Victorian City [1840 - 1901]
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At the beginning of Victoria’s reign the city still faced very serious problems of disease and poverty. The shock of the cholera outbreak of a few years earlier was still in many people’s minds (see Late Georgian), and the work of the Improvement Commissioners was far from complete. Their work included the new Queen Street (named after Queen Victoria but in fact begun a few years before her reign), and public schemes to improve the water supply, sewers, hospitals and street lighting.
The period saw a considerable rise in the city’s population from 28,000 in 1831 to 47,000 in 1901. With it came a large growth in the extent of the city, especially in late Victorian times, when St Thomas, Heavitree, Mount Pleasant and St Davids all experienced rapid growth.
Improvements in education for children were marked by a new generation of schools for both boys and girls. The great efforts in improving adult education for working people centred on the Albert Memorial Museum, founded in the 1860s. To many Victorians education was closely linked to religion and new churches were built to serve the suburbs, whilst the cathedral experienced an expensive restoration in the 1870s.
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Improvements in the city continued in the Victorian period, such as the new Queen Street (after Victoria), schools, hospitals, sewers and street lighting. The population grew from 28,000 in 1831 to 47,000 in 1901, and with it came a large growth in Exeter's suburbs - St Thomas, Heavitree, Mount Pleasant and St Davids. New facilities for this growing population included the Albert Memorial Institution founded in the 1860s (later to become the museum), new churches and a cathedral restoration in the 1870s.
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The railway was brought to Exeter in May 1844 by the Bristol and Exeter Railway Company, connecting the city to Bristol and London after several earlier plans had failed. Its arrival caused the standardisation of time across the country; an extra minute hand was added to a clock in Fore Street to show both railway time and Exeter time.
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In the Victorian period the city walls were considered picturesque rather than functional. Antiquaries and historians started to study them as archaeological monuments.
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In 1870-7 the distinguished architect George Gilbert Scott carried out a restoration of the interior of the cathedral; the final cost was £50,000. Scott cleared away most of the Stuart and Georgian furnishings, replacing them with works in medieval style, and cleaned the walls and vaults. He left the Cathedral essentially as it is today.
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Victorian Exeter was filled with private businesses. These ranged from breweries to brickworks, metalworking to lace production. In showing off the skills of Victorian craftsmen the museum building is itself a prime example, being a major commission of the leading local architectural practices of the day.
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Like most Victorian cities many people in Exeter lived in houses built in earlier times, often in cramped conditions. Several almshouses were established to provide assistance and accommodation for certain groups of the city's population.
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Great improvements were made to public health in Victorian Exeter including improvements to the water supply and new public facilities for bathing. Many improvements were funded by private donation from Exeter's wealthier citizens.
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With the growth of the British Empire Exeter was supplied with a wide variety of goods. Many specialist shops and new trades were established in the city during this time.
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The manufacture of lace for clothing was an important Victorian industry in the Exeter area.
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In the time around the late 1800s many small schools and Sunday schools were set up to teach the children in the city. Many families had to pay for their children's education. Some schools issued awards and medals to its students, for successes and improvements in subjects such as penmanship and mathematics.
