2026

Spellbound: Witchcraft in Exeter, 1558-1682

 
with Professor Mark Stoyle on Thursday, 9 April 2026
at 7pm at Leonardo Hotel Exeter [Jurys Inn Exeter Hotel]

The ancient city of Exeter is the last place in England where people are known to have been hanged for the supposed crime of witchcraft. The case of the three North Devon women who were executed here in 1682 - the so-called ‘Bideford Witches’ - is now deservedly well-known. Yet the fact that Exeter had a much longer history of witch-trials - and witch-executions - is usually forgotten. This talk told the stories of some of the unfortunate men and women who were denounced to the city magistrates as witches between 1558 and 1670: the period during which the great majority of witch-prosecutions occurred. Tracing a series of cases from accusation to trial, to sentence - and sometimes all the way up to the gallows itself - the talk shed powerful new light on occult belief in Tudor and Stuart Exeter, and on the dark, uneasy world of the urban ‘witch’.

Mark Stoyle is Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Southampton, and his research interests include witchcraft, Tudor rebellions, and the English Civil War. He has written many monographs and scholarly articles and his latest book - The Western Rising of 1549 - was published in paperback by Yale University Press in 2024. Mark has served on the council of the Royal Historical Society, on the advisory board of the Victoria County History, and on the editorial advisory panel of BBC History Magazine. He has also appeared on many radio and TV programmes.

“Lady Harriet’s American Adventure—1776-1778”

 
with Dr Robert Guyver on Thursday, 12 February 2026
at 7pm at Leonardo Hotel Exeter

Following a brief AGM of the Exeter Local History Society, Dr Robert Guyver gave an illustrated talk about Lady Harriet Acland and her American adventures.

Lady Harriet Acland (née Fox-Strangways) (1749-1815) was the daughter of Henry Fox (later Fox- Strangways), the 1st Earl of Ilchester.

On 7 January 1771, she married John Dyke Acland, heir to Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 7th Baronet. Her husband John was a Tory MP for Callington, whereas Lady Harriet came from a Whig family (Charles James Fox, the radical MP, was her first cousin). The couple would have three children: Elizabeth (Kitty), Theresa, and, later, John.

In April 1776, leaving her two daughters behind with her mother at Redlynch near Bruton, she accompanied her husband, a Major in the 20th Foot, and his regiment by troop ship to Canada. She witnessed two military campaigns: in 1776 and in 1777. She kept a journal, in which she recorded her amazing adventures.

Lady Harriet appears to have been an intrepid character. When her husband, John Dyke Acland, was wounded at the battle of Saratoga, Lady Harriet crossed the River Hudson at night, bearing a letter from British General Burgoyne to American General Gates, requesting access to her husband who had been wounded in both legs. Subsequently, John Dyke Acland was released and they were able to return home.

Our speaker is Dr Robert Guyver, a local historian and researcher, who might be familiar to the members from his fascinating talk about General Redvers Buller in November 2023.

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Exeter’s Guildhall and its Mace Sergeants from inception to the present day

 
with Jerry Glazier on Thursday, 8 January 2026
at 7pm at Leonardo Hotel Exeter [Jurys Inn Exeter Hotel]

There has been a Guildhall in Exeter since at least 1160, with the current building dating from 1330. The building has played a significant, multifunctional role in the city's development since medieval times. Undergoing a number of significant building upgrades, the Guildhall was able to better meet the enhanced demands placed upon it.

Mace Sergeants were appointed by the City Chamber, for the first time, in 1263, expressly to look after the Mayor and Courts in the city.

Jerry Glazier, a serving Mace Sergeant, talked about the Guildhall and the role of the Mace Sergeants, from their inception to the present day.

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“Stairway to the Stars”

 
by Jon Bell on Thursday, 12 March 2026
at 7pm at Leonardo Hotel Exeter

Jon Bell, an Exeter Redcoat Guide, presented a talk on the Golden Age of Cinema in Devon, focusing especially on Exeter.

This was the story of cinemas in Devon during their ‘golden age,’ roughly from the 1920’s to the 1960’s, with a bit of a glance at both earlier and later times.

The talk discussed the cinemas, the people who built them, the audiences, and some of the films they went to see.

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