Ottery St Mary and its setting
Ottery St Mary is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district. It stands on the River Otter, east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2021 census, its built-up area had 6,045 residents.
The name first appears in the Domesday Book of 1086. The town takes its name from the river. “St Mary” comes from its early link with the church of St Mary in Rouen. Locals simply call the town “Ottery”.
For example, independent shops line Mill Street, Silver Street and Yonder Street. An area known as The Square sits at the centre of the town. Meanwhile, the Old Town Hall now houses the local heritage museum.
St Mary’s Church and the older buildings
People often call St Mary’s Church “a miniature Exeter Cathedral”. Like the cathedral, it has a cross-shaped plan, with towers forming the transepts. Bishop Bronescombe consecrated it in 1260, and it is now Grade I listed.
The church is one of 107 listed sites in the area. In particular, it houses an astronomical clock, one of the oldest surviving mechanical clocks in the country. A plaque in the churchyard wall also marks the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, born here in 1772. With so many listed buildings nearby, it is worth reading about planning permission for air conditioning before booking a survey.
Similarly, the Chanter’s House is a Grade II listed building from the 17th century. It takes in parts of the former Precentor’s house, known as Heath’s Court. Coleridge grew up there after his father became headmaster of the King’s School. Henry VIII founded that school as a grammar school in 1545.
Fire, flood and tar barrels
A great fire swept through the town in May 1866. Although it began in a cottage fireplace, within hours it destroyed about a hundred houses. It also left 500 people homeless. That was around a tenth of the town’s population at the time.
More recently, a severe hailstorm hit East Devon in October 2008. Storm drains clogged with hailstones, so serious flooding followed in the town. Nevertheless, the bonfire night events still went ahead that year.
Still, Ottery is best known for its Tar Barrels, held around Guy Fawkes Night. In a tradition dating from the 17th century, residents carry blazing tar-soaked barrels through the streets. Only people born in the town, or who have lived there most of their lives, may carry one.
What an installation here tends to involve
With so many listed sites in a small area, check listed status first. If your home is old or listed, speak to East Devon District Council before fixing anything to an outside wall. Listed building rules are stricter than those for an ordinary house.
Older walls may be solid stone or cob rather than cavity-built. Consequently, the installer routes pipework and fixes the wall bracket differently. Since the town has flooded before, it also makes sense to site the outdoor unit clear of low spots where water gathers.
A newer home with cavity walls usually gives more freedom over siting. In that case, the job looks much closer to a typical installation. See our installation page for how the process works, and our 2026 installation cost guide for typical prices.
Coverage from Exeter
Ottery St Mary is about 17 miles by road from Exeter, around 25 minutes’ drive. In a straight line, it lies about 11 miles east of the city. Exeter is our hub for this part of Devon, and the Exeter installation page covers the city itself.
Honiton sits close to the River Otter, north-east of Exeter, and Honiton air conditioning installation has its own page. Sidmouth lies on the English Channel coast, 14 miles south-east of Exeter, and home cooling installs around Sidmouth covers it. Pinhoe, a suburb on Exeter’s north-eastern outskirts, is covered by our Pinhoe installation page too.
Getting matched in Ottery St Mary
Send one enquiry and we match your address with one pre-qualified installer who works here. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
Send your details through our contact form. You can also read about the installation process first if you want the background.