Census help needed.

The 1901 census now allows you to look up an address. But I can't find
the one I'm looking for.

The address is: 33 Lower North Street, St. David's, Exeter, Devon.

I have a copy of the OS map for Exeter dated 1904 (purchased from
to everyone) and the building, I know to be No.33 at least by 1930, is
clearly shown. As the buildings were at lest 400 years old I can't
understand the ommission.

On the back of the map is an extract from Besley's Directory of Exeter
1906. This lists numbers 1 to 18, the St.Ann's Brewery, numbers 27 to
29a, a message "Here is St.David's Place", then numbers 35 to 40.

Now, this "St.David's Place" is the mystery. It falls right where
30-33 Lower North Street should be, But the real St.David's Place is
quite some distance away.

Jo Taylor...

This one caught my eye as I nearly bought 11 Lower North Street some years
ago!
When I knew it the area was a jumble of very old buildings and alleys on two
levels, the former St Anne's Well Brewery and its yard occupying quite a lot
of it - it looks much neater on maps. What you see on a map as Lower North
Street is actually the Iron Bridge. The seven 18th century houses of Lower
North Street are underneath on one side on ground level, with the road going
overhead on the bridge. There's a gap where a pub once stood which was burnt
down. On an intermediary level is a 17th century farmhouse with a parvis -
lovely building. Opposite these buildings is Exe Street, once a jumble of
ancient buildings, now "redeveloped", but with the old cemetery and
catacombs on the SE side. There may have been a few numbered buildings on
that side. St David's Place isn't far away - it's on the same side as Exe
St., leading off Dinham Road, but it does dogleg back onto the main road a
bit further up the hill - perhaps there was another alley into it leading
off Lower North St. At the time this area of Exeter would have been a
heaving mass of small industry; house numbers would likely have changed.

I'm not sure how all this will help you if at all, but you could try the
Devon Rootsweb list (someone might have another directory) or the Genuki
pages.

Ye Old One...

Nice to see you know the area.

31-33 Lower North Street are the buildings set back and raised from
road level (almost to bridge level) on the right hand side (going away
from the city). All three houses form part of one original building
with some of their walls being very thick cob. Looking at them from
the road, number 33 is on the left, and included the projecting small
bedroom supported by columns which lies above the passage way which
leads to number 31 at the rear as well as access to the front doors of
32 and 33.

Jo Taylor...

Aha, that's the one I described as a C17 farmhouse with a parvis (the room
over the columns).

I was born in number 33 and lived there until I was 12. No indoor
toilet, tin bath, no hot running water.

Parts of the buildings were believed to be about 400 years old. I can
remember digging some history of the area when I was about 10 years
old. From the late 19th century the houses were owned by the Railway
and along with several other were rented to railway employees although
they were not tied houses.

Anyway, returning to the 1901 census, I think I'm going to have to
make the effort to look at the films. Online, I get hits for "North
Street Lower" but only for houses 1,2,3,4&5,6,50,51. Just seven in
total. It is also shown with a parish of St Pauls which is wrong, it
should be St. David's.

Jo Taylor...

I've had a look at the pages on Ancestry. RG13/2044 - 29
Page 50 has 43, 42, 41a St Davids Hill.
Page 49 has 9, 11&10, 12 North St Lower.
Page 48 has 16, 17, 18 North St Lower, St. Annes Well Brewery, 29, 29a North
St Lower and 4a St Davids Place.
Page 47 has 4,3,2,1a St Davids Place, 35, 35, 36 North St Lower (35 is there
twice with different occupants).

Ye Old One...

Not surprised with that, they are 3 story houses and go back some way
- as a result they are large and so could have been sub let to two
families. However, I'm not sure if there was a 34 there or not.

Page 46 has 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 40, 40 North St Lower.
Page 45 has yet another 40, but written as Lower North St then all numbers
from 24 down to 5 Attwills Almshouses.

I didn't go any further. The only references I can find to Attwills
Almshouses are on New North Road, perhaps they changed address later.

Ye Old One...

Don't think so, I used to visit an old family friend in one of those
when I was a child and they are fairly old.

11&10 are definitely two of the seven C18 terraced houses on ground level on
the right (facing away from the city), they're the ones I nearly bought, and
had been joined into one for a long time before. So the seven in that block
are 9, 11&10, 12, 16, 17, 18, then the brewery. Logically the next on the

Ye Old One...

Yes, so that takes us from Northernhay Street to the Brewery. I've
found out today that Northernhay St was the boundry at that time
between St.David's and St.Pauls.

enumerator's journey should be the house in question, but there, again, is

Ye Old One...

No, there should have been at least three more, 27,28,29 and 29a.

If I remember one of those had been pulled down before WWII. The north
side wall of 29 formed part of the side retaining wall for the front
garden of what I think was number 30 but may have been 32 - the south
wing of the big house so to speak. As you then walked up Lower North
Street, away from the city, you pass tall retaining walls in the
centre of which is a set of stone steps leading up to path and then
the passageway through to the back yard. Front doors for the North
Wing (definately number 33) and South Wing were in that passage way.
The front door to number 31 was in the yard and at the top of the yard
was the entrance to a very large garden which did contain the
foundations to the fourth property.

The more I look at it the more it looks like those four may have been
called St. David's Place.

the mysterious St Davids Place, on the wrong side of the road...

I think either a) the numbering of no. 33 took place post-1901, or b) it was
missed on the enumerator's route, easily done with the higgledy-piggledy
nature of the area. Perhaps he crossed the road after St Annes Well, and

Ye Old One...

No, if you think about it he could not have, apart from the entrance
to Exe Street there were just a couple of storage "arches" on the left
side until you reach the top of the road. It was all the stonework
leading to the Iron Bridge.

35 -40 were on the other side (can't think where else they'd fit in).

I think the best route to follow here is to contact the West Country Studies
library :
They've vast quantities of material, including numerous street directories -
I mapped the history of one Fore Street address there with great success.

Ye Old One...

Sounds like a good idea.

Ye Old One...

Thanks for the hard work Jo.

One day I'll get to the bottom of this :)

Can anyone help me find out where I'm going wrong?