How St Leonard’s was put on the map

Have you ever noticed … how St Leonard’s was put on the map?

Just imagine … how would you draw a map of St Leonard’s?  There are maps of the walled city of Exeter dating from the Middle Ages, which show how the roads and buildings are laid out, but the oldest printed maps would not be accurate if you wanted to know about distances.  The farmers and landowners who lived in this part of the countryside outside the city needed to know the layout of their fields, and some of their maps survive.  But it was the coming of the Ordnance Survey (OS) in the 19^th century which led to accurate maps which showed the layout of streets and buildings and – as a new factor – the altitude of those important features.  The OS today uses aerial photography and GPS equipment, but their Victorian predecessors (and those in the first decades of the 20^th century) didn’t have such tools and surveyed our neighbourhood, and the whole country, with land-based teams.

Scattered around St Leonard’s you can find one type of reminder of their efforts, the OS bench marks.  But, be warned, they are very small, and need to be searched for.   Each one has a known height above sea level, so that contours on a map can be drawn.  Surveying teams started from a mark whose height was known and then used that with their measuring equipment to find the direction and height of other features in the landscape from those starting points.  Although there are several different types of these reminders of their work, cut bench marks are the most widely used and familiar of all bench marks. Surveyors cut a horizontal line in an upright brick or stone surface, with a broad arrow (like that which traditionally appears on prison clothing!) below that line, pointing upwards. The centre of the cut line at the point of the arrow is the height reference.  A surveyor’s bench could be aligned with the cut, and then used with a measuring staff and theodolite (or modern equivalent) to develop the map of the locality.  Across the country there are about two hundred fundamental bench marks, which are very high accuracy, and our local ones are located relative to these – our nearest is at Bridford in the Teign Valley.

Those in St Leonard’s are no longer used and the OS does not maintain them, and many have disappeared with the development of housing and changes in the roads.   And some are covered with ivy and vegetation.  Close to the village, you can find two in the one-way section of Wonford Road on the west side – for some odd reason, there are two within a short stretch of wall.  There’s another in the one-way section of Spicer Road, just by one of the lamp-posts.  A further one is at the end of College Avenue, on a brick wall next to a boundary stone; that stone marks the former Exeter City and Municipal Boundary (before Heavitree was included in the city).  That corner was also the site of Magdalen Gallows.  There is a worn arrow in the brick wall diagonally across the crossroads from the Mount Radford, and another worn one in the stone wall of Magdalen Street, opposite Pavilion Place. 

Further afield, here are a few to look for: in Topsham Road, by the pedestrian entrance to County Hall; on the Quay, if you stop for a drink or a meal at On The Waterfront, you could find one which is partly hidden by a large planter.  Another has been created on the Scouts’ building, with a curved bar, so not useful for surveying.  There’s a second bench mark further along Spicer Road, by a parking meter, another in Magdalen Road, by the bricked up arch opposite the speed hump, one at the corner of Victoria Park Road and Lyndhurst Road, and a further one on the west side of Lyndhurst Road.  In Holloway Street there’s one by the Kingdom Hall.

There may be others; I have used old maps to try and find them, and the OS has a list online, which they warn is not to be relied on.  Please let me know – via the blog – of any others you find.

(published in St Leonard's Neighbourhood News, July-August 2016)

Now here is an oddity: this is a mark like a benchmark  in the kerbstone at the junction of Magdalen Road and Wonford Road.  There is no historic record of a benchmark here, and benchmarks were placed on walls, not kerbstones.  So, in pictures 18 and 19, what is the story behind this site?

Picture 1

Picture 2

Picture 3

picture 4

picture 5

picture 6

picture 7

picture 8

picture 9

picture 10

picture 11

picture 12

picture 13

picture 14

picture 15

picture 16

picture 17

Picture 18- the context for picture 19

Picture 19

 Now - for those who want to look, this is the Ordnance Survey list of bench marks for the Neighbourhood

