Heritage Gateway

Exeter City HER

ST. EDMUND'S CHURCH

Description:	The Chapel of St Edmund on Exe Bridge (built c.1200: Cherry and Pevsner 1989, 390; 410) is mentioned in Peter de Palerna’s list of Exeter churches of c.1214 (Rose-Troup 1923, vi; 47); in fact its construction is likely to be coeval with that of the bridge itself and it may well have been in place as early as 1196 when on Gregory ‘chaplain of Exe bridge’ is so described as a witness to a charter (Brown 1991, 1-2). The church was supported on the first two arches of the bridge; although it was heavily rebuilt in the later Middle Ages and again in 1833-34, a little of its original plan can be deduced from features in the bridge fabric (Brown 1991, 6-8 and Figs 9-10 and 13). The church had a simple rectangular plan, 18.6 x 5.2m (ibid., 6); the outer (N) wall was carried on arches supported on the cutwaters of the bridge, and on intermediate piers; the springing of one arch survived, and suggested that the wall above was 0.86m wide (ibid., 7). At the west end of the church there was a chamfered door opening in cutwater 3 of the bridge, interpreted as a door giving access to the river by means of a wooden stair (ibid., 7 and Fig. 10). A view of the church before it demolition for rebuilding in 1832 is published in the Gentleman’s Magazine 1835; Recognition Event No. 1531.


District:	Exeter
County:	Devon
Grid reference:	SX916921
Map reference:	[ EPSG:27700] 291683, 92188


Periods:	1068 - 1300
	NORMAN EXETER
Subjects:	CHURCH


Identifiers:	[ ADS] Depositor ID - 11024.0

People Involved:

Bibliographic References:

Brown, S. (1991) Excavations on the Medieval Exe Bridge, St Edmund's Church and Frog Street Tenements, Exeter, 1975-9 in EMAFU Report No. 91.52. Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit.
Webster, L.E. & Cherry, J. (1972) 'Other Sites', p. 204 in 'Medieval Britain in 1971' in Medieval Archaeol. 16, pg(s)147-212. Society for Medieval Archaeology.
Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1979) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 7.12.79, p. 1. Exeter City Council.
Henderson, C.G. (1981) 'Exeter', pp. 119-22 in Milne, G. & Hobley, B. (eds) Waterfront Archaeology in Britain and Europe in Counc. Brit. Archaeol. Res. Rep. 41, pg(s)119-22. Council for British Archaeology.
Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1982) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 25.6.82, p. 15. Exeter City Council.
Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1981) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 11.12.81, p. 13. Exeter City Council.
Exeter Museums Archaeological Field Unit (1987) Report to Exeter Archaeological Advisory Committee, 5.6.87, p. 9. Exeter City Council.