Newtown, Exeter
Encyclopedia
Newtown is an area of Exeter
between St Sidwells
and Heavitree
and has been an area for the poor since Saxon
times. A workhouse was built in 1671 on a site currently used as a car park, but Newtown remained largely rural up until the 19th century. Around 1700 a new workhouse was built on what is now the site of Heavitree Hospital.
Brick and tile making were carried on in Exeter by the Romans
from clay workings within the city wall. By the 16th century, the rich red clay of Newtown was exploited for brick making, the main brickworks being sited in the location of the dry ski-slope and golf driving range.
Due to the Cholera epidemics of the 1830s the open sewer that ran along the bottom of the hill was covered over, to create Clifton Road. In the mid-19th century four streets of small terraced houses were built to house manual workers, labourers and their families. In the 1880s St Matthews Church was built.
In May 1942 Exeter was heavily bombed in the Baedeker raids of the Second World War. Newtown was badly affected with many buildings destroyed.
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
between St Sidwells
St Sidwells
St Sidwells is an area east of Exeter city centre in the ward of Newtown. Formerly a village in its own right, St Sidwells grew in importance along with Exeter thanks to its location on the main cart track between Exeter and the high ground of Stoke Hill and the rich farmland of East Devon.The...
and Heavitree
Heavitree
Heavitree is a district of Exeter, Devon, England. Part of the historic district is currently one of the wards for elections to the City Council. Formerly an independent Urban District, it became a part of Exeter in 1913...
and has been an area for the poor since Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
times. A workhouse was built in 1671 on a site currently used as a car park, but Newtown remained largely rural up until the 19th century. Around 1700 a new workhouse was built on what is now the site of Heavitree Hospital.
Brick and tile making were carried on in Exeter by the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
from clay workings within the city wall. By the 16th century, the rich red clay of Newtown was exploited for brick making, the main brickworks being sited in the location of the dry ski-slope and golf driving range.
Due to the Cholera epidemics of the 1830s the open sewer that ran along the bottom of the hill was covered over, to create Clifton Road. In the mid-19th century four streets of small terraced houses were built to house manual workers, labourers and their families. In the 1880s St Matthews Church was built.
In May 1942 Exeter was heavily bombed in the Baedeker raids of the Second World War. Newtown was badly affected with many buildings destroyed.