A walk along the walls, part 8

 

In the last issue, I included the sentence: ‘If another writer took you by the hand, for a walk around our neighbourhood, they might point out other “things”.’  I took that advice and on New Year’s Day, when I walked this route, I looked out for any wild plants that were in flower in the edge of the roads and pavements, spared from weedkiller.  There were six species flowering; a month later, there were two or three more, but far more greenery as plants put out their leaves. So my other “things” were wildflowers.

This walk starts in Magdalen Road, and we wander down towards the city, turning into Fairpark Road.  The lower part of Magdalen Road is lined on the right with the wall of the almshouses, very attractive stonework.  On the left, the scene is mixed, as houses have been built at different times.  Because the walls here are north-facing and are exposed to the weather and spray from the road, the stone supports lichens, mosses and other plants. 

Once in Fairpark Road, the walls are neat and do not show many signs of change.  Then wander down the steep passageway on the right. The buildings on the right occupy the site of the St Mary Magdalene Hospital, a hospital for lepers built in the 12^th century.  And that ancient building is why Magdalen Road and Magdalen Street got their names, though the final “e” in the hospital name got lost over the years.  The wall on the right of the passage is somewhat plain; on the left, there is a field wall from the 19^th century, using the ubiquitous sandstone.  Below that are walls that date from the building of Temple Road at the foot of the slope.  Once again, the walls support a variety of plant life.  The north wall of Bull Meadow is part of the support of the viaduct across the valley, and is faced with mixed stone.  The viaduct opened soon after Queen Victoria’s accession; the people of Exeter were complaining about the difficulty of crossing the valley, and it is likely that the residents of new houses in St Leonard’s were among the voices calling for change. 

Close to the city, the walls of the two old cemeteries are a confusion of brick and stone, with additions to old field walls topped with brick.  The site of the leper hospital was an orchard until the early 20^th century, and the story of how the area became a public park is one of squabbles between local people and the City Council.  It is detailed online as a page of Exeter Memories.

Walking away from the viaduct takes you to the boundaries of the houses in several streets, the back of the former school (now a place of worship) and the back of the Bull Meadow Clinic, an interesting example of 1920’s architecture when it was built as an “Infant Welfare Centre”.  There is a gap which leads into Lansdowne Terrace, whose ten houses date from the mid-19^th century.  As you walk along, there is one set of railings which escaped being salvaged in the Second World War.  Since the terraced houses below Lansdowne Terrace are much later, we can only imagine the semi-rural view that the first residents enjoyed.

This brings you to Holloway Street; now you can walk back to your start through the terraced streets, or retrace your walk through the park.  But before you do, look at the junction with Roberts Road.  Anything odd?  There is a line of paving across the road, a relic of a much older road surface.

 

A walk along the walls (part 7)

 

First, a correction to the last issue.  I wrote that Delabole slate would have come from Dartmoor.  Try as you might, you won’t find much slate on the moor.  Some slate is found near Lydford, but that is not a very big source.  Delabole slate comes from Cornwall!  So moving it to Exeter in the first half of the 19^th century meant shipping it from Port Gaverne on the north Cornish coast after it had been hauled the six miles from the quarry. (There is a short history of the mine online.)  Now, while I am in a repentant mood, I have repeatedly written of “Heavitree” stone or breccia; to be accurate, I should mention that around the city, most of the sandstone blocks came from Heavitree/Wonford, while others from quarries in Whipton and Exminster.  Apologies to those localities.

 I hope that you haven’t been too busy over Christmas and the New Year to enjoy seeing “things” around St Leonard’s.  These articles have concentrated on the walls along our local roads, with occasional references to other “things” that you might notice.  If another writer took you by the hand, for a walk around our neighbourhood, they might point out other “things”.  Now there’s a challenge to future contributors!

For this excursion, start by the pedestrian crossing in the village.  Apart from the short block of shops opposite the Mount Radford, all the shops are on one side of the road.  Apparently, there was a covenant on the land that prohibited any commercial buildings apart from a dairy (which became that short block of shops).  Besides being a divider between shops and houses, the road marks the boundary between the church parishes of St Matthew and St Leonard.  It is generally agreed that this was a Roman road originally.  Now, walk towards Denmark Road. 

The front garden walls on the left side of the road are varied with brick and stone; the two pairs of white fluted gateposts are interesting.  They feature as a listed building, (yes, a Building!) noted for their Doric style, found in the Parthenon in Athens and on several historic buildings around Britain … but not many in Exeter.  Further down there is another wall with railings replacing those lost to World War 2 metal collections.

Turn into Denmark Road and the walls of the almshouses on the left are mainly Heavitree stone, but with an interesting tapered top.  There is a short stretch of Heavitree stone behind the gardens of the almshouses.  On the right, the façade is of glazed brick with the detail picked out in plain brickwork; generally, the components are reversed, glazed bricks for detail.  The semi-detached houses beyond share a simple stone wall, with a decorated brick gatepost.  However, opposite, a gatepost topped with a stone pyramid marks the end of a Heavitree stone wall between the properties.  It’s a legacy of the time in the 19^th century when this area was orchards and nurseries bounded by field walls.  Presumably, long ago, the builder or owner decided that the roadside deserved an ornate feature, partially concealing the wall. 

Most of the block of land on the right beyond Spicer Road is the grounds of the Maynard School; the exception is the corner plot, the vicarage for St Matthew’s church.  As you walk along Denmark Road, there is a change in the brickwork of the wall, which shows the extent of the vicarage garden.  Walk a little further, and it changes again. Why?  When the school was established, there was an orchard between the school grounds and the vicarage.  The central brickwork marks the extent of this smallholding or nursery.  (As the entrance to the nursery was from Denmark Road, and there is no sign of it in the wall, I assume that all the brickwork dates from after the sale of the grounds to the school.  Does anyone know?)

Opposite, the grounds of Crossley House were left undeveloped after its neighbours were built, which accounts for the irregular boundary on the right-hand side.  The corner plot was also a nursery and was developed after the other buildings in Denmark Road.  The house took the name “Athelstan House” from a legend that the land was fortified by King Athelstan (king 925-940AD) who was (probably) a benefactor of the people of Exeter.  At the crossroads, the Livery Dole Martyrs’ Memorial was erected in 1909 in memory of the protestant martyrs, Thomas Benet and Agnes Prest.  If you have never stopped to look at the plaques around the base, they reveal an aspect of the history of this spot.

The area bounded by Barnfield Road and Denmark Road ahead of you was one of the nurseries belonging to the Sclater family, who owned a great deal of land around the city in the 19^th century.  They had glasshouses in the area between Barnfield Hill and Heavitree Road.

Finally, walk towards Western Way; the terrace on the right is faced with stone, and the front walls match.  Supposedly, some of this fine stone came from the Georgian bridge across the Exe.

And now I leave you to return, to look out for other “things”