Social Architecture

Daily Mail

Cicely Barnett explains why the architecture of Exeter’s beloved Sidwell Street could soon put a spring in your step…

Sidwell Street, Exeter, has become somewhat infamous among students of the city. Due to its combination of tacky, poorly designed post-war architecture and the natural consequence of such disparaging buildings attracting trade predominantly from charity and pound shops, it’s a street that has a reputation for being a bit grotty. And no, I’m not having a go at such centres of commerce per se. Bear with me. The fact is, as is briefly discussed by Bill Bryson in Notes from a Small Island, Exeter was badly served – one could say abused – by town planners in the 50s and 60s. What the Luftwaffe didn’t flatten, the town planners surely did.