On Gandy Street lies a vibrant local gem – Exeter Phoenix. Sporting everything from a solar-powered cinema, cosy café/bar, art gallery, workshop rooms, and a main stage for larger performances, the diversity of the Phoenix is part of what makes it so special. As 2024 marks 25 years of the Phoenix as we know it, let’s take a moment to celebrate its rich history.
“For 25 years, we have championed the weird and the wonderful, the visionaries and the risk-takers, offering a safe space for our community to be who they want to be.”
Exeter Phoenix website
Located on the filled in moat of Rougemont Castle, the site initially hosted a terrace of houses, home to notable people in the 1700s, such as the Mayor and MP. With the terrace needing considerable work, a large building called ‘Bradninch House’ replaced it in 1909, accommodating mainly female students.
After a stint as a military hospital in 1915, Bradninch House continued to host university students, with the University of Exeter being officially chartered in 1955.
However, as those around in 2021, when a controlled explosion of a WW2 bomb on campus displaced hundreds of students, will know, Exeter was not spared from the Blitz bombings. In fact, deemed “a jewel” in a German radio announcement on May 4th 1942, the city was deliberately targeted, and Bradninch House suffered fire damage.
Determined to raise the city from the ashes, urban planner Thomas Sharp drafted a plan for rebuilding and named it Exeter Phoenix.
Determined to raise the city from the ashes, urban planner Thomas Sharp drafted a plan for rebuilding and named it Exeter Phoenix.
As Streatham campus expanded and its departments moved up the hill, Exeter City Council purchased Bradninch House from the university in 1984, establishing the Exeter Devon Arts Centre.
Finally, after a closure in 1997 for remodelling, the Phoenix as we know it rose in 1999. Since then, the venue has hosted live performances, exhibitions, and films screenings galore, becoming a home to the creative and curious.
Since I first stepped through its doors some 4 years ago, I’ve attended to clothes swaps; live music performances and poetry fundraisers for Palestine and the Climate Crisis; society socials, documentaries and panel discussions; made bath bombs and enjoyed mulled cider; attended a music production course, and more at the Phoenix. It’s been a big part of my time in Exeter, and I encourage you to explore all that it has on offer!
