James Templer who was born in 1722 was educated at the St Johns hopsital school in Exeter, he was a blue boy. He later made a fortune overseas, came back, settling near Teigngrace and built Stover House. His son went on to build the Stover canal and the Haytor granite railway. In this image the Blue boy statue stands in the Princesshay shopping precinct in the centre of Exeter. In 2005 the shopping centre was demolished and replaced with a new shopping centre and the Blue boy statue has been replaced. In 1238 a hospital was started dedicated to St John the Baptist, inside the city wall of Exeter. In 1633 the old hospital buildings were used as a grammar school where the boys wore blue caps and gowns, nicknamed Blue Boys. Two small statues of a Blue Boy were made, and one was placed at the entrance to the main hall. Heles School was formed from a spin off of the School in 1840. In 1880 it to a new site in Heavitree and renamed Exeter School. The buildings at the back of the demolished St John's Hospital School continued into the 20th century as a fee paying school. The school was still in existence in 1931 and may have been used as an orphanage after this time. The building was finally destroyed in May 1942 by world war two bombs. The plaque with the statue reads - THIS STATUE OF A BLUE BOY STOOD IN THE COURTYARD OF SAINT JOHN'S HOSPITAL SCHOOL FOUNDED ON THIS SITE AS A BLUECOAT SCHOOL BY THE CHAMBER OF EXETER, A.D. 1636 IN THE DISSOLVED MEDIAEVAL HOSPITAL OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST. THE SCHOOL CONTINUED UNTIL 1931 IN THE NEW BUILDINGS ERECTED IN 1859 WHICH WERE DESTROYED BY ENEMY ACTION ON MAY 4TH 1942

Boddy Collection