Were you at the Swan Fair in 1988?
Swan on the River Exe
Photo by Rowena Jay. Copyright © Rowena Jay.
Research for a community pageant in Exwick
By Janet Gale
This is some information that I gathered while working on a project with the Wren Trust back in 1988. We put on a pageant in Exwick, which involved the whole community in one way or another - called "The Swan Fair". I researched the area and individuals, wrote short stories and plays to include some of the past history.
Exwick
"The dairy farm by the Exe" is the translation of Exwick. Today there is little rural flavour about the settlement as its older parts have been invaded by a massive modern housing develpment. One wonders what would have been selected if it had been left up to man to baptise the area: perhaps "Exwimp" of "Bovishills" may have been invoked.
The pastures of Exwick must have frustrated those who tended them. The hillside almost cliff like, while the land beside the Exe was too flat, poorly drained and frequently flooded. Those who lived there were aware of these shortcomings and sited their cottages on the valley side. Down the years this has not prevented flood waters penetrating any of the barriers put in the way.
Two other hamlets, which were also in the parish of St Thomas, were Foghay 1/2 mile to the north and Foxhayes 1/4 mile to the south. Foghay has disappeared in the mists of time, but Foxhayes has grown.
It is not surprising that with so much water flowing past Exwick that it should once have had so many water driven mills. For several centuries it has been the provider of flour for Exeter's millers. Until the late 1980s/early 1990s it still produced bread in the form of a modern bakery, now a housing development called "The Bakery". Exwick flour mill was built in 1886 to use newly invented machinery, but closed in 1958 to become a store. Lower Exwick Mill was originally called Hitchcock, Maunders and Co. who were woollen manufactures, and its workers probably drank at the Lamb Inn (now the Village Inn) which still thrives. The Mill then housed a steam laundry, but was demolished in the 1980s to make way for another housing development.
The scene at Exwick has changed considerable in recent years. A large drainage dyke helps to prevent flooding and provids a facility for model power boats, fishing and windsurfing. Ironically the former leat beside the bakery was filled to allow a new one to be excavated. It was originally roped to extend the Exeter Canal to Crediton and then on to west Devon. The Valley of the Yeo of Creedy (means winding) would have provided a natural corridor. This canal was dug for about 1/2 mile towards Exwick, from a point known as Flowerpot, but canal mania wained and the project was abandoned.
it is unlikely that Exwick will ever experience the terrible floods it endured in the past as the various flood prevention schemes seem to cope with any excess waters. The only tangible loss to the community (temporarily) were Exwick Playing Fields which had several sports pitches and were sacrificed to alleviate human misery resulting from the regular inundations.
Happily now the playing fields have returned, sports nets are once again in place and Exwick is safe from the perils of flooding.
The Curator of West Exe adds:
Did you take part in The Swan Fair in June 1988?
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