St Sidwells
Encyclopedia
St Sidwells is an area east of Exeter
city centre in the ward of Newtown
. Formerly a village in its own right, St Sidwells grew in importance along with Exeter thanks to its location on the main cart track between Exeter and the high ground of Stoke Hill and the rich farmland of East Devon
.
The wells of St Sidwells were initially tapped by the Romans
for the needs of the city and their water piped via wooden aqueduct
s to supply their citadel. This system became the underground passages of the 13th century and which were only turned off in 1902.
St Sidwells also has its own saint, the devout young girl murdered by a jealous stepmother and whose place of death became the site of the pure spring of St Sidwells.
The parish is mentioned in an 1865 edition of Charles Dickens
' magazine All the Year Round
:
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
city centre in the ward of Newtown
Newtown, Exeter
Newtown is an area of Exeter between St Sidwells and Heavitree and has been an area for the poor since Saxon times. A workhouse was built in 1671 on a site currently used as a car park, but Newtown remained largely rural up until the 19th century...
. Formerly a village in its own right, St Sidwells grew in importance along with Exeter thanks to its location on the main cart track between Exeter and the high ground of Stoke Hill and the rich farmland of East Devon
East Devon
East Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Sidmouth, and the largest town is Exmouth.The district was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Honiton with the urban districts of Budleigh Salterton, Exmouth, Ottery St. Mary, Seaton, Sidmouth...
.
The wells of St Sidwells were initially tapped by the Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
for the needs of the city and their water piped via wooden aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
s to supply their citadel. This system became the underground passages of the 13th century and which were only turned off in 1902.
St Sidwells also has its own saint, the devout young girl murdered by a jealous stepmother and whose place of death became the site of the pure spring of St Sidwells.
The parish is mentioned in an 1865 edition of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' magazine All the Year Round
All the Year Round
All the Year Round was a Victorian periodical, being a British weekly literary magazine founded and owned by Charles Dickens, published between 1859 and 1895 throughout the United Kingdom. Edited by Dickens, it was the direct successor to his previous publication Household Words, abandoned due to...
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