Wonford Village History Trail Map

The Great House Interpretation Board

The Great House Interpretation Board
(Point 1 of 20)

The Wonford Great House Interpretation Board describes how the moated manor house might have looked back in the time of King John. You can also see detail here about the community project of 2019 including the medieval-inspired emblems created by the children of Wynstream School.

South Wonford Infants School

South Wonford Infants School
(Point 2 of 20)

Now converted into flats, this early Victorian school building was built in 1878 to educate up to 60 children between the ages of 4-7 from Wonford Village and the surrounding area. A year later the adjoining chapel was added and an additional classroom was added in 1904 taking the capacity to 114. It is the last surviving example in Exeter of a school-chapel, a flexible, dual-purpose building devised in the late 19th century as a tool for the church's missionary and education work into growing centres of population such as Wonford.
Almost every house in Wonford Street had children who attended the school - over 120 boys and girls according to the 1911 Admissions Register. The school ceased to be used for teaching infants in 1944 although a nursery class ran until 1949 when it was closed as an educational establishment. In more recent years it has been used as a community centre and a private nursery before being converted into residential dwellings in the late 2000s.
Look carefully and you can still see the old school bell.

Site of Smith's Dairy

Site of Smith's Dairy
(Point 3 of 20)

Next to the school, where St Loye's Court is now, used to be Smith's Dairy in the early 1900s, run by Charlie Smith and his son, Tom. They bred and raised dairy cattle on their farm at the top of Quarry Lane and sold and delivered milk by horse and cart from the dairy on Wonford Street. Rumour has it that sometimes Charlie would drink a little too much cider but his horse knew the milk round well enough to ensure that supplies were not disrupted!

South Wonford Terrace

South Wonford Terrace
(Point 4 of 20)

This small terrace (see the wall plaque) was built in the 1840s to house local workers such as gardeners and labourers. As Wonford Village became less reliant on the local farms and orchards in the 1900s, the houses became home to dressmakers, nurses and cab drivers. Originally built as simple two-up/two-down cottages, the number of occupants ranged from one person to eight people as many families would rent out a room to lodgers to supplement their income. For example in 1851 the Sinclair family who lived at No 79 with their four children also had two lodgers!

Look up the steps and you should see a row of cottages set back from the road - the steps go up to a path which runs along the front of the cottages, separating the houses from their front gardens.

Scudders Buildings

Scudders Buildings
(Point 5 of 20)

Built in the 1860s this row of workers' cottages, which were originally thatched, was known as Scudders Buildings - home to railway workers, carpenters, labourers and bricklayers. William Gibbs, a labourer for the Heavitree Unitary District Council lived at No 61 in 1911 with his wife, FIVE daughters and THREE sons - in total TEN people lived in this small cottage! His eldest two daughters were domestic servants. Well known local character Granny Lake lived at No 63 in the mid 1900s and would sit outside her cottage in the summer making Honiton Lace.

Make your way along Wonford Street - you can see some Heavitree Stone in the walls of the gardens. Heavitree Stone would have been used to build the Great House and the medieval village as it was quarried nearby.

For more information on Heavitree Stone see our Heavitree Quarries Trail
https://www.placeify.co.uk/QisforQuarries/

45 & 47 Wonford Street

45 & 47 Wonford Street
(Point 6 of 20)

Two redbrick houses built in the 1850s - No 45 'Verney House' (see the name above the front door) and No 47 Wonford Street - which was originally a shop. In the mid 1900s it was a coal merchants run by William and Maud Tucker who lived there with their two daughters. The building has also been a hairdressers, TV Repair shop, Video Rental shop and finally a Gas Appliances shop before finally being converted to flats in the 2000s.
On a quiet day you may be able to hear the sound of running water underneath the road - is this the Blackbrook water course which once ran through the village? This stream was possibly part of the reason for choosing the site of the Great Manor House and may have filled the moat.
Following a national cholera outbreak in 1832, all open streams and sewers were ordered to be covered in - or 'culverted'. This one was not done very effectively causing flooding whenever there was heavy rain. One local resident remembers the culvert being redone and lots of Heavitree Stone being dug up which she asked the workmen for so she could build some flower beds!

Vine Cottage

Vine Cottage
(Point 7 of 20)

Originally one house - 'Vine Cottage' - and possibly the oldest surviving building on Wonford Street! The original cottage was built sometime before 1800 but the external changes to the current Grade II listed building, visible from the road, date from the early and mid 1900s.

In 1834 a robbery occurred at the property - £30 (a large amount in those days!) was stolen from the occupier, William Barrell, whilst he and his family were at church. Subsequently the Barrells must have fallen on hard times as William Barrell was sent to a Debtors Prison in 1845 and committed suicide by jumping into the River Exe in 1852.

John Madge, a licensed victualler, bought Vine Cottage in 1861. Whilst he and his wife lived there, he rented part of the building to a succession of tenants with the single house being converted into two halves for rental purposes. Between 1906 and 1911, when H Pulling bought Vine Cottage, this separation was formalised and No 39 was sold to Ellen Parkhouse in 1921.

