condition that the lane was to "be made a flat pavement for foot passengers only".

Martins Lane was also known as Luxury Lane and Fyshe Street. The Ship Inn, is situated in Martins Lane and is a popular destination for those visiting the historic parts of the city.A central street lamp, at the Cathedral Close end, has been there since 1817, when Martins Lane became the first street in Exeter to be lit by gas.

Milk Street

Many will walk along Milk St and not know its name. Linking the top of Fore Street with the side of St George's Market, it was formerly the street of the milk sellers, who also had cowsheds there. The name was first recorded in the time of Henry II, 1154-1189.

This extract from a street directory gives an indication of the businesses in Milk Street during 1897:

Endicott's, the army surplus store in New Bridge Street was originally opened by Lennox Endicott in Milk Street during 1937. In May 1942 the bombing of the top of Fore Street and South Street saw all the buildings in Milk Street destroyed, including the Lower Market. The rebuilding after the war saw the street reduced to the narrow alley next to George's Market we see today, and the parking precinct next to the market.

The market hall was closed by the city council in 2005 and was reopened in a £1.8 million refit as FoodeaZe, an in season, food market in late 2006. The smell when you walked in of fresh produce and ham, cheese and bread was very welcoming. It was hidden away, but worth a visit. The location and the opening of the first stage of the new Princesshay development meant a lower than expected trade, and FoodeaZe went into administration in May 2007. George's reverted to its original name of the Corn Exchange in 2007.

Extract from People Talking

"There was another character when I was a diddy going to school; I think he was a tramp, a roadster and his second home was in the police station. His mode of getting in there was smashing the glass windows in the public toilets that were in Milk Street. They'd put him in there for a week then he'd come out and have a couple of jugs of cider and smash another one just to get put back inside. In the end they got so used to him they just took him for granted. It was his way of getting a bed and a meal.

Most Saturday afternoons you could see an exhibition by a fellow that went under the name of Ginger the Sword Swallower. This took place exactly outside the toilets in Milk Street."

Mincinglake Road

Derived from the Anglo Saxon word moenchin, meaning nun. The stream of the same name ran past St Katherine's Priory. The nuns dammed the stream further up the valley to create a fish lake, hence the nuns lake. The Mincinglake rises above Mincinglake Bridge on Stoke Hill and enters the Exe at Northbrook Park, where it is named the Northbrook. It was referred to as the Wynford in 937, possibly derived from the Celtic word for Fair Stream. However, Wynford may be derived from the English word for flight or battle - its has been suggested that a ford near the bridge could have been the site of a battle between the Romans and British population, although there is no actual evidence for such an event. Wynford lent its name to almost all the lands around Exeter called Wonford.

The Stoke Hill estate, of which Mincinglake Road is part, was commenced in 1950 to replace the housing lost to bombing in 1942. It would not be completed until 1958.

Mint Lane and the Mint

The lane and place may have been named after a mint that was set up by Royalists during the Civil War in Friernhay Street. However, it is known that another mint was set up in Mary Arches Street in 1696, and it may be after this mint that it was named. The lane was already in existence, running through part of the cloisters of St Nicholas Priory, after Henry VIII had suppressed it. The map shows the street circa 1905.

The Mint Tavern, on the corner of Mint Lane and Fore Street was originally a private house before becoming "The Medicine and Chemical Hall" apothecary in 1838. It was also known as the Star and Star Stores before becoming the Mint Tavern. No 21, the Mint was originally the north range of the Priory and was the monks refectory. It has recently been refurbished and is open to the public for one Sunday every month.

John Gendall illustrated the arch, that led into St Nicholas Priory, for Thomas Shapter's report on the Exeter cholera outbreak of 1832. In it, he showed the pump, which had been installed by a local named Lawler shortly before the outbreak - the many wells of Exeter were blamed for the spread of the cholera.

Some occupants of buildings in Mint Lane in 1897.

Mount Pleasant Road

Was named in 1868 after a 19th century dairy and farmhouse, that was built on the crest of the hill. The hill was part of an ancient ridgeway route that included Polsloe Road.

New Bridge Street

A start was made in 1770 to build a new Exe bridge and a new approach road from the city. In 1775, a huge flood destroyed the part complete works, and a second start was made on the new bridge which was eventually completed in 1778.

The church of All-Hallows-on-the- Walls, at the bottom of Fore Street, had been left semi-derelict after being badly damaged during the Civil War. It was removed to allow New Bridge Street to be built. The new road would be in a direct line from Fore Street to the new bridge, across a low, prone to flooding, and one time, marshy river bank. Access to the new Exe Bridge crossing the river was along a raised embankment and arches over Frog Street and the Higher and Lower Leats.

The leats provided an obstacle to the building of New Bridge Street, and Jenkins noted in 1805:

"In some places it was necessary to elevate the ground near forty feet, in order to form a level; and arches were turned over the mill leats and avenues into the Island and Bonhay. At the bottom of Fore-street, directly in the way of the intended opening, stood the tower and remains of the parish church of St. Hallows on the Walls, which was taken down " (Jenkins)

Old Tiverton Road

Obviously, the old road to Tiverton. This route over Stoke Hill was an iron age extension of the High Street which was adopted by the Romans, and therefore is about 25 centuries old. It was handy for the Romans as it led to their signal station at the top of Stoke Hill. You could say that it was part of the Roman, information highway....

The lower end of Old Tiverton Road. I looked, but couldn't see any Roman traffic, only the Swatch car, the modern chariot.