Information about Exwick
Until recently Exwick was just a small farming village to the North West of Exeter, on the west of the River Exe. It's now part of the City of Exeter. If you want to know about Exwick, then have a look here. There are pictures of various scenes around Exwick, links to maps, a brief history, information about the milling industry and information about the administrative districts of Exwick - Exwick Parish and Exwick Ward. At the suggestion of Trevor Sharp of the Exwick Community Association, I've also added some of the information from this page to the Wikipedia entry for Exwick.
Devon County Council has an Exwick Community Page in their Library Local Studies Service. By using the 'Place Search' facility on their page and searching for the keyword 'Exwick' in 'All Resource Types' you can see what information they have concerning Exwick. There are a number of images of old Exwick.
There are some details about Exwick's population from the 2001 Census on the Exeter City Council website. Here is a link to their page of Key Facts about Exwick. There is a further link on that site where you can download the full 2001 Census of Population Ward Report for Exeter, to compare Exwick with other wards.
The Exwick Community Association is a charity run by the local people of Exwick, whose area covers the whole of Exwick ward. They took over the running of the new Community Centre in Kinnerton Way in December 2006 and are involved in a number of projects relating to Exwick. The Community Association website has further details of what they are doing and contact information.
There is a charity called the Exeter Community Initiative, and as part of this the Farm Hill and Kinnerton Way Community Project is involved in improving the quality of life for Exwick residents. (Kinnerton Way in a road running west from Exwick and Farm Hill is a residential area to the north of Kinnerton Way.) There is more information on the ECI website.
Exwick Conservation Area
Exeter City Council have designated a number of areas of Exeter as 'Conservation Areas', which are areas of Exeter which are considered to be of special architectural or historic interest. Exwick was designated as a Conservation Area in 1984 and the Appraisal and Management Plan was adopted in 2006. Here is a link to Exeter City Council's Final Appraisal document, which can be downloaded from their website in Adobe pdf format. It has a lot of information about the area and some good pictures of Exwick.
The Conservation Area covers the area of what used to be the village or hamlet of Exwick, which includes the area around the church, St Andrews Road, Exwick Hill and the mill. There are a number of listed buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest included in the Conservation area, plus many more which are considered to be Buildings of Local Importance.
Listed Buildings
Exwick has its fair share of listed buildings, most of them within the Conservation Area. In Station Road, St Andrew's Church, the parish church is listed Grade II and just off St Andrews Road there is Exwick Court with two buildings also listed Grade II: Exwick House and 6 Exe View Cottages. In Exwick Hill there are a further five: 1, 2 and 4 Hermitage Cottages and 20 and 22 Exwick Hill. No. 20 is called 'The Hermitage' and (according to Royal Mail) is actually two residential properties - North Wing and South Wing. 'The Hermitage' has appeared as a 'Character Grade II Listed Thatched Cottage' in local Estate Agents' listings for quite a while - I even saw it mentioned in the property section of a national paper once. From the pictures it looks as if it's the South Wing that's for sale.
Further along Exwick Road, but still in Exwick Ward, what was once Redhills Hospital is listed Grade II. Redhills Hospital was originally the St Thomas workhouse for St Thomas Poor Law Union. The building was designed by Sampson Kempthorne and built in 1836, later became Redhills Hospital and has now been converted into flats. There are more details about the workhouse at Peter Higginbotham's excellent website about workhouses - the page for St Thomas can be found here.
The final listed building in Exwick is Cleve House, listed Grade II*. There are various spellings for Cleve House - Cleeve and Cleave are sometimes used, but Cleve is what it says on the current maps. Cleve House was for many years the local headquarters for the charity 'Guide Dogs For the Blind Association', who had kennels in the grounds, and it used to be quite common to see the dog trainers around Exeter. The building dates back to the 17th century and there is a picture of the house on Exeter City Council's TimeTrail website here and pictures of the plaster ceiling of the interior here, here and here.
The hamlet of Cleve which, like Foxhayes, was long ago absorbed into Exwick, is on the route of a very old road which ran from Exeter, over the River Exe at a ford near Bonhay, past Foxhayes Farm, through Cleve and then along Exwick Lane up to Whitestone Cross where it joined the main road to Okehampton. There are a number of mineral springs in Cleve, including a once-famous Chalybeate spring called Gabb's Well (also known as Grubb's Well, Gubbe's Well or Grubb's Well) which is shown on old maps as being approximately where No.40 Peterborough Road is now situated. More recent Ordnance Survey maps show another spring where No.11 Chester Close has now been built. Current maps still show one spring in the area, in the grounds of Cleve House: As you approach Cleve House along Cleve Lane, there is a spring on the right hand side, about half way between a short flight of steps down from a path and a lay-by, although I couldn't see any obvious sign of it when I looked recently. [As far as I am aware, Cleve House is private property so you should obtain permission if you want to enter the grounds.]
