King Street

King Street is found in the West Quarter running at right angles from Fore Street to Preston Street. It was named King Street in 1834 in honour of King William IV, having formerly been known as Idle or Idol Lane.

A letter was printed in January 1874 in the Flying Post of one man's memories of the the area, prompted by the laying of a foundation stone for the new Industrial Dwellings at Mermaid Yard. The author wrote "Preston-street, Rack-street and Idol-lane - the remains of many of the old houses which were in the occupation of some of our city magnates are still to be seen... In Idol-lane (now called King-street by "Young Exeter,') we have Mr. Richard Traer, woolstapler. On a great fire taking place at Mr. Wm. Pim's, baker, Smythen-street, more than a half a century ago, the back premises of which property came near the wool warehouse of Mr. Traer (the site now occupied by the new Wesleyan Schools), great consternation was caused in the immediate neighbourhood, and the wool packs were rolled into Idol-lane to prevent their being burnt." 

James Cossins wrote in 1877 - "King street (Fore street hill) was formerly occupied by two shops, with premises behind, one a comb manufactory, but is now a direct line to that useful and desirable establishment, the baths and washhouses." This was a direct memory of one business that was lost.

Adverts for properties for sale indicate the street changing as Exeter lost its woollen trade. Properties that had formerly been owned by merchants, and fullers, were up for sale, shop keepers were selling up and the area becoming residential with many new, closely packed courts and places. In 1807 a dwelling house and detached ware rooms (warehouse)  were for sale; the present owner was a fuller and hot-presser, both component parts of the woollen serge manufactory. The whole was suitable for any business that "required much room." In 1822 a Waggon Warehouse became vacant and through the whole period, many houses with attached warehouses were offered for sale.

A way was made through the old, narrow alley to Fore Street in 1834, when its name was changed. As businesses closed, workers moved into the houses, which were often split into tenements, and the West Quarter became a working class, poor area. King Street was no exception and it had its share of interesting characters and events. Around about 1840 there lived in the street, Mark Elms who gained a reputation as a fence - he was arrested for being in possession of stolen property from a robbery in Taunton.

The Public Wash-House

The far end of King Street, beyond where the street crossed Rack Street, was the site of the public wash-house, which opened on 9th August 1852. The treasurer was John Dinham, a philanthropist who would do much for Exonians during the next few years, and the manager was a Miss Lemon. The Earl of  Fortescue visited the wash-house in 1856 and donated £10 towards its upkeep; the facility was in debt and having been founded as a charity, required the local great and the good to contribute towards the running costs.

By 1875, the Baths and Wash-houses Committee reported that there were an average 17,000 washers and 10,000 bathers per year. 

In 1975, Mr Bartlett of Shilhay was interviewed about his memories of the area and he recalled this about the wash-house in the 1920s.

"There were two entrances, one from Tighe Place and the other from Albert Place up a long row of steps beside Mary Magdalen Church. You went into a large place almost as big as the main hall at the Mission and all the way round there were wooden cubicles where the women did their washing. In each there were three containers; one had warm water for washing; one on the left hand side had boiling water heated by a steam valve operated by a little wheel (and if the women opened it too quickly they stood a chance of getting a blast of steam over them); on the other side was a clear tub for rinsing the washing. In the centre of the wash house were two wringers, each bigger than an easy chair. The women put all their washing in as tightly as they could and put something heavy like a blanket on the top. then they would give a wave to the stoker, Mr. Bowden, and he would pull his levers and work his little bits of machinery and off would go the wringers, spin drying. This was worked by steam and the water would rush out of a vent in the bottom. If a woman had not packed her washing tightly enough or put the blanket on top in time, the washing would fly out all over the wash house and she would have to do it all again. After it was spun, she could get a 'horse'. This was like an outsize clotheshorse, pulled out on slides. She could hang her clothes on the rails and push these in so that they dried in the steam heated compartments; it did not take long to dry as it was so hot there. Beside he entrance to the wash house was the entrance for the ladies' baths. Children up to about 4 or 5 would go in the ladies' side. You went up to a pay desk, the superintendent would run the water (he used a spanner as there were no taps) and you would be shut in your own little cubicle. The men's baths were round the other side of the building. Charges were 2d. for a bath, washing about 6d. spinning a 1d. and drying 2d."

The cholera outbreak of 1832 resulted in five in King Street dying of the disease, The installation of improved facilities such as the public wash house did reduce further epidemics, but serious disease still stalked the street. In December 1871 two cases of small-pox were reported, one in King Street. The victim had been removed to Whipton for care, and the medical officer for the Workhouse reported, at the same meeting, an increased number of sick people admitted into the institution's hospital. In 1885, a case of scarlet fever was reported in King Street, and, although not an epidemic, it was not an uncommon occurrence.

In 1890 it was noted that King Street was where female 'pugilists fought before an admiring audience'. Later, in 1899 it was reported that dirty and verminous children were investigated by the inspector of the Society for the Protection of Children. Clearly, this was a forgotten corner of Exeter.

The street has been rebuilt since the clearing of the West Quarter in the 1930's. The King's Dwellings, built by the Exeter Workmen's Dwellings Co Ltd were a block of fifteen, three and four storey flats. The were opened on 12 September 1933, in a scheme in which one slum was replaced with one modern dwelling. King Street was in area No 4, a high priority area for slum clearance.

And for all those who research their family history, King Street contains the Devon Family History Society's, Tree House Research Centre.

Source: Various sources including Victorian Exeter by Robert Newton, the Flying Post, James Cossins and notes from the Exeter Industrial Archaelogy Group 1975.