Synopsis: Devon Historic Churches Day visits to St Leonard’s Church, and St Clare’s Chapel, which is attached to the Livery Dole Almshouses. My parents married in St Leonard’s Church in 1955.
This blog post describes visits made possible under the Devon Historic Churches Day scheme. This scheme is run in conjunction with the Heritage Open Days (HOD) scheme. To see other blog posts which describe Heritage Open Days visits, please see Tag in column to the right.
Saturday 10th September: A visit to St Leonard’s Church in the morning, followed by a visit to St Clare’s Chapel mid-afternoon.
St Leonard’s Church, Exeter
The primary driver for my choosing to visit the Church of St Leonard is that this is the church in which my parents married in 1955. I’d not previously seen inside this church, since it is often kept locked. My mother has a photo album of her wedding. My father passed away in 2002. The photos in their wedding album are my only previous knowledge of the interior of this church.
This first photo shows the position at which the altar rail was once positioned, where the curtain extends across the chancel. The image is not at all what I had expected, as everything had been chopped and changed so much since the time of my parents’ wedding.
When my parents knelt at the altar rail in this church, they would have seen the conventional altar and reredos that today is hidden (along with a lot of other junk) behind the curtain shown above. However, as my parents turned and looked down the church after the marriage ceremony, the view they would have had would have been much like this photo.
The door to exit the church at that time is visible on the left-hand-side, beneath the west window. The only other significant difference today is the fact that the choir stalls are stored beneath this window partly obscuring the monument to the Baring family.
As my mother and father approached St Leonard’s Church along the drive on their wedding day, this is pretty much the view that would have greeted them. The only significant difference today is that a modern annexe has been appended to the left of the church, just visible in this photo.
The church commands a high position above the River Exe, which means the steeple is visible from far afield along the River Exe. The grand houses of Larkbeare and Mount Radford stood close by at one time, both the onetime home of the Baring family. Mount Radford has been demolished, but a little of the original Larkbeare House exists in the dip of Holloway Street.
Here we see my parents on the day of their marriage at St Leonard’s Church. There was a little snow on the ground on this day in February 1955.
My parents are standing in front of the old entrance to the church, which is, rather obscurely I admit, around the back of the church, facing Larkbeare Road. As you’ll note, the winter sun shone for them, if a little obliquely.
Their wedding reception was held above the Hill, Palmer and Edwards bakery shop, South Street, Exeter, long gone. My parents spent some time in London on their honeymoon. It does make one wonder, if the truth be known, whether one isn’t in fact a Cockney. I think we’ll say no more on that subject. And, anyway, I don’t recall hearing any bells.
What are my thoughts on the changes that have taken place at St Leonard’s Church? Well, I do know this is not 1955, and quite a different time to the previous 2,000 years. In 1955 things such as disability access were not on the agenda. It is without doubt a good thing that today we’re more enlightened about such things, although in general churches, because of their historic nature, make only the smallest of nods to accommodate this change in emphasis. I do feel however, the complete loss of the original altar and reredos quite jarring, as it is the fabric of the original design concept of the church. And what sprang to my mind was something I once heard said by a church historian, and that is, ‘It is easy to conceive that an altar is created for a church, when in fact, it should be viewed that the church is created for the altar.’ That, I interpret to mean, the altar is the focus of worship, the church (aside from any architectural merit) merely a creature comfort. Since churches didn’t originally exist, this is obviously an accurate perspective. In that light, the screening off of the altar as done here seems particularly adverse to purpose. Although, I admit, the unprepossessing simplicity of the current altar table, could be deemed an incremental step towards getting back to the basics of worship. As is so often the case in life, one pays one’s money, and one takes one’s choice on the subject.
I had a picnic lunch in Northernhay Park and then spent a little time in the library. There was an indication that St Clare’s Chapel would be open from about mid-afternoon. I walked that way in the hope that I might get to see it. Many a time have I walked past this little chapel over the years, and yet never had I seen the inside of the chapel. On approaching the chapel I found it locked, but a lady sat on a bench in the gardens of the almshouses asked if I would like to look inside. She kindly opened the chapel for me to take a look around, and this is what I saw.
St Clare's Chapel, Exeter
The Chapel of St Clare, attached to the Livery Dole Almshouses, is quite tiny. It is pigeonholed into a small triangle of land between two very busy roads, Heavitree Road and Magdalen Road. The traffic hurtles by all around the chapel. And yet step inside the chapel and one is immediately transported into another world that is tranquil and serene.
Chapels such as this were often attached to old almshouses and hospitals such that the spiritual, as well as physical, wellbeing of the inhabitants might be administered to. And even to this day, a service takes place in this chapel each Thursday morning. Recently the almshouses have been added to, so, at least potentially, there is opportunity for a larger congregation than ever before to fill this tiny chapel.
A bomb exploded nearby during the Second World War. Possibly the same bomb that de-capped the tower of the nearby Roman Catholic church. The explosion blew out all the original medieval glass of the chapel. The medieval stained glass that we see in the chapel today has been derived from a church tower in Bicton that had been demolished.
The single most interesting, if somewhat gruesome, story associated with Livery Dole almshouses is it having been the site of the martyrdom of Thomas Benet.
Thomas Benet would pin placards to the Cathedral door making such proclamations as the Pope being the Anti-Christ. He had been avoiding trouble for quite some time when, unfortunate for him, it is said he laughed during a Cathedral service. Upon which, he was denounced a heretic and sentenced to death by burning at the stake. A sobering thought for anyone who might feel a chortle coming upon them during a church service.
This final image is, I believe, an old postcard. It is to be found hanging on one of the interior walls of the chapel. The General Gordon Lamp can be seen on the right of this picture. And, even today, just as in this picture, there are a couple of benches to be found at this location, although today’s traffic makes this a less than ideal place to spend a quiet few minutes.
Further information: St Clare’s Chapel, Livery Dole [Exeter Memories]
And that concludes the little historic church excursion I undertook today. I find that there’s still much of interest to seek out in Exeter, even after a lifetime spent in the city.