Exwick maps
Here are links to Ordnance Survey maps of Exwick at 1:25000 scale and another at 1:50000 scale showing where Exwick is in relation to Exeter. These map images are quite big (over 100k each) so it might not be a good idea to click on them if you haven't got a reasonably fast internet connection. They're from the Ordnance Survey's Get-a-map service.
This link takes you to the Multimap website showing where Exwick is. From there you can zoom in or out and even see aerial photographs of the area.
This map shows how Exwick was at the time of the first edition Ordnance Survey map at the end of the 19th Century. You can also view the map at the Old-maps website, either by entering the co-ordinates 290765 93637 or by using the gazetteer to first go to Devon and then Exwick. You can then view a variety of old maps of the area from 1890 to 1938.
Exwick's early history
When the Domesday Book was compiled by William the Conqueror in 1086 Exwick was called 'Essoic' and was reported as being held by Eureuuacus. It contained 8 ploughs, 9 villeins, 5 serfs, 40 sheep, a mill, 3 acres of meadow, 3 acres of coppice and 50 acres of pasture. It is possible to download the Domesday pages for Exwick, with a modern day translation from the National Archives website if you are interested.
One of William the Conqueror's knights was Baldwin FitzGilbert (Baldwin de Brionne), a nephew by marriage. He was to become a very powerful man in the West Country, was made Govenor of Exeter, Sheriff of Devon and built Okehampton Castle and Exeter's Rougemont Castle. Duke William granted Baldwin a number of manors (159 in Devon) and one of the manors was Exwick.
On Baldwin's death his son William FitzBaldwin inherited the title and family land and he made a gift of the manors of Cowick and Exwick to the French Benedictine abbey of Bec-Hellouin, who set up a cell of the abbey in Cowick. Cowick Priory managed the tithes and income from Exwick and other nearby manors. [The Bec Abbey had been founded by Herluin, a Norman knight who had left the court of Count Gilbert of Brionne (who was William FitzBaldwin's grandfather) to devote himself to a life of religion in 1031. Many of the followers of William the Conqueror sponsored Bec, which eventually became one of the major houses of medieval learning.]
During the reign of Henry V in the 15th Century, when England was at war with France, Cowick Priory was suppressed and the monks moved back to Normandy. It was refounded by his successor Henry VI in 1440 but was granted to Eton College in 1452 and then given to Tavistock Abbey in 1463 by Edward IV [see the National Register of Archives]. In 1467 they were restored to Eton, but Tavistock maintained that the priory had held conventual status and ought to be served by 'religious men yf eny coude be founde', and in 1478 secured confirmation of the king's earlier grant to them.
With the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1537, Tavistock Abbey was surrendered to the King and the monastery estate (which included the manors of Cowick and Exwick) was granted to John Lord Russell, the first Earl of Bedford in 1539.
The English Civil War between Charles I and Parliament between 1642 and 1646 was a very difficult time for Exeter. Loyalties in the city were divided, and initially the Parliamentarian Roundheads triumphed. The Royalists laid siege against the city in 1643, eventually capturing it and making it their headquarters in the west. But in 1646 a Parliamentary force led by Sir Thomas Fairfax recaptured the city. He did not immediately besiege it, but placed garrisons in several of the neighbouring villages and manors, including Exwick. Exwick Higher Mill was occupied and fortified by the Parliamentarians and a 'substantial works' (earth works) is said to have been constructed at the mills.
Exwick's Industry
Milling has been important in Exwick since the Saxon times. Just north of Exeter, at Cowley, The River Yeo joins the River Exe and the water funnels down towards the sea between the surrounding hills of Exwick and Duryard before spreading out into the wide flood plain between Exeter and St Thomas. A mill at Exwick was mentioned in the Domesday book and as long ago as 1189 the monks of Cowick Priory purchased 2 acres of land from Duryard in order to build a weir for Exwick leat, to supply water for Exwick Mill.
Exwick weir is about one mile north of Exwick and the leat ran down the western side of the river valley alongside St Andrews Road from Cowley, past Exwick Barton, through the mill, through Exwick and rejoined the river about a quarter of a mile south of Exwick. The leat was at one time a fast flowing stream, known for its fishing, but when the Exeter Flood Relief scheme was built in the 1970's the leat was cut short and filled in just south of the Higher Mill. It has nothing to recommend it now.
