Tiverton has a medieval town leat, built for the town by Countess Isabella de Fortibus who was the eldest daughter of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon and grew up at Tidcombe Hall, close to Tiverton. Isabella also controlled the Port of Topsham, Devon, through which much of Tiverton’s woollen exports were transported, mostly to the Low Countries. Every seven years there is a Perambulation of the Town Leat ceremony to clear the path of the leat and ensure it is kept running. The leat can be seen in Castle Street, where it runs down the centre of the road, and at Coggan’s Well, in Fore Street. Tiverton owes its early growth and prosperity to the wool trade, which caused the town to grow rapidly in the 16th and 17th centuries. Many wealthy wool merchants added to the town’s heritage. John Greenway (1460-1529), for example, added a chapel and porch to St Peter’s parish church in 1517, and a small chapel and almshouses in Gold Street which still stand - the Almshouse Trust still houses people today. Peter Blundell, another wealthy merchant, who died in 1601, bequeathed the funds and land for Blundell’s School to educate local children. It was founded in Tiverton in 1604, and relocated to its present location on the outskirts of town in 1882, where it functions now as an independent school. John Waldron (died 1579) founded Waldron’s Almshouses, on Wellbrook Street, and his elaborate chest tomb survives in St Peter’s Church. In about 1600 there were two major fires in the town, the first in 1596, allegedly started in a frying pan, destroying most of the town. The second, in 1612, was known as the “dog-fight fire” because a dog fight had distracted people who were supposed to be looking after a furnace.