The City Wall and Northern Quarter
About 70% of Exeter’s city wall is still standing and although many changes to the wall have taken place over the years, it still encircles the city in much the same way as when the Romans built it to protect their fortress after they arrived in AD 55.
When they left in 410, the Saxons gained control and were forced to repair the wall in order to see off the regular Viking raids. However, when the Normans arrived, not only did they reinforce the wall, they also built a castle which had the job of repelling sieges and rebellions right up until the Civil War.
What’s left of the wall today is a mixture of stone and building styles from the Roman period onwards. None of the city gates have survived but the Visitor Information office in Dix’s Field provides a City Wall Trail leaflet that describes what’s left in more detail. Bear in mind though that the 2-mile-long walk isn’t as complete or as walkable as say somewhere like Chester.
If walking the whole of the City Wall Trail isn’t for you then I can recommend following the section from the city centre down to the Quayside. It basically follows the same route as Southernhay and can be picked up near to the Princesshay shopping centre or from the bottom of Cathedral Close.
This part of the wall is the most pleasurable to walk and there’s also something worth reaching at the end of it.
One of my favourite parts of the city centre is the Northern Quarter where part of the city wall and remains of the castle are incorporated into Rougemont and Northernhay Gardens.
Built for William the Conqueror in 1068 on the city’s highest vantage point, Rougemont Castle sits just within the north-eastern part of the city walls, and is named after the red rock that it was built on – and out of.
Its medieval history was fairly uneventful apart from a siege by King Stephen in 1136, and by the end of the Civil War its purpose as a military stronghold had come to an end.
In the 1770s much of the original Norman castle was demolished to make way for a courthouse which became its main use right up until 2004.
So, what is there to see? There’s the city wall of course, and Athelstan’s Tower, but the main feature is undoubtedly the impressive Norman Gatehouse. On an adjacent wall there’s also a plaque remembering an occasion when the court was used to try 4 witches, and who were subsequently hung in the local prison.
In 2004 new courts were built which could have allowed the buildings occupied by the previous court to have been opened up to the general public, but the local council couldn’t find sufficient funds to enable it to happen.
Consequently, in 2007 the buildings were sold to a private development company and the Grade I and II listed buildings are now being used for weddings, conferencing, corporate events, apartments and occasional public events, which means that another important part of our heritage has been lost to the private sector. Some people would argue that at least the buildings are still being cared for, and that’s true I suppose, but it’s a shame that it couldn’t be put to better public use.
Rougemont Gardens follows the contour of the castle’s defensive wall and (dry) moat into Northernhay Gardens.
The land which is now Northernhay Gardens was where the Romans quarried the stone for their city wall, and which later became part of the castle’s defences.
It seems as though the city authorities back in 1612 were less commercially minded than they are today because they created what has been called “the oldest public space in the country” when the area was transformed for the use of its local citizens.
These early gardens didn’t last too long because during the Civil War the castle’s defences were bolstered up with the building of more ditches around its perimeter. By 1664 however, with the restoration of the monarchy, the gardens were brought back to life and have been maintained ever since.
During the Victorian era the gardens not only had a makeover, but also included several monuments, most of which were of locally important figures, but my favourite is the War Memorial by local man John Angel, erected in 1923.
In July 2016, to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of the Somme, Somerset artist Rob Heard installed a temporary reminder of his own in Northernhay Gardens called 19240 Shrouds of the Somme.
The figure of 19240 was the number of British soldiers killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme (1st July 1916) and in his words he wanted to “physicalise the number”, and for three years he set about hand stitching 19,240 plastic figures.
He had a list of all the names and every time he finished one he would cross their name off. At first, he thought about the circumstances in which each one died, but as he says “I couldn’t cope with that. Your brain capsizes. You end up holding someone’s relative in your hands.” In the end he made a batch at a time and then crossed their names off.
The display lasted for a week and was a very though-provoking occasion with all the names being read out one by one over a tannoy and accompanied by war poems.
Since then Rob has expanded the number of shrouds to 72,396, which was the number of Commonwealth servicemen killed at the Somme with no known grave. In July 2018 he came back to Northernhay Gardens with a second exhibition, which he then took to a final resting place at the Queen Elizabeth Park in London during the armistice commemoration in November.
It seems that from the days of the Romans right through to the modern-day wars have taken many lives – and unfortunately, I don’t see that changing any time soon. If only the people responsible would ‘physicalise’ their thoughts like Rob Heard before going to war then there might – just might – be hope for the future, but I’m not holding my breath.
ORIGINAL POST – AUG 2018
LATEST UPDATE – JULY 2020
Originally posted 2018-08-24 13:52:38.
Well i am very glad to ahve stopped here today. I confess to known g very little about Exeter Town But I’ve gone away being not too shabbily informed at all. The walls are amazing and the dry moat and the story of the Shrouds of teh Somme is extremely moving as is what you say on the subject of war.
I’m glad you stopped by too. Thanks Shey. The city has become a bit overrun with students in recent years and new housing developments have attracted a lot of incomers. I preferred it when it was a bit less popular, but it’s happening everywhere. It’s a topic I could talk about for ages, but I don’t want my blogs to become a hotbed of controversy.
You’re right actually. Places are getting overun, so they are no longer the place once loved. But you are also right re how you want this blog to be.
I certainly don’t mind having a civil debate in the comments section Shey, but I like to keep the blogs themselves generally uncontroversial – even if the topic itself is. I’m sure you know what I mean 🙂
Indeed. And you are quite right.
An impressive installation!
I have visited Exeter a few times for work but never really been aware of its history. And that art installation looks very moving. I will look out for it coming to the Queen Elizabeth Park in November
The one that will appear in London Sarah will be different to the one you see above
Odd – I left my comment in 2018 and only just got this reply from you?!
There’s nothing really odd Sarah. A while ago I had a major technical problem which resulted in many of my WordPress comments going AWOL. I managed to salvage my posts, but lost many Reader’s comments. It was a real shame, but it was out of my control. Every so often though someone will comment on one of my older posts and I try to tidy things up a bit which is why you had a similar experience the other day. Hope that explains things.
I was just curious as my comment about the art installation moving to London was really out of date. I was surprised you clarified it five years later saying it ‘will be different’ when presumably it has come and gone long ago!
That’s what I wrote back then and the comment was still there. I just moved it to the correct position in reponse to your comment. I know! Don’t ask 🙂 Are you still in Paris by the way?
I see – but it came up as a new reply in my notifications today, hence my confusion!
To avoid any confusion in the future then it may be better to let sleeping dogs lie. Hope you’ve been enjoying Paris by the way.
Paris was as lovely as ever though a bit hot (even more so than London at the moment!) We got home yesterday so I’m busy sorting photos and planning a few blogs ahead of going to Chicago later in the month for Rich’s meet 😀
Where would VT be without you? Keep travelling Sarah and let us all know what we’re missing 🙂