History and Links
Subscribers to the building of George's Meeting House
The fifth protestant dissenter Meeting House to be erected in Exeter was built in Southgate Street (now South Street) in 1759/60 and named George's in honour of the newly crowned George III. The building still stands, and is now a public house owned and managed by the J. D. Wetherspoon chain who have maintained many of the original features including the gallery, pulpit and stained glass windows. A brief history of the chapel can be found on the excellent Exeter Memories website here.
A list of subscriptions to the building of the Meeting House in 1759 has survived and is held in the Devon Heritage Centre (DHC 3693D/0/A/1). A total sum of £1693.11s (equivalent to at least £238,000 today*) was raised from over 100 different subscribers. The list of subscribers and the amount of money they gave can be accessed here.
The fifth protestant dissenter Meeting House to be erected in Exeter was built in Southgate Street (now South Street) in 1759/60 and named George's in honour of the newly crowned George III. The building still stands, and is now a public house owned and managed by the J. D. Wetherspoon chain who have maintained many of the original features including the gallery, pulpit and stained glass windows. A brief history of the chapel can be found on the excellent Exeter Memories website here.
A list of subscriptions to the building of the Meeting House in 1759 has survived and is held in the Devon Heritage Centre (DHC 3693D/0/A/1). A total sum of £1693.11s (equivalent to at least £238,000 today*) was raised from over 100 different subscribers. The list of subscribers and the amount of money they gave can be accessed here.
DISSENT IN EXETER
Exeter-born history graduate Ed Legon (pictured right) completed a PhD thesis at University College London on social memory of the English Revolution during the reign of Charles II; particularly memories sympathetic to the Revolution during this period. His research on Dissent in Exeter is summarised here.
The article was updated 4 August 2014. Copyright Ed Legon 2014.
Exeter-born history graduate Ed Legon (pictured right) completed a PhD thesis at University College London on social memory of the English Revolution during the reign of Charles II; particularly memories sympathetic to the Revolution during this period. His research on Dissent in Exeter is summarised here.
The article was updated 4 August 2014. Copyright Ed Legon 2014.
THE CHIEF GROUNDS OF DISSENT (Dr Lant Carpenter, 1810)
In 1810, Lant Carpenter LLD (1780-1840), delivered a discourse on the Chief Grounds of Dissent in Exeter and stated five main points, namely:
Ref. Carpenter, Lant. A brief view of the Chief Grounds of Dissent from the Church of England by law established: A Discourse first delivered in Exeter, May 13th 1810, and repeated in Plymouth, April 5th, 1812. Second edition. T. Besley, Exeter, 1816, 22pp. | Dr Lant Carpenter was a Unitarian Minister at Georges Meeting in Exeter from 1805 to 1817. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Carpenter,_Lant_(DNB00)
In 1810, Lant Carpenter LLD (1780-1840), delivered a discourse on the Chief Grounds of Dissent in Exeter and stated five main points, namely:
- The very constitution of the Church of England, implies the right of the Civil Magistrate to interfere in affairs of religion. The Church of England is established by law, that is by the acts of the King, Lords and Commons. The King, or Queen, for the time being, be the character of the individual what it may, is acknowledged as the Head of the Church. By virtue of this supremacy, the King or Queen hath power to excommunicate, independently of all the Clergy, and even in opposition to them, - to prescribe what the Clergy shall, and what they shall not, preach….
- The Church of England claims authority over religious faith and worship, - thus denying the right of private judgment; and does as much as possible to prevent the exercise of that right.
- To the Ritual of the Church of England, - we observe it in many things which are, in our estimation, unfounded in the Scriptures, and some of which have a direct tendency to confound all moral distinctions….The Baptismal Form implies, what the Articles distinctly avow, that till baptism, children are the objects of God Almighty’s wrath, and deserve to be damned….Again, in the Office for the Burial of the Dead, the Clergyman is directed to declare, over every person brought to be buried, however profligate and openly irreligious his life may have been, that he commits his body to the ground “in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life”.
- The several of the leading, fundamental Doctrines of the Church of England, are, in our estimation, inconsistent with the doctrines of the Gospel; and that therefore we are, in conscience, obliged openly to dissent from it. [This refers to the worship of the Holy Trinity, rather than the Unity of the Godhead, i.e. the Unitarian doctrine].
- We think dissent from the Church of England our duty, because the Worship enjoined, and constantly practised by the Church of England, is unscriptural.
