Exeter Civic Society

Exeter Civic Society Founded in 1961 Newsletter - Summer 2017 THE BOMBING OF EXETER It is now just over 75 years since Exeter suffered its most devastating air raid of WW2. However what is not known by many people is that Exeter suffered some 19 raids. This was one of the many interesting facts which Dr Todd Gray told packed audiences in the Guildhall on 4th May. Organised by Exeter C.C. the originally planned two illustrated talks had to be extended to three, such was the demand. Perhaps the most important thought left after the talk is how much is still unknown about the blitz. For instance the number of dead left after the raids is not known with any exactitude and while written records of the time are available, it is obvious that many persons staying in Exeter that night, for example commercial travellers, would not necessarily be noticed as missing, Controversially a lot of damaged and architecturally important buildings were demolished, even though the council had guarantees from the government that money and men would be made available for the repair of some of them. Amongst the audience, apparent at the subsequent question and discussion sessions, were a few who had memories of the blitz and this added yet more fascinating details to end this thought-provoking talk. (Reviewed by Peter Caspar) Three days after the talk at the Guildhall Peter Thomas presented an audio-visual event at the Phoenix, which illustrated in pictures and accompanying commentary the impact of the Exeter Blitz. This started with a considerable number of pictures from the early 20th century, showing the Victorian streets of old Exeter city centre which most of us were unfamiliar with. The reason for dwelling at length on these images became apparent when the bombing started, after which we saw the same buildings reduced to piles of rubble. Peter Thomas holds a huge collection of photographs of old Exeter in his Isca Collection and he made full use of these, along with realistic audio visual effects, to recreate the sights and sounds of that fateful day. The audience came away with a much better understanding of what Exeter had lost in the way of heritage, and some will maybe stand and look along the High Street with a nostalgic tear in their eye when they see what has replaced the imposing old architecture of yesterday. (Reviewed by Pamela Coleman) www.exetercivicsociety.org.uk Registered Charity Number: 286932 Visit to Thomas Hall (now the Steiner Academy) - by Mike Richards Page 2 of 7 On 28th January sixteen Civic Society members visited the Rudolf Steiner Academy at Thomas Hall, Cowley Bridge where they were treated to a most interesting tour by Alice Knight. The Manor of Duryard is mentioned in the Domesday Book and was owned for several centuries by the City of Exeter who sold it in lots towards the end of 17c. In 1690 Great Duryard House was built as a private residence for Sir Thomas Jefford a prominent and wealthy Exeter dyer who had been Mayor of our city in 1688. After changing hands on several occasions, in 1936 the building was renamed Thomas Hall after Alderman Charles Vivian Thomas a generous businessman and benefactor from Camborne who helped fund it’s transfer to the then University College of the South West of England. It served as Hall of Residence until the beginning of the c21 when it stood empty for several years, was included on the Council’s “at risk” list and described as “in disrepair and continuing to deteriorate”. It’s fair to say that the building has been bastardised over the years to service the tastes of the occupants or to facilitate it’s use as other than a grand residence. In July 2013 the site was acquired by the Rudolf Steiner Academy. The main house is now used primarily as an administrative facility. The classrooms and other teaching buildings are new builds. The Steiner vision is…… “to provide diversity and educational choice to the people of Exeter within our all-through Steiner school”. There are no uniforms and children are educated indoors and outdoors irrespective of the weather, an aim is to provide a balanced active, artistic and academic education. Most Steiner schools/ academies are private education facilities but the Exeter Academy is one of four in the country (together with Hereford, Frome and Bristol) that are 100% state funded. It currently has 333 pupils but there is potential for this to rise to 624. Tour of Barnfield Theatre - by Ian Maxted “Welcome to Exeter’s best kept secret!" says the Barnfield Theatre website and the tour given by Vicki Bowring to the Exeter Civic Society on 13 February was indeed full of surprises, starting from the view of the building from across