31-35 Wonford Street

31-35 Wonford Street
(Point 8 of 20)

During the Second World War, Exeter was badly bombed in what became known as the Exeter Blitz. In April 1942 a bomb landed on 31 & 33 Wonford Street and although the occupants were dug out of their Morrison shelter many hours later, two of their neighbours at No 35 were not so lucky and were killed. The bomb left a crater that was 43 ft in diameter and 15 ft deep! All three houses were so badly damaged by the blast that they were demolished and replaced with the modern houses you can see now.

Cherry Gardens

Cherry Gardens
(Point 9 of 20)

This small development of houses from the early 1960s - designed for staff and families of the Prison Service - was built on a cherry orchard previously owned by Heavitree Brewery who claimed that they produced “the finest cherry brandy you could buy”.

Wonford was well known for its cherry orchards - the Langdon family who lived at No 19-21 Wonford Street in the 1900s also had a cherry orchard and often invited the villagers to help during the picking season.

Whilst Reuben Langdon Snr had been an upstanding member of the community and a “zealous member of the Ancient Order of Foresters”, his son Reuben Langdon Jnr almost landed himself with a criminal record. In 1910 he was summoned to court for “stealing a bill hook valued at one shilling and fourpence” from a fellow market gardener. The judge ruled that there had been “no felonious intention” and said it was “almost a pity the case had been bought” - Reuben was off the hook!

Wonford Inn

Wonford Inn
(Point 10 of 20)

Previously a private house called Oakbear Cottage and part of Oakbear Farm, this 1830s building became a pub in 1866, owned by Crowson & Son Brewery. The first landlord was John Bradford. In 1899 Heavitree Brewery acquired Crowson & Son and the Wonford Inn became part of the Heavitree Brewery estate. At the time it was described as “all that dwelling house Inn and premises with the garden and orchard thereto adjoining and belonging known as the Wonford Inn situated at South Wonford”.

In the 1930s Tom and Mabel Pritchard took over as licensees and ran the pub for over 30 years, finally retiring in 1964. The pub was damaged by a bomb in September 1941 and the total cost to fix the damage was £10.6s.8d - around £350 in today's money.
Today the Wonford Inn is the last of the three pubs serving Wonford Village - The Gardeners' Arms closed in 1998 and was demolished in 2000, and The Flying Horse on Dryden Road closed in 2016.

Help keep our local pubs alive by popping in for a quick drink if you have time!

3-15 Wonford Street

3-15 Wonford Street
(Point 11 of 20)

Dating from the 1830s, the first building (No 3) was originally a shop selling beer as in those days tea and coffee were extremely expensive and so beer was widely drunk instead! In the 1950s the shop was called Rosie's - the shop name was changed to Elston's when Rosie married a Mr Elston!

Hope Hall & Hope Place

Hope Hall & Hope Place
(Point 12 of 20)

Hope Baptist Chapel & Hall was built in 1905 and was well used by the Baptist congregation until 1931 when they moved to the new Baptist Chapel in Wonford Street. After the Baptists moved out Hope Hall became a Church of England Sunday School and in later years was the home of the Wonford Youth Club. More recently it was as an Arts Centre - Hope Hall Arts - and then Nanny Bears Nursery.

Just up from Hope Hall is Hope Place, a terrace of eight small cottages. These were built in 1890 and shared a communal water pump and quite possibly a communal privy (toilet) as was common at the time.

Fort Villa

Fort Villa
(Point 13 of 20)

As Wonford Village expanded in the 1800s, a number of larger houses were built alongside the smaller terraced cottages.

One of these is Fort Villa - now Dene Court Residential Home. Built in 1826, Fort Villa (you can see the original name etched into the gate posts) is an example of a grand Victorian villa which would have originally been occupied by what was then known as 'the gentry'. It was described in 1852 as “a genteel detached residence...with large garden”. Although the building has been significantly extended and modernised, you can still see examples of its grandeur in the chimney design and the red brick boundary wall on the right which runs up the entire length of the adjoining Hope Road.

Between 1897 and 1926, Fort Villa was occupied by Alfred Brooking, a widower with no family and a retired jeweller and watchmaker. Alfred played an important role in the local community as Chairman of Heavitree Urban Council, and as Secretary of the Diamond Jubilee Committee & Celebrations he arranged the installation of a new peal of bells and a turret clock at St Michael & All Angel's Church in Heavitree. When he died in 1926 he made an odd request - “an open bottle of chloroform is to be placed in my coffin”.

Edward Arthur Grenfell and his wife Lillian lived at Fort Villa for a while in the mid 1900's. Edward was headmaster of Exeter Central School for 30 years and was awarded an MBE in 1932 for his services to education. His funeral was held at Exeter Cathedral in 1941.

Fort Villa was converted into what was reputed to be the first registered home for the elderly in Exeter in the late 1960s/early 1970s.

You are now at the halfway point on our Trail! To your right is Butts Road, previously called Butts Lane. The name derives from when there were 'butts' - long strips of land were archery took place. Butts were established countrywide after King Henry VIII issued a royal order that all yeomen should practise archery!

