Theatre Fire memorial

A memorial stands in the Higher Cemetery to commemorate the fire in 1887 when over 160 people died in Exeter's Theatre Royal. It was made by Harry Hems and is a 4.4 metre column of Irish limestone with a granite base.

On Monday 5th September 1887 at 10.15 pm, fire broke out on the stage of the one year old theatre during a production of Romany Rye.

The fire spread rapidly and panic ensued as exits became blocked. The gallery, containing 191 people, had only one exit. By 11.30pm over 60 bodies had been removed through a window and 20 casualties had been taken to hospital. By Wednesday a list contained the names of 140 missing people.Thursday saw the first 20 burials of the victims in the Higher Cemetery. The fire brought about changes in theatre design to prevent such a catastrophe occurring again.  

The Friends of Higher Cemetery collected money to pay for the memorial to be cleaned and for chains to be reinstated around it. In September 2015 the memorial was cleaned, as was the nearby gravestone of Bombardier Scattergood who died from burns received while rescuing people from the fire. The inscriptions on the memorial and the gravestone were repainted at the same time.

New chains were installed in March 2016 and an unveiling ceremony took place on 16th April 2016. This was attended by the Lord Mayor of Exeter Cllr Olwen Foggin, Cllr Richard Westlake MBE, Cllr Rob Hannaford, Cllr Percy Prowse, Cllr Christine Raybould, Cllr Rachel Lyons and a fire crew representing Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service. 

An information panel telling the story of the fire was added on 12th May 2017 and stands just outside of the chained area.