Initially the Exwick mills would probably have been grain (or grist) mills but during the late 17th century a large wool trade built up in Exeter and the grist mill was rebuilt as a fulling mill (a fulling mill is used to make woollen felt) and in 1673 one of the mills (probably at Lower Mill) was described as a paper mill. By the 18th Century there were 3 sets of mills at Exwick [Higher] Mill and another 3 [Lower Mill] further down the Leat in the village itself.
In the late 18th Century Exwick Manor and several acres of farm land were acquired by two local businessmen, Samuel Banfill & Edmund Granger, who set about expanding the cloth manufacturing industry in Exwick. A dye house and washing house were built, and on Exwick Hill a rackfield (for drying the cloth) was laid out, together with a courtyard of buildings used to process the cloth. Houses were built for the workers and around 1820 Banfill built himself a new Exwick House (which is still standing, in Exwick Court, although it has now been turned into flats).
In the 19th Century the cloth business declined and the bleaching house, press shop and other buildings used to process the cloth were redeveloped as housing and the old courtyard now forms The Square on Exwick Hill.
The Higher Woollen Mills building was demolished in 1886 and a new mill complex built by W. R. Mallett, a local flour miller. (These were also known as Malletts Mills.) This remained in operation until 1958 and the mill building is still standing today, although it is reportedly in poor repair. The 1890 Ordnance Survey map shows the mill as being on the site of St Andrews Priory Mills (St Andrews Priory was Cowick Priory).
The Lower Mills were situated just opposite the entrance to Exwick Hill on the other side of St Andrews Road. They are shown as a corn mill on early Ordnance Survey maps but by the time of the 4th Edition (1930's) they are shown as a laundry. The laundry burnt down in 1942, although some of the worker's cottages still survive (Cottage No.1 and Cottage No.2 Riverview Drive were originally known as Laundry Cottages).
Exeter's first plant bakery was built in Exwick during the middle of the 20th Century between Exwick Road and the River Exe, behind Exwick Villas. This was originally owned by the Exeter firm of Hill, Palmer and Edwards, who moved their bakery from Newtown to Exwick. The bakery was later taken over by British Bakeries (Rank Hovis McDougall) and used to produce 'Mother's Pride' bread. It was closed in 1993 and the site has now been redeveloped into a small estate of houses (Old Bakery Close).
Exwick Parish
There are two sorts of parishes in England, whose boundaries do not always coincide. These are Ecclesiastical Parishes, centred on an Anglican church with a parochial church council, and Civil Parishes, which are part of local administration. There are no Civil Parishes in Exeter. Exwick Parish is an Ecclesiastical Parish, which was created from the parish of St Thomas The Apostle in 1872, and is part of the Diocese of Exeter. This is a link to the website of St Andrew's Church, the Parish Church of Exwick, which was built during 1841-1842 and consecrated on September 26th 1842. Money to build the church was raised by subscription, aided with a grant of £500 from the Church Building Society. James Wentworth Buller (Member of Parliament for Crediton and Lord of the Manor) donated £100 and the site. There is a Parish Hall next to the church, but it has nothing to do with the church. It was originally called Exwick Institution and was built in memory of the 1914-1918 war from £1 subscriptions. General Sir Redvers Buller VC (the son of James Wentworth Buller) had earlier donated the site.
GENUKI has a lot of information about Exeter and Exeter's parishes. This link takes you to their page concerning the parish of St Thomas the Apostle, and from here you can see what they have about Exwick.
Exwick Ward
Exwick is an electoral ward with an area of just over 1.5 square miles. (For more information about electoral wards see the Office of National Statistics website). Wards are the official electoral areas of England, and Exwick's ward code is 18UCFY. (The 18 signifies Devon, UC is Exeter and FY is Exwick). Here is a link to a map showing the ward boundary of Exwick. Most of the official statistics available about Exwick are at ward level, and can be found at Devon County Council's Facts and Figures pages.
To make it confusing, there are two Councils governing Exwick Ward; Exeter City Council and Devon County Council, who are responsible for different things.
Exeter City Council has three Councillors is in charge of Exwick Ward. Here is a link to their pages about Exwick. All of the Exeter City Councillors for Exwick are Liberal Democrats and none of them live in Exwick.
Devon County Council's electoral division is called 'Exwick & St. Thomas' and covers the two wards of Exwick (18UCFY) and St.Thomas (18UCGL). Here is a link to Devon County Council's map of the electoral division. There is only one councillor in charge of this electoral division - who also happens to be a councillor for St Thomas ward on Exeter City Council as well. The Devon County Councillor for Exwick & St. Thomas is a Liberal Democrat.