In 1774 a large portion of the castle ruins were cleared away, when
several interesting buildings were destroyed, among them the Chapel of
the Blessed Virgin, to make room for the present Assize Court, a plain
building with no pretensions to architectural beauty. On the right of
the castle yard is a little path leading to the top of the walls, whence
a comprehensive view of the city and the neighbourhood can be obtained.
Looking straight across the valley, beyond the county jail, one can see
the site of the ancient camp of the Danes, against whom Athelstan
built his fortifications, now occupied by the reservoir. At the foot of
the wall are the Northernhay Gardens, a favourite resort with youthful
Exonians. From Northernhay the old walls can easily be traced westwards,
and crossing Queen Street we may proceed down the narrow Maddocks Row to
find the wall pierced by the only archway now remaining. Continuing
westwards we cross North Street, where the old North Gate stood until it
was demolished in 1769. Entering Bartholomew Street East we are on the
ramparts again, and from the bastion near All-Hallows-on-the-Walls
Church we may look down upon the old Bartholomew burying-ground,
consecrated in 1639, and used as the principal city cemetery for nearly
two hundred years. The Church of All-Hallows-on-the-Walls is a modern
one that stands on the site of a more ancient edifice. From this point
one can see the tapering spire of St. Michael's Church, in the grounds
of Mount Dinham, where are the almshouses erected and endowed in 1860 by
John Dinham. Here are forty free cottages and episcopal charity schools,
the latter founded originally in 1709 by Bishop Offspring Blackall.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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