A community-commissioned exploration and celebration of Heavitree Stone!
Down where Birch Court now stands, and where the Gardeners’ Arms stood until 1998, was an intriguing building called the Great House. This shows on old maps made before the mid 1800s but it was only in 2000/01 that an archaeological excavation revealed that it was a moated medieval house, going back to at least … Read more
There is nothing to see of this now apart from the Heavitree Stone walls of the old stable and a blue plaque on the wall, yet it was one of the grandest houses in Heavitree. A writer and traveller called Richard Ford decided to settle here in 1833, bought an old Elizabethan house and rebuilt … Read more
Great Larkbeare House in Holloway Street has a fascinating convoluted history. Situated at the base of what is now Roberts Road, it sits in a dip of Holloway Street created by the ancient Larkbeare stream. There was almost certainly an estate and house at or in the site from the first half of the 13th … Read more
We struggled to find a Z. But while the Zeebrugge plaque is a bit of a stretch, it is fixed to the old Chancellor’s House and provides an opportunity to introduce the buildings of the Cathedral Close. The Close is the open area by the Cathedral that was the main burial ground for medieval Exeter. … Read more
The ancient cobbled slope of Stepcote Hill and the buildings in West Street at its base have as much historic interest as any part of Exeter. Nos. 5 and 7 West Street, including No.15 Stepcote Hill, are a pair of characterful late-medieval houses. No.5 has a Heavitree Stone back wall and basement storey, with two … Read more
Bowhill House was built around 1500 as four ranges set around a courtyard. It has been much altered since, and is now a central block to the south with two wings on the east and west. Conservation work was undertaken during 1977 to 1995, and this provided an opportunity to study in great detail the … Read more
