Sheepmarket

Sheepmarket (Fig. 138)

The name Sheepmarket is given to a long triangular area N. of the site of the castle (10) and partly overlying its outer defences. In the 18th century the sheep market was held at the top of Barn Hill (Ex. MS, 63/66) but in 1777 the inconvenience of this site caused the Council to seek a new one. A part of Castle Dyke was leased from the Earl of Exeter; it was levelled by William Clarke, and both Henry Tatam and John Dixon were asked to provide plans and estimates for the sheep pens, which were finally made by Dixon in 1781 (Hall Book 4, p. 62, 64, 99). Later in the same year the market was transferred to the new site from Barn Hill (Mercury, 25 Oct. 1781). In 1782 the Earl gave £100 towards the costs incurred (Exeter Day Books). The houses formerly on the N. side, being built in the yards of All Saints' Street tenements, were of low quality.

(433) House, No. 4, three storeys and cellar, coursed rubble walls with freestone quoins and dressings, is early 19th-century. The symmetrical three-bay front has narrow blind central window recesses. The entrance and staircase are central.

(434) Doorway, reset in wall of No. 9, two-centred, with moulded jambs and label, probably late 14th-century, provenance unknown.

(435) Golden Fleece Inn, No. 18, one storey and attics, coursed rubble walls with ashlar quoins and dressings, mansard roof, is late 18th or early 19th-century. The building has a class 8b plan and four-bay front elevation, triple-sash windows and wooden pedimented doorway.