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"ST. LEONARD'S CHURCH occupies an elevated and pleasant situation at Mount Radford, on the south side of Exeter, and has in its parish several handsome villas and rows of houses, and the Deaf and Dumb Institution. The old church was very ancient, but the present fabric, which occupies its site, is a handsome Grecian structure, which was erected in 1833, and has a lofty portico over the principal entrance, supported by two massive columns. It cost about £1400, but was enlarged in 1843, at an additional expense of about £800, of which £500 was given by Sir Thos. Baring, Bart., who owns most of the parish, and whose family were formerly seated at Larkbear and Mount Radford House, the former of which was for many ages the seat of the Hulls; and the latter was built in the 16th century by Matthew Radford, Esq., and was made a garrison in the siege of 1643, when three pieces of ordnance were planted in it by the Parliamentary Governor of Exeter. It was afterwards a royal garrison, and was surrendered to Sir Thomas Fairfax, in 1646. The church was fortified at the same unhappy period, and suffered much during the last siege. The rectory, valued in K.B. at £4. 19s. 4½d., and in 1831 at £195, is in the patronage of the Executors of S. Wills, Esq., and incumbency of the Rev. G.W.B. Wills, M.A. The parish comprises only 80 acres, and 1129 souls, and is all in the Parliamentary Borough of Exeter." [From White's Devonshire Directory (1850)]
Select map to view parish
boundaries in detail.
MIs for this parish are included in the Devon FHS index - see under Cemeteries on the main Devon page.
Exeter City Council's Bereavement Services Alphabetical Index Cards - relating to over 100,000 burials at Exwick, Higher and Topsham cemeteries.
Church website.
Hughes, T.C. Rectors of St Leonards, Exeter, since the Commonweath. Trans. Devon Assoc. 44 (1913) pp.547-560.
Venn, Gilbert St. Leonard's. Exeter: Civic Society, 1982. - 48p. - (Discovering Exeter; 2). [Exeter Univ. Library]
Transcripts of the Parish Registers going back to 1704 are held in a special collection in the Westcountry Studies Library - for details see Parish Registers in the Devon & Cornwall Record Society's Collection.
The Devon FHS publishes indexes covering (as of June 2004): Marriages 1754-1837, Burials 1780-1837 - for details see their book list.
Entered into the IGI (as of Jan 1993): Parish Church Christenings 1704-1837 and Marriages 1708-1837.
The Deanery of Christianity [The City Of Exeter] - Baptisms 1813-1840, Marriages 1561-1837 and Burials 1770-1904. CD018, Devon Family History Society (2008). [An index of baptisms, marriages and burials in the parishes of Allhallows Goldsmith Street, Allhallows on the Walls, Bedford Precinct, Exeter Cathedral, Holy Trinity, St. David, St. Edmund, St. George, St. John, St. Kerrian, St. Lawrence, St. Leonard, St. Martin, St. Mary Arches, St. Mary Major, St. Mary Steps, St. Olave, St. Pancras, St. Paul, St. Petrock, St. Sidwell, St. Stephen and Heavitree St. Michael & All Angels. With burials from Bow Meeting House, Castle Street Independent Chapel, George Meeing House (Presbyterian), Mint Meeting House (Presbyterian), Mint Methodist Chapel and South Street Baptist Church. Photographs of the churches and extracts from White's Devonshire Directory 1850] [Details]
Venn, Gilbert. St Leonards (Discovering Exeter No. 2, (1982) [Devon FHS Library p942.35/EXE]
The transcription of the section for this parish from the National Gazetteer (1868), provided by Colin Hinson.
St Leonards - a Short History, from the exeter memories website.
Dymond, Robert History of the suburban parish of St. Leonards, Exeter. Exeter: Townsend, 1873[Exeter Univ. Library]
Roach, A.E. Eight Hundred Years at St Leonard's, Exeter. (1967) [Westcountry Studies Library]Find help, report problems, and contribute information.
Last updated 9 Feb 2012 - Brian Randell.
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