Ref. Carpenter, Lant. A brief view of the Chief Grounds of Dissent from the Church of England by law established: A Discourse first delivered in Exeter, May 13th 1810, and repeated in Plymouth, April 5th, 1812. Second edition. T. Besley, Exeter, 1816, 22pp. | Dr Lant Carpenter was a Unitarian Minister at Georges Meeting in Exeter from 1805 to 1817. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Carpenter,_Lant_(DNB00)
SHORT HISTORY OF THE SITE
The appearance of dissenting congregations in seventeenth and eighteenth century England should be viewed in the context of the history of division in the Christian tradition from the split between Roman and Orthodox churches in the first millennium; the rise of Protestantism in Europe; Henry VIII's establishment of the Anglican Church (arising from Papal hostility to the annulment of his earlier marriage but also a convenient opportunity to annexe much of the wealth of the many monastic orders); and later divergence from Anglicanism producing numerous dissenting churches. Dissenters were forbidden burial in Anglican churchyards. The need of local protestant non-conformists for a burial ground was met by the acquisition of a plot of land from from Wynard's Almshouses on a 999 year lease in February 1748 by members from three Meeting Houses (James Meeting, Bow Meeting and Little Meeting). Burials in this, now known as the Dissenters Graveyard, took place from 1748 to 1854. There were at least 1,300 burials on the site, possibly as many as 2,000 (close by is a Jewish cemetery which was established around 1758; and the much earlier Quakers’ cemetery across Magdalen Street). In the 19th Century the rule forbidding burial in Anglican churchyards was rescinded and health hazards and overcrowding of burial grounds resulted in municipal and commercial cemeteries so the need for separate establishments was removed.
Exeter Dissenters' Graveyard belonged to George's Meeting until the 1980s, when it was sold to the first of several hopeful developers. The last of these, though interested in building social housing, was also sympathetic to preservation. He challenged local people to come up with a funded renovation plan. The challenge was met and thanks to a generous anonymous donation the site was purchased by Exeter Historic Buildings Trust (EHBT) to be passed on to the newly formed Exeter Dissenters Graveyard Trust (EDGT) when formally incorporated as a charity. Grants have been awarded of £1,000 from the Council for British Archaeology and £7,900 by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and there have been generous private donations as well as those from EHBT, Exeter Civic Society, St Leonard’s Neighbourhood Association and Devon Gardens Trust, which have enabled a start on Phase 1 of the project: clearance and investigation of the site.
More information about the site and the work of the organisations collaborating on the restoration work can be accessed in LINKS below.
The appearance of dissenting congregations in seventeenth and eighteenth century England should be viewed in the context of the history of division in the Christian tradition from the split between Roman and Orthodox churches in the first millennium; the rise of Protestantism in Europe; Henry VIII's establishment of the Anglican Church (arising from Papal hostility to the annulment of his earlier marriage but also a convenient opportunity to annexe much of the wealth of the many monastic orders); and later divergence from Anglicanism producing numerous dissenting churches. Dissenters were forbidden burial in Anglican churchyards. The need of local protestant non-conformists for a burial ground was met by the acquisition of a plot of land from from Wynard's Almshouses on a 999 year lease in February 1748 by members from three Meeting Houses (James Meeting, Bow Meeting and Little Meeting). Burials in this, now known as the Dissenters Graveyard, took place from 1748 to 1854. There were at least 1,300 burials on the site, possibly as many as 2,000 (close by is a Jewish cemetery which was established around 1758; and the much earlier Quakers’ cemetery across Magdalen Street). In the 19th Century the rule forbidding burial in Anglican churchyards was rescinded and health hazards and overcrowding of burial grounds resulted in municipal and commercial cemeteries so the need for separate establishments was removed.
Exeter Dissenters' Graveyard belonged to George's Meeting until the 1980s, when it was sold to the first of several hopeful developers. The last of these, though interested in building social housing, was also sympathetic to preservation. He challenged local people to come up with a funded renovation plan. The challenge was met and thanks to a generous anonymous donation the site was purchased by Exeter Historic Buildings Trust (EHBT) to be passed on to the newly formed Exeter Dissenters Graveyard Trust (EDGT) when formally incorporated as a charity. Grants have been awarded of £1,000 from the Council for British Archaeology and £7,900 by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and there have been generous private donations as well as those from EHBT, Exeter Civic Society, St Leonard’s Neighbourhood Association and Devon Gardens Trust, which have enabled a start on Phase 1 of the project: clearance and investigation of the site.
