StThomas'sChurch Exeter 1765Map BenjaminDonne

St Thomas (St Thomas the Apostle's) is an area of Exeter and formerly a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

and registration district in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, England, on the western side of the

River Exe The River Exe ( ) in England rises at Exe Head, near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It flows for 60 mile ...

, connected to Exeter by Exe Bridge. It has a number of pubs, places of worship, several schools and a large shopping precinct. The population, according to the 2001 census, is 6,246, increasing to 6,455 at the 2011 Census. St Thomas ward is currently politically represented by County and City Councillor, Rob Hannaford and City Councillor Adrian Fullam. It originally consisted of two detached parts, the main part of which was the former village of Cowick, to the west of the

. The urban area built up here but was not originally part of Exeter. The other part, about a mile to the west of the main body of the parish, contained the hamlet of Oldridge and was transferred to the parish of Whitestone in 1884. St Thomas the Apostle became an

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

in 1894 with the passing of the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

, and was incorporated into the

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

of Exeter in 1900. The name survives for the central area of Exeter west of the river. A St Thomas Rural District existed from 1894 to 1974. St Thomas is served by

Exeter St Thomas railway station Exeter St Thomas railway station is a suburban railway station in Exeter, England, serving the suburb of St Thomas and the riverside area. The station is elevated on a low viaduct with entrances on Cowick Street. It is down the line from a ...

Parish Church of St Thomas the Apostle

The parish church of St Thomas stands outside the city walls of Exeter, immediately to the south-west of the city and separated from it by the

. It is larger than any of the parish churches formerly encompassed by the city walls, thus within the city of Exeter proper. The mediaeval church burned down in 1645 during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, and was rebuilt before 1657. An arcade survives from the earlier church of 1412, but the present exterior is Gothic of 1646 with a north aisle of ''circa'' 1810 and a chancel of 1829. There are three varieties of Gothic style here, 17th century, Decorated (ca. 1810), and Perpendicular (Victorian). John Betjeman said little about it in his ''Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches: the South'' (1968): only "fittings".

Historic estates

Historic estates situated within the parish of St Thomas include: *Bowhay House located on Dunsford Road. *Cleve House, on Exwick Lane, seat of

Thomas Northmore Thomas Northmore (1766–1851) was an English writer, inventor and geologist. Origins He was born at Cleve in the parish of St Thomas, Exeter, St Thomas, Exeter, in Devon, the eldest son of Thomas Northmore of Cleve, by his wife Elizabeth Osgood ...

(c.1643-1713) a Barrister-at-Law, a Master in Chancery and a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

Okehampton Okehampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based in the town (east and west) ...

in Devon 1695-1708, whose monument survives in St Thomas's Church. * Cowick Barton located on Cowick Lane, formerly a Benedictine monastery *Hayes Barton, located at the junction of Flowerpot Lane and Okehampton Street, dating from the late 13th century. *

Floyer Hayes Floyer Hayes was an historic manor in the parish of St Thomas on the southern side of the City of Exeter in Devon, England, from which city it is separated by the River Exe.Risdon, 1811 Additions, p.374 It took its name from the ancient fam ...

for several centuries until the mid-1600s the seat of the Floyer family, located on the east side of Alphington Street.

Notable people

Walter Skinner FBI Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner is a fictional character portrayed by American actor Mitch Pileggi on ''The X-Files'' and its short-lived spin-off ''The Lone Gunmen'', both broadcast on Fox. In the science fiction-supernatural ...

(1913–1994), first-class cricketer

References

Genuki: ''St Thomas the Apostle''A Vision of Britain Through Time : ''St Thomas the Apostle Civil Parish''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Thomas, Exeter Areas of Exeter Former civil parishes in Devon