Deb'n Tales

Stories about Starcross history are everywhere. They need writing down or recording, and then we'd be delighted to be allowed to publish them on here. Stories are great fun. They are often backed up with documents and/or photographs. Sometimes, they aren't completely factual; but they can often set the record straight.

A personal narrative brings history to life. So that you can appreciate what can be achieved, please listen to the 4 anecdotes about quarries in Devon  HERE. 

Thankyou for this picture to
http://demolition-exeter.blogspot.co.uk
/2010/10/st-catherines-almshouses-catherine.html

At least one old house in Starcross was built using stone quarried in Heavitree, Exeter. The stone is Red Sandstone, from the Heavitree breccia. Stonework which uses Heavitree breccia is quite distinctive, because the red is infilled with darker stone, which gives a typical, toned pattern. This pattern can be seen in

what remains of St Catherine's almshouses, in Exeter.  There was a Red Sandstone quarry nearer to Starcross than Heavitree; at Exminster.


Here's a case where personal narrative has set the record straight. Was The Swan of the Exe 

destroyed by fire sometime between the 2 World Wars? That's what we understood, but, NO. She definitely was not. Several local residents have been quick to explain that she was kept in the grounds of Regent House right up until the 1960s, where she was used as a summerhouse. Photographs exist...

And here's an evocative story - you can just picture the scene:
When the Cookson family, who owned  The Cygnet, 

Thankyou for this photo to
 Les Gibbings, via
http://www.syntagmamedia.com

(the tender to The Swan of the Exe) wanted to launch her, men would push her through Starcross with her head and neck lying inside the boat, because the railway arches over the slipways weren't high enough to allow her through into the river.
You can see the story is true, because in this photo, there's a line clearly visible just above the rope on the bow. This line must be the point where the head and neck were detached.













Another family of note in the history of Starcross was the Drew family. Descendants of the Drew family live in nearby Exeter. They are not related to the Drewes of Drewsteignton . John Drew lived at Kenbrook on The Strand in 1930, according to Kelly's Directory

When you go to that link, there's a picture of  "the old "Stair" crossing to Exmouth which gave its name to Starcross".

Thankyou http://www.devonheritage.org/Places/Kenton/
images/StarcrossOldStairCrossing.jpg for this photo

Which brings us to another story. In line with what is written on the link to Kelly's Directory (above), some local residents dispute that there ever was a stone cross at the ferry landing. 'Stairs Cross' simply meant the stairs where the crossing was. So, they say, it's no good us -  Starcross History - asking folk to keep a lookout for what's left of a (probably-wrecked-under-the-orders-of-Henry V111), 12th century stone cross, which might still lurk in the estuary silt; because there never was one. Well, that 'story' is in opposition to Captain George Peacock's account in Volume 15 (pub. 1888 by W Brendon and Son, 26, George St Plymouth) ) of The Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art. This clearly states that a stone cross was set up, by the Bishop of Sherborne, near the stone stairs, and that is how Stairs Cross was named.To check this, we might have to consult the archives of Sherborne Priory

Do you dispute anything written on this weblog? Or do you have any new stories to share about old Starcross? We would love to hear from you.