More information about the site and the work of the organisations collaborating on the restoration work can be accessed in LINKS below.
THE DISSENTERS' GRAVEYARD IN HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS
Variously referred to as the 'Presbyterian/Presbiterian/Unitarian' 'Burial/Burying Ground', the 'Magdalen Street graveyard' and 'Saints' Rest' in local and regional newspapers, it is possible to gain useful information about the site and the people who are buried there.
Variously referred to as the 'Presbyterian/Presbiterian/Unitarian' 'Burial/Burying Ground', the 'Magdalen Street graveyard' and 'Saints' Rest' in local and regional newspapers, it is possible to gain useful information about the site and the people who are buried there.
The Western Times | Wednesday 22nd August 1888
This is a fascinating account of the graveyard during the construction of Bull Meadow Road in 1888. It shows that the site was somewhat overgrown with vegetation only 34 years after the graveyard closed for new internments. The fact that some memorial stones were broken and others had weathered so much that their inscriptions could not be read is particularly interesting. The article has been transcribed and appears below.
SAINTS' REST, MAGDALEN-STREET
This ancient and picturesque cemetery has been recently exposed to public gaze by means of the new road now being constructed to connect Holloway-street with Magdalen-street. Visiting the spot with a friend a few days ago we were much interested in reading the inscriptions on the table monuments and head stones, recording as they do the names of citizens – citizens of no mean city, and who in their day and generation played their parts in mercantile, political, or municipal life. Among the names are those of Merivale, Milford, Bielfield, Gifford, Gilchrist, Clifford, Cranch, Wyatt, Mountjoy, Drewe, Kingdon, Bennett, Mortimer, Mardon, Coffin, and others. A notable name is that of the Rev. Micajah Towgood, whose portrait, engraved by Ezekiel, forms one of a series of portraits of ancient worthies by that artist.
On the headstone of Jonathan Evans, aged 78, we are told that “through life he advocated the cause of civil and religious liberty.” Another has reference to a well-known person connected with the Press : “Sacred to the memory of Catherine, the beloved wife of Samuel Treleaven, of this city, who died the 11th January, 1840, aged 57.” An unusual name is that of Melony Snelling, of this city, widow, who died 24th August, 1822, aged 90. And of John Cox it is said : “A truly honest man, who died 21st January, 1812, aged 77.” There is a large table tomb belonging to the Bowring family; over the inscriptions is cut the following : - “Hope sweetly wipes the tear that wets the eye,” and on the end of the same “Sacred to friendship, John Hutchings, of this city, banker, died 4th September, 1816, aged 46. Oh! why has worth so short a date?”
Some of the graves in this cemetery are covered in a great mass of the twining stems and beautiful white flowers of the great Bindweed, so much so that one large tomb with its enclosing iron railings is completely hidden, justifying in this particular its botanical name the Calystegia sepium, the generic name being derived from two Greek words signifying “beautiful covering.” Many of the stones are broken and others beyond recognition from the influence of the weather and their mossy coverings, also so that the growth of the trees and shrubs has masked many of them. One regrets the obliteration of these ancient records, but as time goes on there appear to be no living members of the families interested enough in their restitution. Alas! alas!
There are peculiarities in the record of the Towgood family which stands thus : “Sacred to the memory of Mary wife of the Rev. Micajah Towgood who departed this life February, 1759. Also of Mary daughter of the said Micaiah and Mary Towgood, who departed this life March, 1771. Also of the said Rev. Micaiah Towgood, who departed this life February, 1792.
“Susanna Towgood, daughter of the above, died 2nd April, 1805, aged 71.”
In the first place Micaiah is spelt with a j, and afterwards with I, and in the first three notices of death the day is omitted, and the month only stated. In the last, of Susanna Towgood, the day of the death is mentioned as is now the usual custom.
In all probability the title of “Saints’ Rest”, attached to this little burial plot, is a Presbyterian one, as in the Cromwellian occupation of Exeter in the 17th century the corporate body and many of the leading citizens were of this persuasion.
Collectors of Exeter theological literature will have become acquainted with a fierce controversy of the last century known as “The Exeter Controversy”. William Gifford, of the “Quarterly Review,” says in his autobiography that “it was the exclusive study of the master to whom when a boy, between 1770 and 1778, he was apprenticed, and who was a Presbyterian.” G.T. August, 1888.
