Exeter has an unusually poor history of theatre safety. Three of its theatres were destroyed by fire, beginning with the New Theatre of 1787, built in Bedford Circus to replace the earlier Waterbeer Street theatre. That building was lost in 1820 when a gas‑lit chandelier ignited the rafters. A replacement, the first Theatre Royal, opened in West Southernhay in 1821, incorporating the colonnade of the earlier theatre. It survived until 1885, when another fire—this time caused by limelight equipment—destroyed the building. No lives were lost, apart from a clown’s pig.
The third theatre, also named the Theatre Royal, was built hurriedly at the top of Longbrook Street. With a capacity of 1,500, it was constructed with little regard for fire safety. Despite Exeter’s previous disasters, the building retained awkward staircases, cramped exits and a gallery with only one escape route. The Exeter Theatre Company moved in during 1886.
On 5 September 1887, during the first night of the romantic drama Romany Rye, a naked gas flame ignited drapes in the flies. The fire spread with extraordinary speed. Within minutes the stage was engulfed, the roof was alight and dense smoke filled the auditorium. Panic broke out as the audience attempted to escape. Those in the stalls and dress circle reached the street, but the upper gallery became a fatal trap. The single exit quickly blocked, and many were suffocated in the crush before the flames reached them.
Exeter had no municipal fire brigade. The only engines available belonged to insurance companies, and although they responded quickly, the fire was already beyond control. Robert Pople, landlord of the New London Inn, arrived with ladders and rescued several people from the balconies. His inn sheltered survivors, while the stables were used to lay out the dead.
In total, 186 people died, most from the gallery. It remains the worst theatre fire in British history. Many victims were buried in a mass grave in Higher Cemetery, marked by a memorial cross carved by the Exeter sculptor Harry Hems. A separate memorial commemorates Bombardier Francis (Frank) Scattergood of the Royal Artillery, who escaped the initial blaze but repeatedly returned to rescue others until he succumbed to smoke inhalation.
The national inquiry that followed led to major reforms in theatre safety. All theatres were required to install fireproof safety curtains, exits had to be clearly marked with illuminated signs, and outer doors were required to open outwards with push‑bar releases. These measures, introduced directly because of the Exeter disaster, became standard across Britain. Exeter also gained its first electricity generating station, which supplied the new Theatre Royal with electric lighting.
Contemporary accounts emphasised the speed of the fire and the inadequacy of the exits. A broadsheet published the following day described the theatre becoming “a roaring furnace” within three minutes, with flames shooting through the roof and smoke pouring from every window. The gallery, crowded with nearly 200 people, had only one exit, which quickly became blocked. Many died where they stood, trapped in an immovable mass as the flames overtook them.
The Queen sent a message of sympathy through the Home Secretary, expressing her concern for the injured and the families of the dead. The disaster left a deep mark on the city and remains one of the defining tragedies in Exeter’s civic history.
Image courtesy of Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service