the road. Although scarcely mentioned in most accounts of Exeter, it is a handsome building in classical style, completed in 1890 and capped by an interesting cupola, not a belfry, as we learned when we passed inside, but more prosaically an outlet for the innovative heating and ventilating system. Another technical innovation was the mechanism of the jack used to raise the auditorium before World War 2. The building, previously known as Barnfield Hall, was built as the meeting room for the Exeter Literary Society, an important cultural and educational institution in the 19th and 20th centuries. It escaped the blitz and, when the GPO was bombed in 1942, it reopened in the building within 24 hours. An extension was built behind the main hall with a kitchen, restaurants and reinforced concrete ceilings. It is thought that a secret communications centre was operated there. It was certainly used by the Civil Defence and perhaps also by the Royal Observer Corps. Other users have included Exeter Camera club, the Rotary Club and the Inland Revenue. In 1972 it was refurbished as the Barnfield Theatre and is now run as a charity. Vicki has gathered a wealth of anecdotes about the Exeter Literary Society and the people who visited, both as readers in the extensive library and to give talks in the meeting hall. They include Jerome K Jerome, Emmeline Pankhurst, the heroic World War 1 nurse and ambulance driver Elsie Knocker and, less auspiciously, the fraudster Louis de Rougemont in the 1890s. The building has played an important role in Exeter's life for more than a century and its history deserves to be better known. Tour of Princesshay - by Christo Skelton Page 3 of 7 We met at St. Stephen’s House in Catherine Street opposite the ruins of the mid-15th Century Alms Houses and it was here that our tour of Princesshay started. The Alms Houses were destroyed in the Baedeker Raids by the Luftwaffe but still feature some walls and enclosed in perspex displays some Roman artefacts as well as some engraved stones. The original Princesshay was the first pedestrianised shopping area in the country and was demolished in 2005 and rebuilt and re-opened in September 2007. Originally, it was opened by Princess Elizabeth in 1949 and hence was given the name it has - hay meaning an enclosed space. It is owned by The Crown Estate - ostensibly the Queen - and is part of the £6.8 billion value of the Crown Estate. Princesshay is managed by a management team of 6 supervising 46 staff - cleaners who work from 6am to 9pm and security staff who work 24/7 and walk the 5.5 miles of walkways four times a day. Andy, our guide took us through the site and explained many facts to us about Princesshay: * It ends at the House of Fraser and includes the shops on the High Street where EE and Hotter Shoes are located * The only disabled toilet in Exeter is located in St. Stephen’s House. * There are 128 apartments on the site which are leased out. * The stage in Princesshay Square, not to be confused with Bedford Square, can be used free with prior arrangement. * The Roman Wall is maintained by English Heritage. * Buskers must be licensed in Princesshay unlike on the High Street. * The site has two hawks to battle the seagulls and there are two Peregrine Falcons who reside on the Cathedral. * The Christmas Trees on Roman Walk are provided free by Princesshay for the benefit of charities. * The site has 15 million visitors a year. * The site produces 1 metric tonne of cardboard waste per day. We were shown all the artwork on the site: Making Time, The Exeter Traceries, Glow Stones, In Memory, May 1942, Princesshay Topograph, Hope and Despair, The Blue Boy and the Exeter Phoenix and Princesshay Honey Flow (2016) by Amy Shelton. See if you can find all of them. Last but not least we were taken to the roof where Jason Wallis maintains bees and gardens. In the summer there are about 100,000 bees and the honey is sold for charity at the end of August into September at Chandos Deli on Roman Walk. Bishops of Exeter - Cathedral Tour - by Peter Caspar Page 4 of 7 On 8th April on a balmy spring morning, members of the Exeter Civic Society assembled at the west door of Exeter Cathedral and were conducted inside by Lindsay Roderick, one of the cathedral’s guides. Although many of us had been inside the cathedral several times before, for most it was the first time we had experienced such a fascinating tour. Lindsay discussed 13 of the 74 bishops, some in a lot of detail, and we looked at several of their tombs. It is impossible in this account to cover the lives of many bishops and so I will just give brief details of a couple.

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