Exeter, Devon : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Exeter. You may be able to find further references to Exeter in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Bedford Circus precinct and ecclesiastical district, in Exeter Bartholomew
BRADNINCH a precinct Imperial
Castle Yard precinct, in Exeter Bartholomew
CASTLE-YARD an extra-parochial place Imperial
Exeter county town of Devon, parliamentary and municipal borough, river-port, city, and county of itself Bartholomew
EXETER a city and a district Imperial
EXETER AND EXMOUTH RAILWAY a railway Imperial
EXE (The) a river Imperial

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Exeter within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
William Camden Cornwall and Devon 18
Daniel Defoe Letter 3, Part 3: From Exeter to Land's End 8
Robert Gammage Election to the Chartist National Convention in 1852 6
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Bristol to Plymouth 4
Charles Wesley May 17 - Aug. 28, 1743: Bristol to Newcastle, then Cornwall 3
Daniel Defoe Letter 4, Part 1: North Cornwall and Devon 3
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Lands End to Winchester 3
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Exeter to London 3
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Plymouth to Penzance 2
William Camden The Division of Britaine 1
Charles Wesley Jan. 1 - Aug. 31, 1746: Bristol and Cornwall 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 3: Norfolk and Cambridgeshire 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 2, Part 3: Hampshire and Surrey 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 5 (London), Part 1: Overview and Suburbs 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 6, Part 2: Oxford, Bristol and Gloucester 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 8, Part 1: The Trent Valley 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 8, Part 3: South and West Yorkshire 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 8, Part 4: Leeds and North Yorkshire 1
Robert Gammage Touring South Wales 1
John Wesley 1743: Wesley Refused Sacraments at Epworth; Cornwall and the Scilly Isles 1
John Wesley 1746-8: Severe Weather; Ireland; Wesley's Protest against Lawlessness 1
John Wesley 1760-2: Letter to an Editor; Impositions and Declarations; Speaking Statue; Pentecost 1
John Wesley 1781-4: An Ideal Circuit; Wesley in his Eighties; Wesley Visits Holland; Scotland 1
Thomas Pennant Tyringham to Woburn 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
St Leonard 0 1
Heavitree 0 2
Wonford 0 2
Whipton 0 2
Exwick 0 2
St Thomas 0 4
Countess Wear 1 2
Alphington 0 2
Pinhoe 0 2
Cowley 0 2
Bishops Clyst 0 1
Sowton 0 2
Brampford Speke 0 2
Topsham 7 2
Stoke Canon 0 2
Exminster 2 3
Ide 0 2
Huxham 0 2
Shillingford 0 2
Upton Pyne 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Exeter. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
BEDFORD CIRCUS John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
BRADNINCH John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
CAERISK William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CAERUTH William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CASTLE YARD John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
EXANCEASTER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
EXCESTER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
EXCETER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
EXE John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
EXETER John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
EXETER AND EXMOUTH RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
EXE THE John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
EXETTER Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
EXONIA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
ISC John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
ISCA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
ISCA DUNMONIORUM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
MONKETON William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
PENCAER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
THE EXE John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.