Hedgeland's Model of Exeter

The Hedgeland model of Exeter is one of the earliest surviving models of any town in Britain. It is the only one of its kind in the country.

The model was constructed by Caleb Hedgeland between 1817 and 1824. He depicted the city as he remembered it from his childhood during the late 1700s. Consequently, it is the only record of many buildings and streets which were later demolished.

The detail is such that you can even see other objects from RAMM’s collection. The statue of St Peter, located near to the model in the gallery, used to live on the High Street of Exeter. You can see the statue on the model in miniature form where it used to live.

Visual description: A model city constructed from wood. It is painted and carved to represent buildings, streets and city walls. Each building is painted in soft earth tones, with lighter shades for stone structures and darker browns for wooden ones.

The model features hundreds of tiny buildings, laid out along narrow streets. Near the centre, Exeter Cathedral stands out and towers above the rest of the buildings in the model.