Square	Easting	Northing	Mark type	Description	Height	Metres above ground	Notes
SX	9208	9207	CUT MARK	BLDG THE QUAY SW FACE S ANG	7.715	0.400	hidden behind a planter at the downstream end of the restaurant Pictures 13 and 14
SX	9211	9213	CUT MARK	PARA WALL SE SIDE COLLETON CRES 19.8m SW JUNC LUCKY LANE	24.030	0.800	Not found
SX	9216	9204	RIVET	RIVET WALL OPPOSITE JUNC WALL 5 6 COLLETON CRES	22.580	0.400	There is an odd piece of metal in the wall here.
SX	9225	9204	CUT MARK	WALL FRIARS LODGE MELBOURNE PLACE	24.329	0.800	Not found
SX	9225	9253	CUT MARK	WALL N SIDE RD 2.1M NW JUNC WALL	39.566	0.500	Not Found
SX	9226	9199	CUT MARK	WALL N SIDE JUNC RDS MELBOURNE ST	19.608	0.200	Not Found
SX	9230	9210	CUT MARK	JUNC WALL 0.9M NW ENT of Jehovahs Witnesses, Holloway Street	21.220	0.200	Easy to see; pictures 15 and 16
SX	9230	9230	CUT MARK	WALL MAGDALEN ST S FACE JUNC close to pedestrian crossing, towards Southernhay	32.251	0.500	Not Found
SX	9232	9179	RIVET	RIVET PARA WALL JUNC LARKBEARE RD	7.321	0.800	Not Found
SX	9242	9230	CUT MARK	WALL S SIDE MAGDALEN ST N FACE PRODN W FACE NO65 in wall overlooking Bull Meadow (opposite road to Friends Meeting House)	28.761	0.600	picture 1
SX	9244	9194	CUT MARK	WALL SW SIDE TOPSHAM RD 3.7M SE JUNC LARKBEARE RD	22.677	0.300	Not found
SX	9249	9209	CUT MARK	NO33 RADFORD RD SE FACE S ANG	25.067	0.300	Not found
SX	9249	9222	CUT MARK	WALL SE SIDE FAIRPARK RD 4.6M N JUNC WALL	27.124	0.000	Found
SX	9255	9156	CUT MARK	P ENT NE SIDE WEIRFIELD PATH	6.767	0.500	Not found - this should be near the Port Royal
SX	9257	9174	CUT MARK	WALL NW SIDE RD 28.0M NE JUNC WALL	16.807	0.500	Not found
SX	9257	9204	CUT MARK	P ENT NO4 ST LEONARDS PLACE	30.751	0.200	Not found
SX	9264	9237	CUT MARK	NBM WALL ALMS HO DENMARK RD E FACE 5.8M N WALL JUNC	35.717	0.600	Not found - possibly lost in the rebuilding of the Almshouses or hidden behind the BT box
SX	9267	9227	CUT MARK	NBM WALL NO1 MOUNT RADFORD CRESCENT 1.5M SW JUNC WALL	34.214	0.300	Not found
SX	9268	9161	CUT MARK	WALL SE SIDE BUNGALOW LANE OPP JUNC FENCE	12.555	0.600	Lost in the redevelopment of Bungalow Lane, now Trews Wear Reach
SX	9268	9229	CUT MARK	P ENT GARAGE NO5 WONFORD RD	35.436	0.400	Pictures 2 and 3
SX	9269	9210	CUT MARK	P JUNC WALL NOS50 52 ST LEONARDS RD	33.970	0.100	Not found
SX	9282	9226	RIVET	RIVET WALL NO15 ST LEONARDS RD N ENT	39.307	0.700	Not found - possibly hidden by ivy
SX	9283	9237	CUT MARK	WALL JUNC MAGDALEN RD ST LEONARDS RD NW FACE	39.365	0.600	Very worn, but look hard
SX	9285	9160	CUT MARK	NBM P JUNC WALL W ENT DEVON COUNTY HALL	24.430	0.600	Easy to see - picture 10 (above the cycle helmet)
SX	9285	9260	CUT MARK	WALL JUNC NO8 SPICER RD NW FACE	44.123	0.400	By parking meter; picture 9
SX	9287	9246	CUT MARK	WALL JUNC NO9 COLLEGE RD NW FACE	42.114	0.200	Found
SX	9296	9238	CUT MARK	WALL JUNC MAGDALEN RD COLLEGE AVE S FACE	43.989	0.500	By the boundary stone and site of gallows
SX	9297	9202	CUT MARK	NBM P ANG WALL NO1 LYNDHURST RD	35.963	0.400	Not found
SX	9298	9264	CUT MARK	ST LUKES COLL NE FACE N ANG	48.506	0.300	On the corner of the building near College Road: see pictures 11 and 12
SX	9304	9105	CUT MARK	NBM 22 SALMON POOL LANE SW FACE 0.9M W ANG	9.854	0.300	Not found
SX	9305	9212	CUT MARK	P JUNC WALL NOS8 AND 9 LYNDHURST RD	40.813	0.500	Picture 6
SX	9310	9220	CUT MARK	WALL NO13 LYNDHURST RD 2.7M S ENT	43.906	0.400	Pictures 4 and 5
SX	9311	9136	CUT MARK	NBM GARAGE NO147 TOPSHAM RD SW FACE S ANG	18.565	0.300	Not found
SX	9315	9239	CUT MARK	WALL N SIDE MAGDALEN RD S FACE 11.3M E WALL JUNC	48.210	0.400	Not found
SX	9324	9219	CUT MARK	WALL N SIDE LYNDHURST RD JUNC VICTORIA PARK RD	45.293	0.500	Worn but visible; picture 17
SX	9335	9182	CUT MARK	NBM WALL JUNC SW SIDE WONFORD RD	32.726	0.400	Not found
SX	9343	9244	CUT MARK	SE ANG WALL NO163 MAGDALEN RD S FACE	54.614	0.500	pictures 7 and 8

Keywords: St Leonards, Exeter, history, geography, beauty, benchmarks