This is a fascinating account of the graveyard during the construction of Bull Meadow Road in 1888. It shows that the site was somewhat overgrown with vegetation only 34 years after the graveyard closed for new internments. The fact that some memorial stones were broken and others had weathered so much that their inscriptions could not be read is particularly interesting. The article has been transcribed and appears below.
SAINTS' REST, MAGDALEN-STREET
This ancient and picturesque cemetery has been recently exposed to public gaze by means of the new road now being constructed to connect Holloway-street with Magdalen-street. Visiting the spot with a friend a few days ago we were much interested in reading the inscriptions on the table monuments and head stones, recording as they do the names of citizens – citizens of no mean city, and who in their day and generation played their parts in mercantile, political, or municipal life. Among the names are those of Merivale, Milford, Bielfield, Gifford, Gilchrist, Clifford, Cranch, Wyatt, Mountjoy, Drewe, Kingdon, Bennett, Mortimer, Mardon, Coffin, and others. A notable name is that of the Rev. Micajah Towgood, whose portrait, engraved by Ezekiel, forms one of a series of portraits of ancient worthies by that artist.
On the headstone of Jonathan Evans, aged 78, we are told that “through life he advocated the cause of civil and religious liberty.” Another has reference to a well-known person connected with the Press : “Sacred to the memory of Catherine, the beloved wife of Samuel Treleaven, of this city, who died the 11th January, 1840, aged 57.” An unusual name is that of Melony Snelling, of this city, widow, who died 24th August, 1822, aged 90. And of John Cox it is said : “A truly honest man, who died 21st January, 1812, aged 77.” There is a large table tomb belonging to the Bowring family; over the inscriptions is cut the following : - “Hope sweetly wipes the tear that wets the eye,” and on the end of the same “Sacred to friendship, John Hutchings, of this city, banker, died 4th September, 1816, aged 46. Oh! why has worth so short a date?”
Some of the graves in this cemetery are covered in a great mass of the twining stems and beautiful white flowers of the great Bindweed, so much so that one large tomb with its enclosing iron railings is completely hidden, justifying in this particular its botanical name the Calystegia sepium, the generic name being derived from two Greek words signifying “beautiful covering.” Many of the stones are broken and others beyond recognition from the influence of the weather and their mossy coverings, also so that the growth of the trees and shrubs has masked many of them. One regrets the obliteration of these ancient records, but as time goes on there appear to be no living members of the families interested enough in their restitution. Alas! alas!
There are peculiarities in the record of the Towgood family which stands thus : “Sacred to the memory of Mary wife of the Rev. Micajah Towgood who departed this life February, 1759. Also of Mary daughter of the said Micaiah and Mary Towgood, who departed this life March, 1771. Also of the said Rev. Micaiah Towgood, who departed this life February, 1792.
“Susanna Towgood, daughter of the above, died 2nd April, 1805, aged 71.”
In the first place Micaiah is spelt with a j, and afterwards with I, and in the first three notices of death the day is omitted, and the month only stated. In the last, of Susanna Towgood, the day of the death is mentioned as is now the usual custom.
In all probability the title of “Saints’ Rest”, attached to this little burial plot, is a Presbyterian one, as in the Cromwellian occupation of Exeter in the 17th century the corporate body and many of the leading citizens were of this persuasion.
Collectors of Exeter theological literature will have become acquainted with a fierce controversy of the last century known as “The Exeter Controversy”. William Gifford, of the “Quarterly Review,” says in his autobiography that “it was the exclusive study of the master to whom when a boy, between 1770 and 1778, he was apprenticed, and who was a Presbyterian.” G.T. August, 1888.
The Western Times | Thursday 22nd April 1880
The Hookers of Heavitree are perhaps best known locally for the influential theologian Richard Hooker (1554-1600) who is commemorated with a statue in front of Exeter Cathedral. Burial records for the Dissenters' graveyard show a number of Hookers to have been interred over the period 1753 to 1848, although no memorial stones remain. On Monday 19th April 1880, a distinguished visitor - Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker FRS, was reported to have visited "Saints' Rest". Sir Joseph was a close friend of Charles Darwin and of the eminent Victorian plant collector Sir Joseph Banks.
