Exwick is an historic

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

and manor 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, which today is a north-western suburb of the

City of 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 ...

. Its name is derived from 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 ...

, which forms its eastern boundary. It is also an Ecclesiastical parish and an electoral ward. Mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, it was the site of farms, orchards and mills. Exwick meaning farm by the river Exe. Exeter from Exwick 1750

Being on the edge of the Exe floodplain, mill industries were important in Exwick. A

leat A leat (; also lete or leet, or millstream) is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond. Othe ...

from the Exe was dug before the Doomsday book was compiled. Other industries formerly in the area include clothmaking, aeroparts and baking. Manufacture of

wooden flooring Wood flooring is any product manufactured from timber that is designed for use as flooring, either structural or aesthetic. Wood is a common choice as a flooring material and can come in various styles, colors, cuts, and species. Bamboo flooring ...

continues to this day. There were a number of large houses in the area including Cleve House which became a Guide Dogs for the Blind training centre in the 1950s. Later it became private houses and the site of a new primary school. The Mallet family bought Exwick Mill. Another important family with an Exwick Connection were the Gibbs. Andrew Gibbs from Clyst St Mary in Exeter, following several adventures, was involved in setting up the

Antony Gibbs & Sons Antony Gibbs & Sons was a British trading company, established in London in 1802, whose interests spanned trading in cloth, guano, wine and fruit, and led to it becoming involved in banking, shipping and insurance. Having been family-owned via a ...

cloth business in 1778. William Gibbs paid to make Exwick a separate parish from St Thomas and extend the Chapel of ease into the full church of St. Andrews. The area is often used as a location for painters to look back at Exeter, including Frances Towne in 1773 and

J. M. W. Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbul ...

in 1811. The

murder of Kate Bushell Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

, one of Britain's most high-profile unsolved murders, occurred in Exwick in November 1997.

Public transport

Public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

in Exwick is limited to

buses A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

, operated by Stagecoach Devon, and taxis. The bus services are the E, F1 and F2. Railway services are provided at Exeter St Davids station.

Kate Bushell murder

A high-profile, random murder of a child occurred in Exwick in 1997, which today remains one of the UK's highest-profile unsolved murders. 14-year-old Kate Bushell, a pupil at what is now West Exe School, had her throat cut by an unidentified attacker while walking her dog along Exwick Lane on 15 November 1997. Despite the police insisting the killer must be local and repeatedly appealing for locals to come forward with information on ''

Crimewatch ''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was o ...

'', the attacker has never been identified. There remains a £10,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the killer.

Gallery

File:Ashleigh Close - Exwick.JPG, Ashleigh Close, on the outskirts of Exwick File:St Andrew's Church, Exwick - geograph.org.uk - 1452146.jpg, St Andrew's Church

References

{{reflist Areas of Exeter Former manors in Devon