Georgian City [1750 - 1840]
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From the 1760s, Exeter people believed, until the early 19th century, ‘a spirit of improvement’ spread across the city. The previous generations had witnessed a great growth in population, and the old walled area was densely crowded with houses. The old medieval streets still served the Georgian city, and were unable to cope with the rise in wheeled vehicles, whilst problems of sanitation encouraged the spread of disease among the poor.
In 1750 Exeter still ranked among the leading English cities and was still the centre of one of the country’s most important industrial areas. By the 1830s the Devon woollen industry had almost vanished, overtaken by the industrial towns of the Midlands and the North with their great mills and factories. The years 1750-1830 saw a great change in the character of the city, and its growing popularity as a fashionable county town brought much late Georgian building.
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The enormous growth in population meant that the old walled town was now crowded with houses. The old medieval streets were unable to cope with the rise in wheeled vehicles, whilst disease spread among the poor. New roads, improved sanitation and building suburbs in the Georgian period began to tackle these problems. By the 1830s the Devon woollen industry had almost vanished, overtaken by the great mills and factories of the Midlands and the North. The years 1750-1830 saw great changes in Exeter, as it became increasingly popular as a fashionable county town.
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The steep and narrow roads into the city were quite unable to cope with the increase in wheeled traffic in Georgian days. The medieval gates were inconvenient to traffic, and they were thought to trap the noxious odours associated with disease. They were therefore demolished. Higher Market, now incorporated in the Guildhall Shopping Centre, and Lower Market (destroyed 1942) were built in the 1830s to clear the streets of their markets. In the 1830s Improvements to the city water supply were made through the work of Golsworthy. He improved the flow of water from the springs in St Sidwell's by providing larger pipes of cast iron.
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By Georgian times the gates were seen as barriers to a modernized city, and they were swept away between the 1760s and 1819. In its new role as a county town, Late Georgian Exeter developed strong links with the navy; fully 10 per cent of all navy officers of that period came from Devon families, and many chose to retire in Exeter after active service.
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Religious freedom allowed the church of St Nicholas in Mint Lane to become Exeter's first Roman Catholic church since the Reformation. Non-Conformist religions grew, such as the followers of Wesley and Joanna Southcott (1750-1814). She was a domestic servant in Devon who moved to Exeter aged 40 and started to receive her first visions. She later moved to London where her prophecies attracted a wide circle of followers.
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Exeter's important cloth trade collapsed in the late Georgian period. Other small industries developed including clay pipe makers, pewterers, glass-blowers, clockmakers and sculptors. During this time many small businesses were established, including banks and insurance companies. Some of these have survived until today.
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As a thriving city Exeter had many examples of impressive Georgian houses. Many of these survive today.
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Improvements in the city's health were slow to develop in Georgian times. The great majority of citizens still lacked a clean water supply or anything approaching proper sanitation. The squalor of poor people's lives is strikingly recorded in a series of engravings of the city. The devastating outbreak of cholera which killed many in the 1830s was recorded by Dr Thomas Shapter, a heroic figure. Although he did not understand the source of the disease, his mapping of its occurrence was very innovative.
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Coastal trade declined in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as the city's activities as a port were overtaken by other western English ports with better natural advantages.
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Around the late 1700s several private schools were set up in Exeter to educate the children from wealthier families. Girls and boys were taught separately. Boys were taught Greek and Latin to become clergy or lawyers, or maths, foreign languages and book-keeping for the business world. Girls' were normally taught languages, maths and music.