Parts of the article (right) have been transcribed and appear below.
SIR JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, C.B.
This distinguished gentleman, Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, at Kew, and who for many years was President of the Royal Society, paid a visit to this city on Monday, accompanied by his cousin, the Rev. G.F. Newman, of Crediton. Sir Joseph is from an old Exeter family, his grandfather having been born at Heavitree, and was a descendant of John Hooker the first Chamberlain of the city, whose portrait hangs up in the Council Chamber of the Guildhall. His father, the late Sir William Jackson Hooker, made the name illustrious in Botany, was the first Director of Kew Gardens, and is the author of some of the most celebrated works in Botany in our language. In 1839 Sir Joseph was appointed botanist of the Antarctic voyage of exploration under the command of Sir James Clarke Ross, the result of which may be found in the "Flora Antarctica", the "Flora Novae Zealandiae" and the "Flora Tasmanica", six 4to. volumes......
......Sir Joseph first went to the Guildhall to see the portrait of his ancestor.....Afterwards Sir Joseph and his cousin visited the Museum, in Queen-street.....The Museum highly pleased him, and he pronounced it one of the best he had seen. He then went to the Cathedral - to the houses in which his relatives lived - to George's meeting in which they worshipped, and to the Saints' Rest in which they were buried.......
The Hookers of Heavitree are perhaps best known locally for the influential theologian Richard Hooker (1554-1600) who is commemorated with a statue in front of Exeter Cathedral. Burial records for the Dissenters' graveyard show a number of Hookers to have been interred over the period 1753 to 1848, although no memorial stones remain. On Monday 19th April 1880, a distinguished visitor - Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker FRS, was reported to have visited "Saints' Rest". Sir Joseph was a close friend of Charles Darwin and of the eminent Victorian plant collector Sir Joseph Banks.
Parts of the article (right) have been transcribed and appear below.
SIR JOSEPH DALTON HOOKER, C.B.
This distinguished gentleman, Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, at Kew, and who for many years was President of the Royal Society, paid a visit to this city on Monday, accompanied by his cousin, the Rev. G.F. Newman, of Crediton. Sir Joseph is from an old Exeter family, his grandfather having been born at Heavitree, and was a descendant of John Hooker the first Chamberlain of the city, whose portrait hangs up in the Council Chamber of the Guildhall. His father, the late Sir William Jackson Hooker, made the name illustrious in Botany, was the first Director of Kew Gardens, and is the author of some of the most celebrated works in Botany in our language. In 1839 Sir Joseph was appointed botanist of the Antarctic voyage of exploration under the command of Sir James Clarke Ross, the result of which may be found in the "Flora Antarctica", the "Flora Novae Zealandiae" and the "Flora Tasmanica", six 4to. volumes......
......Sir Joseph first went to the Guildhall to see the portrait of his ancestor.....Afterwards Sir Joseph and his cousin visited the Museum, in Queen-street.....The Museum highly pleased him, and he pronounced it one of the best he had seen. He then went to the Cathedral - to the houses in which his relatives lived - to George's meeting in which they worshipped, and to the Saints' Rest in which they were buried.......
LINKS
Exeter Memories - an online resource of historic photographs, reports and items about Exeter and the surrounding area. Click here for information about the Exeter Dissenters' Graveyard.
Devon Family History Society - information and records for genealogist and social historian with an online shop where CDs and books may be purchased. Records of non-conformist burials are available in the Deanery of Christianity: The City of Exeter CD (click here).
Devon Gardens Trust
Exeter City Council
Exeter Civic Society
Exeter Historic Buildings Trust
Exeter Local History Society
Friends of Gulliford Burial Ground
St Leonards Neighbourhood Association
Historic England - advice on caring for cemeteries and burial grounds and the conservation of monuments.
Exeter Memories - an online resource of historic photographs, reports and items about Exeter and the surrounding area. Click here for information about the Exeter Dissenters' Graveyard.
Devon Family History Society - information and records for genealogist and social historian with an online shop where CDs and books may be purchased. Records of non-conformist burials are available in the Deanery of Christianity: The City of Exeter CD (click here).
Devon Gardens Trust
Exeter City Council
Exeter Civic Society
Exeter Historic Buildings Trust
Exeter Local History Society
Friends of Gulliford Burial Ground
St Leonards Neighbourhood Association
Historic England - advice on caring for cemeteries and burial grounds and the conservation of monuments.