Livery Dole

Livery Dole is now a street and crossroads in the Heavitree area of Exeter in Devon, England. It was originally a triangle of land between what is now Heavitree Road, Polsloe Road and Magdalen Road. The name derives from the Old English "Leofhere", a man who owned the land, and dole, meaning a piece of land.

It is the site of the old Livery Dole almshouses and Chapel, which was founded March 1591, completed in 1594 and stand to this day [http://www.exetershop.co.uk/] .

Livery Dole also is notable for having a Victorian lamp post with an inscription written in memory of "Charles George Gordon, 26th January 1885". This was placed in memory of the famous British General Gordon who was killed in the siege of Khartoum in 1885. He was a friend of Heavitree vicar, Prebendery Barnes who paid for the memorial [http://www.exetermemories.co.uk/EM/_places/places.php] .

The area is now a place of bustling modern commerce, known for its shopping facilities and car dealerships.

Place of Execution

Livery Dole was a place of execution until 1818 when Samuel Holmyard was hung for passing a forged City Bank one pound note. [http://www.exetermemories.co.uk/EM/executed.php] People were executed here for crimes such as murder, treason, heresy or witchcraft. The most notable execution on the site was the burning of Protestant martyr Thomas Benet at the stake for his religious beliefs in 1531. Burning furze was pushed into his mouth when he refused to deny his heresy of nailing a message on Exeter Cathedral's west door proclaiming the pope to be an anti christ and rejecting his supremacy in religious affairs [http://www.exeterbeerglass.com/heavitree1.html] .

Two monuments were later erected to his memory, one at the Almshouses at Livery Dole and another, a pillar of Dartmoor Granite, in nearby Denmark Road [http://www.exetermemories.co.uk/em/_art/art_monuments.php] This monument was designed by a local man, Harry Hems, and was erected in 1909 with the money raised through public subscription. It also commemorates the death of Agnes Prest who was burnt at the stake in 1557. Two sides of the obelisk depict Benet banging on the door of the Cathedral and dying at the stake while a plaque reads:

"IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF THOMAS BENET, M.A. WHO SUFFERED AT LIVERY DOLE, A.D. 1531, FOR DENYING THE SUPREMACY OF THE POPE, AND OFAGNES PREST WHO SUFFERED ON SOUTHERNHAY A.D. 1557, FOR REFUSING TO ACCEPT THE DOCTRINE OF TRANSUBSTANTIATION. "FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH."

In 1851, the iron ring which was placed around the victim's bodies and the chain which attached them to the stake were found.