For those who don’t want to contend with the hustle and bustle of Exeter’s busy High Street and want a different shopping experience where staff know you by name - be it whether you’re in the cafe, bank or opticians - the place to head is St Thomas Shopping Centre.
For local residents its vast collection of businesses, many of which are independents, means they have everything they could need right on their doorstep.
It is also unique in it is home to such a random mixtures of shops. The area has forged its own identity, quite separate from the city centre just a short walk away and it’s why you’ll find many shoppers who won’t move from the area.
Although they have seen shops come and go, including the controversial loss of one of its banks, it still offers a personal shopping experience or social afternoon you don’t get in the city’s bigger shopping centres.
In The Coffee Shop is where you’ll often find 93-year-old Hazel Mitchell enjoying a cup of tea and a natter.
She has lived in the same house in St Thomas for the past 48 years, but her links with the area go back way beyond that.
She recalled: “I have more or less lived in St Thomas since I was born. It’s the community I love.
“I use the post office every week and I often come in this coffee shop. I suppose St Thomas has changed quite a bit. I remember when there were shops either side of the bridge.
“Everyone says hello and you get used to seeing the same people all the time.”
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Hazel is often joined by her daughter Debbie Kidd, 60, who is equally enthusiastic about the shopping centre, despite now living in a different area of Exeter.
She said: “You don’t need to go into town as you’ve got everything here. There’s even free parking for a couple of hours.
“It’s the best area in Exeter, even better than Heavitree, but people this side of the river always think that.”
Hungry shoppers often descend upon The Crusty Cob which although has seen a few name changes it has always had a reputation for serving good quality homemade food.
However, trade has recently been impacted on by the opening of chain bakery Greggs in the shopping centre.
The Crusty Cob was established in 1969 and has nine shops across Devon and Somerset.
Kelly Pickwick-Tubb, who has been manager of The Crusty Cob for 15 years, said: “Everything in here is home baked and the bread is fresh daily and has no sugar in it.
“We have lots of regulars but we have lost customers since Greggs’ came along. We used to be really, really busy and since we also lost HSBC that’s when we also lost a lot of business. Now we’ve lost the Halifax which is another hit. We’re losing things little by little and the whole area has gone downhill. People used to do their banking here and then go into town but now they have to do it in town.
“But we still have our regulars who come in every day and sit outside for hours on end. They pretty much come in and have the same thing.
“It’s good fun working here because we have banter with the customers and get to know what they want and they like which is why they come back.”
When it comes to pubs in St Thomas, they have not always had the best reputation but times have certainly changed at what is now known as The Lucombe Oak. And that’s all thanks to new owner Lars Lauridsen who reopened the pub in May 2017 following a £100,000 refurbishment, and has succeeded in turning it back into a community pub which is suitable for all ages.
“We have a very diverse community here so we get all ages," he said. "The main age range is 18 up to 90 years old.
“There’s a lot of history here. I love it.”
Lars previously worked at the pub when it was known as The Longbrook. He renamed renamed the pub The Lucombe Oak in honour of William Lucombe, a nurseryman who gave his name to the famous tree. He bred his eponymous oak at his nursery in St Thomas, now Pinces Gardens, which he founded in 1720, and was the first commercial nursery in the South West.
The name change also meant the pub lost its connection with General Buller in tribute to General Sir Redvers Henry Buller, of Downes House, near Crediton.
The British Army officer, who was born in 1839 and died in 1908, received the Victoria Cross – the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Many of its customers can tell you exactly where and when the historic pictures which hang on its walls in tribute to the changing face of St Thomas were taken.
Born and bred in St Thomas is Robin Kelly, 54.
He said: “I love it here. It’s all on a flat level and everything is within walking distance. It has good shops and has the best service.
“When I first started drinking in this pub it was called The Valiant Soldier and back then it had a bar the length of the pub and in the middle there used to be toilets.
“I mostly drink in this pub. I’ve just been here so long I feel like part of the furniture. But I occasionally drink in The King’s Arms. I also liked the Winchester Club but it’s not the same in there anymore.”
Another popular cafe is Apple Blossom Cafe in Cowick Street. It was opened in July 2014 by 33-year-old Jason Turton from Exeter with funding and support from SWIG Start Ups.
Among its many regulars is 80-year-old Michael Wellaway. He lives in St Thomas and comes in every day without fail for his lunch because he now lives on his own.
He said: “I’m in here every day for the company and the food. I’m on my own so I just come in here. I always have lunch as there is a good variety and they have main meals. I spend a lot of time in here.
“St Thomas is a friendly place and everyone knows everyone.”
Shopping history of St Thomas
Its name derives from either the Saxon word ‘coic’ meaning converging routes or more simply ‘cow-farm’ — ‘wick’ meaning farm.
Cowick Street’s unusual straightness between the railway bridge and Old Vicarage Road suggests the street may even have been laid by the Romans. And the history doesn’t stop there.
When Exeter signed up on Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads’ side in the English Civil War, Royalist forces besieged the city. Numerous buildings in Cowick Street were fortified during the siege which ended when the Royalists captured Exeter.
Cowick Street made a name for itself as a depository for wrongdoers with many troublemakers having been incarcerated in the Sheriff’s Ward — near the current St Thomas Shopping Centre — since Norman times.
Between 1675 and 1855, this became the debtor’s prison for Devon, with two jails — the first, notorious for its filthiness — existing on the site during this period. Conditions were harsh with inmates reliant on the goodwill of their friends and relatives for food.
The Bridewell, on the other side of the street, dealt with correction for women. The facade of the prison is still visible on Cowick Street today.
The industrial age brought many changes with a fire station — now home of the Age Concern charity — opening in 1889 and a tram route running into the street in 1905. A still bigger transformation was to occur in the early 1960s, when a road widening scheme led to Exeter’s biggest demolition programme since the 1942 Blitz.
Many of Cowick Street’s oldest buildings were demolished. But despite this, Cowick Street remains a sterling example of Exeter’s effortless ability to flourish in the 21st century while retaining clear visible examples of its proud historical legacy.
The seed merchant and millers, French's owned the block of buildings between the railway viaduct and Buller Road, and from the rope walk to Cowick Street, including the Turk's Head and Moreton Arms.
Here they ran an animal feed mill and seed store; the site also contained Barton Motors and the Exeter Munitions Company, in Buller Road, which started up for the war effort and continued after hostilities ceased making large valves for the gas industry. The whole block was demolished in 1970 for the St Thomas Shopping Centre, developed by Gateway.
Having lived in the area for so many years, Michael has seen his fair share of changes.
He recalled: “The road where the café is has changed. At one time there were six pubs in this street and they all made a living.”
However, not all residents are happy with the new face of St Thomas.
Jenny Perry, who can regularly be seen sweeping outside the front of her home by St Thomas Library said: “It used to be shopping centre. Now it’s got nothing but take-aways. It’s horrible. I could cry and cry because it’s awful what they’ve done to this place. To see it all go breaks my heart.
“I love the little butchers who is now giving vegetables a go. If you try and find a fresh vegetable shop now it’s near on impossible.
“Brunel’s bridge is the most important thing here and yet it’s horrible down there. It could have been a beautiful market.”
