Ballooning Over Exeter

^ Lunardi's Second Balloon Ascending from St George's Fields by Julius Caesar Ibbetson (1785)

Ballooning has captured imaginations for centuries, from bucket-list adventures to critical roles in science (NASA), mapping the world (Google), and even espionage (remember the Chinese balloon over American airspace?). Yet, its origins trace back to 1783, when the Montgolfier brothers launched the first balloon. Remarkably, just three years later, in 1786, Exeter joined the fray with its own ascension. But how did the air, once an unexplored frontier, quickly become a space of human ambition?

The late 18th century was an era of "balloon madness," marked by both scientific curiosity and political tension. France and Britain, two rival empires, competed in their own proto–space race – except this race took to the skies in balloons. For the first time, the air represented a new kind of territory: unclaimed, ungoverned, and full of potential. As scholar Siobhan Carroll notes, the air was seen as an “atopia,” a vast space transcending the borders and barriers of land and sea. In William Heath’s satirical print March of Intellect(1829), humans have exhausted the earth, sea, and sky. Each is distinguishable by the distressed-looking water, overworked land, and murky clouds, yet the boundaries between them seem to dissolve. Heath centres a tube where people can walk from England to “direct to Bengal”. This vision of the future underscored how ballooning and aerial travel could transform global connections.

^ March of Intellect, William Heath (1829)

So, what role did Exeter play in this story of global ambition? By the 1780s, Exeter was known more for its social scene than its scientific contributions. Yet, in 1786, the city became the site of a dramatic balloon ascent, described at the time as “the grandest spectacle ever beheld in Exeter.”

Local newspapers recount how the event captivated “all ranks of people,” uniting the city in wonder. An article published decades later in Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post paints a vivid picture of the scene: thousands of spectators gathered on hillsides, while the city’s elite turned the occasion into a dazzling social event. The balloon symbolised both modernity and spectacle – a unifying force as people collectively gazed skyward, albeit with different experiences.

For the aristocracy, the event was as much about fashion and status as it was about technological achievement. The article lingers on the “beauty and elegance of dress” and notes the grandeur of the post-ascent ball, attended by “upwards of 450 people of fashion.” Yet, for the lower classes—who could only watch from afar—the balloon’s ascent represented a rare glimpse of progress and possibility.

This duality highlights how ballooning intersected the local and the global. From above, the balloonist gained a bird’s-eye view of Exeter, a perspective that might have informed Charles Tozer’s 1792 map of the city. Tozer’s map is a microcosm of Britain’s imperial ambitions, featuring Exeter’s crest alongside emblems of Britannia and a ship, symbolising Britain’s mastery of land and sea. The balloon’s ascent added the air to this equation, expanding Exeter’s place in the imagination of empire.

^ Charles Tozer’s map of Exeter from 1792.

But the spectacle wasn’t without its darker undertones. The Flying Post describes the experience as “truly grand and beautiful” yet mingled with “terror.” This sense of awe aligns with Edmund Burke’s concept of the Sublime – an overwhelming emotion evoked by nature’s vastness or, in this case, humanity’s defiance of it. The balloon, defying gravity and soaring into the unknown, inspired both wonder and fear. It represented humanity’s power to conquer new frontiers, while also challenging perceptions of what was possible in a world shaped by land and sea.

Exeter’s 1786 ascent was only the beginning. By the early 20th century, aerial photography captured Exeter from the skies, fulfilling the balloon’s promise of new perspectives. In the late 18th century, however, the balloon’s significance lay in its ability to connect the local to the global, offering a glimpse of a future where borders and distances dissolved. For a brief moment, all of Exeter – elite and working class alike – looked to the skies and imagined the possibilities of a world reshaped by the air.