South Gate: the Farington engraving

Commanding the important road to Topsham and the sea, the South Gate was greatly enlarged in the period 1410-20, when projecting towers flanking the passageway in front of the gate arch were added. The gate also served as a notorious prison. It was eventually demolished in 1819 as a barrier to traffic. Although many views of the gate survive, many are very inaccurate, some based only on memory. This engraving, published in the Devon volumes of Lysons' Britannia in 1822 but prepared from a drawing made by the artist Joseph Farington in 1810, is the most reliable record of its appearance.

Acknowledgments: RAM Museum