Tuesday 22 May 2012

Limited, Exeter

The name of the company that owned the North Warehouse in Exeter was once painted on the outside wall. Yet contrary to the brick store on the opposite bank, where W. Hibberd & Co can still be read, there the ghost sign has faded too much to be legible.

The North Warehouse was built in the mid-19th century. It stands between the River Exe (on the pictures) and Exeter's Canal Basin and opens onto the latter. The basin opened in 1830, five years after work on the extension and widening of the Exeter Canal was completed.

In 1969 Exeter's Maritime Museum opened in the North Warehouse and the adjacent building but it closed down in 1997.


...

Unfortunately I haven't found any information about the previous occupiers of the building.


... Limited

Location: Haven Banks, Exeter, Devon / Pictures taken in April 2012

1 comment:

Robert Slack said...

I thought I might have solved the mystery of 'Limited, Exeter' today Sébastien, but sadly not.

I was browsing the book 'Victorian & Edwardian Devon - Photographic Memories' (Francis Frith/Martin Dunning) when I came across the photo 'In The Port 1896, Exeter' (Ref: 38035) (p.72). This photo shows the building in your photo which has the word 'Limited' painted on it. The photo as presented in the book clearly shows the painted text to have been at that time 'Wholesale Grocers & Importers of Sugar, Fruit & Newfoundland Fish'. So, as I say, the sign we (almost) see today was painted over the earlier sign shown in the photo of Francis Frith. And therefore we're none the wiser as to what was at one time 'Limited'. We can at least perhaps say what we believe to have been their trade.

Regards, Robert