Livery Dole in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, Devon, is an ancient triangular site between what is today Heavitree Road and Magdalen Road, in the eastern suburbs of Exeter. It was most notoriously used as a place for executions, and has contained an almshouse and chapel since 1591.

Toponymy

The name "Livery Dole" is first recorded in a document of 1279 and probably derives from the Old English ''Leofhere'', a man who owned the land, and ''dole'', meaning a piece of land.

Place of execution

There were two places in Livery Dole used for executions. Until 1531, heretics were burned at the stake near the modern day junction of Magdalen Road and Barrack Road. From 1531 to 1818 hangings were performed on a site near College Avenue known as "Magdalen Drop". The most notable execution was the 1531 burning at the stake of the Protestant martyr Thomas Benet. Lighted

furze ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are na ...

was pushed into his face when he refused to deny as heresy his action of nailing on the west door of

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 140 ...

a message proclaiming the pope to be an Anti-Christ and rejecting his supremacy in religious affairs. In 1909 a monument in the form of an

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous ...

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

was erected to Benet's memory in nearby Denmark Road. This monument was designed by

Harry Hems Harry Hems (12 June 1842 – 5 January 1916) was an English architectural and ecclesiastical sculptor who was particularly inspired by Gothic architecture and a practitioner of Gothic Revival. He founded and ran a large workshop in Exeter, Devon ...

and was erected with money raised through public subscription. It also commemorates the martyrdom of

Agnes Prest Agnes Prest (died 15 August 1557) was a Cornish Protestant martyr from the reign of the Catholic Mary I of England, Queen Mary. She was burned at the stake at Southernhay in Exeter in 1557. According to ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs'', and the sto ...

who in 1557 was burnt for heresy at the stake in Southernhay. Two bronze sculpted

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

panels by

on the base of the obelisk depict Benet banging on the door of the Cathedral and Prest burning at the stake. The following inscriptions are contained on two bronze plaques affixed on opposite sides of the base:

"In grateful remembrance of Thomas Benet, M.A. who suffered at Livery Dole A.D. 1531 for denying the supremacy of the Pope and of Agnes Prest who suffered on Southernhay A.D. 1557 for refusing to accept the doctrine of Transubstantiation. Faithful unto death".

And:

"To the glory of God & in honour of his faithful witnesses who near this spot yielded their bodies to be burned for love to Christ and in vindication of the principles of the
Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
this monument was erected by public subscription AD 1909. They being dead yet speak".

According to Charles Worthy, in his ''History of the Suburbs of Exeter'' (1892), the iron ring which was placed around the victims' bodies and the chain which attached them to the stake were found in 1851 during rebuilding work on the almshouses.

Chapel and almshouses

Occupying the apex, or easternmost part, of the triangular site is the Chapel of

Saint Clarus According to late traditions, Saint Clair (Latin: ''Clarus'') was the first bishop of Nantes, France in the late 3rd century. Traditional account According to the traditional account, Clair was sent to Nantes by Pope Linus, the successor of St. ...

, an English missionary martyred in about 894 near the River

Epte The Epte () is a river in Seine-Maritime and Eure, in Normandy, France. It is a right tributary of the Seine, long. The river rises in Seine-Maritime in the Pays de Bray, near Forges-les-Eaux. The river empties into the Seine not far from Give ...

in Normandy. The present building made from red

Heavitree stone Heavitree stone is a type of breccia stone, red in colour, of very coarse texture and prone to weathering, which occurs naturally in the parish of Heavitree near the City of Exeter in Devon, England. It was quarried in the area from about 1350 to t ...

dates from a re-building of 1592 by Sir

Robert Dennis Robert Henry Dennis III (born May 1, 1975, in Harbel, Liberia) is a former Liberian sprinter. Dennis was once the Liberian National Record holder in the 200 meter (20.58) in Fairfax, Virginia in 1998. He is currently an attorney in Washingt ...

(died 1592) of

Holcombe Burnell Holcombe Burnell is a civil parish in Devon, England, the church of which is about 4 miles west of Exeter City centre. There is no village clustered around the church, rather the nearest village within the parish is Longdown. Only the manor ho ...

, but it was built originally between 1418 and 1439 to serve as a

chantry A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings: # a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or # a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...

in which to pray for the souls of persons executed on this spot. The chapter roll of 1439 mentions the Livery Dole Chapel as ''"Capella Sancti Clari extra portam australem infra parochiam de Hevetre"'' ("The Chapel of Saint Clarus outside the southern gate (of the City of Exeter) within the parish of

Heavitree Heavitree is a historic village and parish situated formerly outside the walls of the City of Exeter in Devon, England, and is today an eastern district of that city. It was formerly the first significant village outside the city on the road to ...

"). In the year 1418 however the chapel was not included amongst a deed of that date found in the 19th century amongst the records of Exeter City Corporation listing all the other chapels in Heavitree, namely St Clements and St Eligius. Sir Robert Dennis (1525–1592) of

and Bicton stated in his will dated 25 July 1592 and proved 22 September 1592, that he had "designed to set aside a plot of ground and to erect an alms-house and chapel for a certain number of poor people with weekly stipends and certain yearly commodities, as would appear in a devise signed and sealed by him". He appointed his son Sir Thomas Dennis as sole executor, with the testator's brothers Edward and Walter Dennis as overseers together with George Cary of Cockington and four others. He requested in his will that if he should die before its completion his son Sir Thomas Dennis should complete the building work "in consideration of the love he bore him and that he had not disinherited him". He also directed his overseers to complete the work if his son should refuse to do so. Sir Robert did indeed die before the work was finished, and his son Sir Thomas Dennis completed the work in 1594. A "peppercorn" chief rent of one penny per annum was payable by the Livery Dole Hospital to the lord of the manor of Heavitree. There is not the slightest doubt of this Sir Thomas Dennis having been the testator's son, yet on a seemingly contemporary stone tablet erected over the entrance to the formerly existing quadrangle he was erroneously described as Sir Robert's brother: ''"These alms-houses were founded by Sir Robert Dennis, knight, in March 1591 and finished by Sir Thomas Dennis his brother (sic) in 1594"''. The tablet contains also a heraldic escutcheon sculpted in relief showing the following ten quarterings of the Dennis family. The Dennis

