Bovisand
Bovisand maps (2 available)
Map of Devon
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Bovisand books (17 available)
Bovisand memories
Read and share memories of Bovisand and Devon inspired by Frith photos
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You can also read memories of nearby places in Devon below.
Devon memories
A very new Broadway
In 1962 my parents and I (12 years old) moved from Bristol to open Victoria Wine (later to become the Wine Market before reverting back to Victoria Wine). There were still several empty units awaiting occupation. I can recall most of the shops that were open, starting at the fire station end was James & Rosewell hardware, a ladies hairdresser, Lloyds? Bank, newsagent, service road, Barclays Bank, ladies & childrenswear, coffee bar (bane of our lives with noisy motor bikes racing around every night), South Devon Textiles, Co-op, Midland? Bank, Sharp & Savage TV, our shop, Dingles foodshop. Mays florist, Millbay laundry, Widgers decorators, Dewhurst, Pearkes grocery, Lockharts hardware then lastly was Fine Fare which was one of the first ...read more here
A memory of Plymstock contributed by First name Last name
HMS Impregnable 1891
My great grandfather, George Jarvis, served on HMS Impregnable in Devonport according to the 1891 census at the age of 16. He went on to become a petty officer in the Navy.
George Henry Finch
My Great, Great Grandfather served on this ship several times as a signalman ending in 1889 as 2nd Yeoman.
Ian Finch, Truro, Cornwall
ifinch@brannel.cornwall.sch.uk
A memory of Devonport contributed by Ian Finch
HMS Imgregnable
My Great Great Grandfather Frederick George Rivers served and trained on this ship from 1886 to 1887, and trained on another 5 ships in Devonport between 1881 and 1891. Including HMS Duke of Wellington, HMS Rupert and HMS Northampton. He served on his first ship at the age of 16.
A memory of Devonport contributed by David Phillips
Extracts From Bovisand & Devon books
This view was taken from the building at the very end of Morton Crescent. To the immediate left is the Imperial Hotel,
seen in its original architectural design, changed now after the fire in the 1970s.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
By the middle of the 20th
century we see something
resembling the modern
scene. There is the more
familiar red telephone
box on the traffic island,
a modern post box, and
Belisha beacons to aid
pedestrians wishing to
cross the road. In the
centre of the photograph
is the white tower of the
Pavilion Theatre. Much of
the street furniture was
removed by the start of
the 21st century, leaving
a more traffic-dominated Esplanade.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
The construction of a substantial
sea wall, seen here in section to the
right, led to Exmouth’s prosperity
as a seaside resort. Before the
wall was built, much of the sea
front was marshland and sand
dunes, and subjected to constant
flooding. The first section of the
wall was completed in 1842, paid
for by the local landowner John
Rolle. It was 1,900 feet long and
constructed from Devon limestone.
The designer was John Smeaton, a
veteran engineer and the designer
of London Bridge.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
This fine view looks across the
clock tower and Morton Crescent
to the estuary of the River Exe, with
Starcross and the Haldon Hills in
the distance.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
The wall was designed to deflect the waves that so often come up the English Channel from the south-west on stormy days.
This scene has changed little in fifty years, though now a shelter from the wind stands on the position of the nearest bench
in the photograph. It was donated by local resident William Frederick Stokes in 1964.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".