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Summary

The earliest evidence for a settlement at Honiton is the Domesday Book of 1086 although the straight course of the main road through the town has led to the suggestion that it is a Roman road and that the town's origins lie in the Roman period although there is no evidence to support this. The location of the Domesday settlement is thought to have been in the vicinity of St. Michael's and that the the town in the valley, along the main road, is an example of a medieval planted 'new' town. By 1217 Honiton had gained borough status. The town prospered and developed its own industries and is particuarly associated with lace making. The current street scene with buildings of brick and slate and widened streets is the result of a series of fires in the earlier 19th century but which nevertheless reflects the prosperous town that Honiton had become.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• SETTLEMENT (First mentioned, XI - 1086 AD to 1086 AD)

Full description

Watts, S., 17/12/2014, Honiton (Personal Comment). SDV357579.

Please note that the location of the map object, on the main road through the town, is arbitrary.

Devon County Council + Honiton Borough Council, 1973, Honiton Report (Report - non-specific). SDV352531.

Honiton's location on the main road from London and the east to Exeter and the west has been of great importance to the town's growth and development. High Street was originally part of the Roman Icknield Street and there was probably a settlement in this vicinity soon after the road was built, if not before. By the mid 13th century a lace-making industry had been established which grew to become a major source of the town's fame and wealth. A woollen industry flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries and by the early 19th century Honiton had developed into a prosperous market town. Coinciding with this period of prosperity were a series of major fires in the town aggravated by the close proximity of the timber buildings. As a result new buildings tended to be of brick and slate and a widened street form was adopted, creating a street scene that reflected the prosperous town that Honiton had become. By 1860 when the railway came to Honiton, High Street was much as it is today. The town's population remained much the same until after the war when it began to grow again. The use of the motor car increased and in 1966 a by-pass was built.

Timms, S. C., 1976, The Devon Urban Survey, 1976. First Draft (Report - Survey). SDV341346.

Honiton lies along what was, until the construction of the by-pass, the main road from Exeter to London. Its straight course through Honiton has sustained the theory that it is a Roman road and that the town's origins lie in the Roman period. The location of the town roughly corresponds to that of Moridunum mentioned in the second century Antonine Itinerary but there is no evidence to support this. The earliest evidence for a settlement at Honiton comes from the Domesday Book. The location of this early settlement is considered to have been in the vicinity of St. Michael's Church. St. Michael's occupies an isolated hillside location and the medieval town in the valley may, therefore, be an example of a planted 'new' town. Such new towns were created by Lords of the Manor who hoped to benefit from the revenue of burgage rents and market dues and were were typically located along main thoroughfares. If such a migration did occur that this must have taken placed by the end of the 12th century for by 1217 Honiton has obtained official borough status.
The town developed its own industries and from the 17th century its name has been associated with lace making.

Devon County Council + East Devon District Council, 1995, Honiton Conservation Area Partnership: Preliminary Application (Report - non-specific). SDV351796.

Honiton's urban origins lie in its establishment as a planned medieval new town by the Early of Devon circa 1200. The town is considered to be of considerable archaeological and historic interest and potential in terms of its well-preserved urban plan, its buried archaeological deposits and the fabric contained within its historic structures including industrial features. Lace making which flourished in the 16th century was gradually superseded by the production of woollen cloth in the 17th century. Today Honiton presents the appearance of a later 18th or earlier 19th century market town, largely due to the rebuilding that took place following the major fires in the town in the later 17th and 18th centuries.
On the surface, Honiton presents a fine picture of solid respectable provincial buildings, but in a more detailed examination, the problems of poor maintenance, inappropriate modern intrusions and loss of architectural detail are apparent, and it is these issues that this Conservation Area Partnership bid seeks to address.
Seven separate character areas are identified: the western edge of the town characterised by groups of 19th century villas, the Gissage Brook area with its buildings of modest propotions, Lower and West high Street with more substantial two and three storey buildings of late 18th and 19th century date, Dowell Street which is flanked by modest workers' housing, East High Street the commercial core of the town punctuated by the 19th century St. Pauls church, New Street which is a secondary commercial street and Summerland Street a small residential area with a number of early 19th century houses.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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