Monument record MDR11500 - Exeter House (site of), Full Street, Derby

Exeter House was built c 1635-40 and enlarged by the Town Clerk who owned the building c 1683. It was then owned by a London merchant in copper and lead, Thomas Chambers, whose younger daughter married Brownlow Cecil, The 8th Earl of Exeter, from whom the house takes its name. The house is famous as the Headquarters of Charles Edward Stuart (The Young Pretender) in 1745. On the 4th December 1745 The rebel army of Bonnie Prince Charlie arrived in Derby and demanded billets for 9,000 men at the George Inn, (now Lafferty's), at the top of Sadler Gate. Later on the same day the Prince himself arrived. The next day the rebels proceeded to raise money from the people of Derby. Those liable for government taxation were threatened with execution if they did not comply. Unknown to the rank and file a decision to retreat had already been made during a council of war at Exeter House. When Lord George Murray proposed a retreat most of the leaders agreed and Charlie was unable to change their minds. The house was later the home of various Mayors of Derby until it was demolished in 1854. All that remains of Exeter House now is the oak panelling of the walls which is only display at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery; Full Street Police Station now stands at this location. The house in its time was the largest town house in Derby. (1)