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) was charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the medieval era. They were often targeted at the poor of a locality, at those from certain ...

s occupy the central part of Livery Dole to the west of the chapel.

Rolle family

In the 17th century the Rolle family of

Stevenstone Stevenstone is a former manor within the parish of St Giles in the Wood, near Great Torrington Great Torrington (often abbreviated to Torrington, though the villages of Little Torrington and Black Torrington are situated in the same r ...

was the heir of the Dennis family of Bicton.

Henry Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle Henry Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (7 November 1708 – 17 August 1750) of Stevenstone, Devon, was a British landowner and politician. Origins Rolle was the eldest son of John Rolle (1679–1730), Member of Parliament for Devon (who had declined the o ...

(1708–1750) left in his will an endowment to "The Hospital of Livery Dole". The almshouses were demolished and rebuilt in 1849 by Louisa, Lady Rolle (1794–1885), nee Trefusis, daughter of Robert George William Trefusis, 17th Baron Clinton (1764–1797), and widow of

John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1750 – 3 April 1842) was a British peer who served as a Member of Parliament in general support of William Pitt the Younger and was later an active member of the House of Lords. His violent attacks on Edmun ...

(died 1842) of

Bicton House Bicton House, or Bickton House, is a late 18th- or early 19th-century country house, which stands on the campus of Bicton College, Bicton, near Exmouth, East Devon. It is a Grade II* listed building. The park and gardens are Grade I listed i ...

. In his will Lord Rolle stipulated that "the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of the Livery Dole in Heavitree...shall be in the owner of my mansion house at Bicton", and he had left a life interest in that mansion to his widow. The original almshouses stood at the south-west side of the chapel, but the new buildings were positioned north-west of the chapel, which allowed space for lawns and gardens in front of them. Lady Rolle also rebuilt Bicton Church and Otterton Church. Following Lady Rolle's death in 1885 the patronage descended to Lord Rolle's residuary legatee, his widow's nephew Hon. Mark (Trefusis) Rolle (1836–1907), second son of Charles Trefusis, 19th Baron Clinton.

20th century

The windows of St Clarus's Chapel were destroyed by German bombing of Exeter in May 1942 during World War II. The chapel was restored by Mark Rolle's nephew and heir

Charles Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton Charles John Robert Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 21st Baron Clinton (18 January 1863 – 5 July 1957) was a British peer. Trefusis was the eldest son of the 20th Baron Clinton and his wife, Harriet. Educated at Oxford he played polo with ...

(1863–1957). The east window was rebuilt by him in 1946, and some mediaeval stained glass roundels from a tower in the demolished old Church at Bicton were inserted into the side windows in 1947. The almshouses were extended in 1980.

General Gordon Memorial

At the apex of the Livery Dole triangle, where the two roads meet, was formerly situated a

toll house A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road, canal, or toll bridge. History Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th an ...

. On that spot since 1885 and still standing today is a Victorian memorial lamp post bearing the inscription: "

Charles George Gordon Major-General Charles George Gordon CB (28 January 1833 – 26 January 1885), also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British Army officer and administrator. He saw action in the Crimean War as an officer in ...

, 26th January 1885". It was erected in memory of General Gordon who was killed in the Siege of Khartoum in 1885, and paid for by Prebendary Barnes, vicar of

, who was a friend of the General's. File:DenysArms1849LiveryDole.JPG, 1849 sculpted escutcheon of arms of Denys of

& Bicton on the new Livery Dole Almshouses. File:ArmsOfDenysOfBicton.PNG, Arms of Denys: ''Ermine, three battle-axes gules'' File:DenysQuarteringsLiveryDole.JPG, Stone tablet dedicated to Sir Robert Dennis, with Denys arms and quarterings above File:DenysArmsLiveryDole.JPG, Heraldic quarterings of Sir Robert Dennis on stone escutcheon at Livery Dole File:RolleTrefusisMatch1849LiveryDole.JPG, 1849 sculpted escutcheon on the new Almshouses showing ... File:RolleArms.png, dexter: arms of Rolle,

impaling Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, is the penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by the complete or partial perforation of the torso. It was particularly used in response to "crimes aga ...

... File:Trefusis arms.svg,

sinister Sinister commonly refers to: * Evil * Ominous Sinister may also refer to: Left side * Sinister, Latin for the direction " left" * Sinister, in heraldry, is the bearer's true left side (viewers' right side) of an escutcheon or coat of arms; see ...

: arms of Trefusis.

Notes

References

;Sources *Harding,Lt.-Col. William. "An Account of the Ecclesiastical Edifices of Exeter", published in ''Exeter Diocesan Architectural Association Transactions'', 1851–1853 and 1863, pp. 276–279 {{coord, 50.72196, N, 3.51027, W, display=title History of Exeter Buildings and structures in Exeter Almshouses in Devon