Cornish Units

Cornish Units
(Point 14 of 20)

During the Second World War hundreds of thousands of homes were destroyed leaving many families with nowhere to live. In a bid to combat this crisis, the Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act 1944 was passed leading to the development of many types of 'temporary' non traditional housing. Built by the Central Cornwall Concrete & Artificial Stone Company, the Cornish Unit is one of the most recognisable types and although only expected to last for 10 years, many of the homes still stand today, like these examples in Butts Road which were built in the 1950s.

Murder!

Murder!
(Point 15 of 20)

Wonford Village was, and still is, known for its close knit community and friendliness but not far from this spot in 1933 was the site of a grisly murder-suicide!

On a February morning in 1933, neighbours in Wonford Street heard gunshots coming from one of the cottages nearby. A woman was found with one foot out of a downstairs window, apparently trying to escape - she had a severe gunshot wound to the back and was rushed to hospital but died on the way. Her husband was found lying dead on the floor inside the cottage with his head partly blown away. He was holding a double barrelled shotgun with a cord attached to the trigger. A verdict of Murder and “Felo-de-se” (illegal suicide) was returned at the inquest.

Baptist Chapel

Baptist Chapel
(Point 16 of 20)

Opposite the Wonford Inn is the “new” Baptist Chapel, which was built in 1931 to replace Hope Hall. It was closed in 2003 as the congregation had fallen to just two people. In 2004 it reopened as the Baptist Union headquarters and is also used as a Polling Station for local and national elections.

Wonford Garage

Wonford Garage
(Point 17 of 20)

Wonford Garage was built on the site of Shepherd's Court - a long-gone terrace of workers' cottages. In 1956 the business was owned and run by JK Pritchard & Sons who were described as “timber fellers”. Between 1959 and 1967 it operated as a service station and is still to this day a working garage offering car repairs and MOTs - and is still run by the Pritchard family.

Site of Abbotts Farm (Draycott Close)

Site of Abbotts Farm (Draycott Close)
(Point 18 of 20)

Next to Wonford Garage is Draycott Close which consists of post war housing built in the 1960s. It is also the site of Abbotts Farm (also known as Abbotts, South Wonford Farm and Abbottswick), first recorded in 1790 and part of the Abbotts & Pines Estate which by 1840 consisted of over 50 acres of arable, meadow and orchards, owned by Reverend William Harris Arundell. The Abbotts and Pines Estate was farmed by Samuel Melhuish in the 1800s who lived at Abbotts Farm with his wife Ann and son Robert. Consisting of four acres of orchards as well as a fine thatched farmhouse, Abbotts Farm continued to be occupied and farmed by the Melhuish family until 1892, when it was sold to George Havill, a butcher and farmer, who also owned land and a number of buildings at the south end of Wonford Street. At the time 'Abbotts' was described as consisting of a farmhouse, garden, great orchard and nursery orchard.

In 1909 'Abbotts', now occupied by William Parris, his wife Phoebe and daughters Ruby, Alma and Olive, was put up for sale again, along with George Havill's other properties and land in Wonford. As well as the main house the Abbotts estate included a kitchen dairy, salting house, a large cider cellar and Abbotts Orchard “stacked with choice trees”. By 1933 the main house was renamed “Abbotswick” and was in the hands of the Cox family who then sold it by auction in 1940. The house was demolished in 1964 to make way for Draycott Close and Nos 80, 82 & 84 Wonford Street.

Victory Hall

Victory Hall
(Point 19 of 20)

Constructed in 1922 by local veterans who survived World War One, the Victory Hall was intended to serve as a meeting place for the community as well as a way of commemorating the village's fallen servicemen.

Take a look at the inscription on the right hand side of the building.

Many local weddings, engagement and birthday parties were held here over the years as well as a very popular twice-weekly Whist drive which was only discontinued in the 1960s. Today the hall still hosts social events such as disco and karaoke nights.

Site of Havill's Farm (Amersham Court)

Site of Havill's Farm (Amersham Court)
(Point 20 of 20)

On this site in 1840 sat “a commodious dwelling house” called 'Havill's Farm' - lived in by George Havill, his wife Jane, their TEN children, two servants and a nursemaid! As well as the main farmhouse, gardens and orchard, George Havill also owned Havills Meadow, roughly where the Wonford Leisure Centre is now. A Master Butcher by trade, he continued to build up his business in the 1870s and 1880s with the help of his sons Albert and Frederick who also became butchers, as well as a number of live-in Butchers Apprentices or Assistants. Alongside the farm, where you could buy fresh eggs, milk and cream, was Havill's Slaughterhouse - one of two in Wonford. The freshly slaughtered meat was then sold at Havill & Sons butcher's shop in Exeter.

In 1892 the Havill's bought Abbotts Farm & Orchard - further up Wonford Street - but by 1909 almost all of the Havill land was put up for auction. Havill & Son's butcher's shop continued in business in central Exeter until Goldsmith Street was demolished in the 1970s to make way for the Guildhall Shopping Centre.

My Wonford Village History Trail Notes