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Exeter
EXETER 's sights are richer than those
of any other town in Devon or Cornwall, the legacy of an eventful history
since its Celtic foundation and the establishment here of the
most westerly Roman outpost. After the Roman withdrawal, Exeter
was refounded by Alfred the Great and by the time of the Norman
Conquest had become one of the largest towns in England, profiting from its position on
the banks of the River Exe. The expansion of the wool trade in
the Tudor period sustained the city until the eighteenth century,
and Exeter has maintained its status as commercial centre and
county town, despite having much of its ancient centre gutted
by World War II bombing.
You are likely to pass
through this transport hub for Devon at least once on your West
Country travels, and Exeter's sturdy cathedral and the remnants
of its compact old quarter would repay an overnight stay .
The most distinctive feature
of Exeter's skyline, St Peter's Cathedral (Mon-Sat 8am-6.30pm,
Sun 8am-7.30pm), is a stately monument made conspicuous by the
two great Norman towers flanking the nave. Close up, it is the
facade's ornate Gothic screen that commands attention: its three
tiers of sculpted (and very weathered) figures - including Alfred,
Athelstan, Canute, William the Conqueror and Richard II - were
begun around 1360, part of a rebuilding programme which left
only the Norman towers from the original construction. The cathedral
boasts the longest unbroken Gothic ceiling in the world, its
bosses vividly painted - one, towards the west front, shows the
murder of Thomas à Becket. The Lady Chapel and Chapter
House - respectively at the far end of the building and off the
right transept - are thirteenth-century, but the main part of
the nave, including the lavish rib-vaulting, dates from the full
flowering of the English Decorated style, a century later. There
are many fine examples of sculpture from this period, including,
in the minstrels' gallery high up on the left side, angels playing
musical instruments, and, below them, figures of Edward III and
Queen Philippa.
Dominating the cathedral's
central space are the organ pipes installed in the seventeenth
century and harmonizing perfectly with the linear patterns of
the roof and arches. In the Choir don't miss the sixty-foot bishop's
throne or the misericords - decorated with mythological figures
around 1260, they are thought to be the oldest in the country.
Outside, a graceful statue
of the theologian Richard Hooker surveys the Cathedral Close
, a motley mixture of architectural styles from Tudor to Regency,
though most display Exeter's trademark red-brick work. One of
the finest buildings is the Elizabethan Mol's Coffee House ,
impressively timbered and gabled, now a map shop. Some older
buildings can also be found amid the banal concrete of the modern
town centre, including Exeter's finest civic building, the fourteenth-century
Guildhall - claimed to be England's oldest municipal building
in regular use. Standing not far from the cathedral on the pedestrianized
High Street , it's fronted by an elegant Renaissance portico,
and the main chamber merits a glance for its arched roof timbers,
which rest on carved bears holding staves, symbols of the Yorkist
cause during the Wars of the Roses. Just down from here, opposite
St Petrock's - one of Exeter's six surviving medieval churches
in the central area - you'll find the impossibly narrow Parliament
Street, just 25 inches wide at this end.
On the west side of Fore
Street, the continuation of the High Street, a turning leads
to St Nicholas Priory (Easter-Oct Mon, Wed & Sat 3-4.30pm;
free), part of a small Benedictine foundation that became a merchant's
home after the Dissolution; the interior has been restored to
what it might have looked like in the Tudor era. On the other
side of Fore Street, trailing down towards the river, cobbled
Stepcote Hill was once the main road into Exeter from the west,
though it is difficult to imagine this steep and narrow lane
as a main thoroughfare. Another of central Exeter's ancient churches,
St Mary Steps , stands surrounded by mainly Tudor houses at the
bottom, with a fine seventeenth-century clock on its tower and
a late Gothic nave inside.
At the north end of the
High Street, Romansgate Passage (next to Boots) holds the entrance
to a network of underground passages first excavated in the thirteenth
century to bring water to the cathedral precincts. The passages
can be visited as part of a fascinating 35-minute guided tour
(July-Sept & school holidays Mon-Sat 10am-5.30pm; rest of
year Tues-Fri noon-5pm, Sat 10am-5pm). Nearby, Castle Street
leads to what remains of Rougemont Castle , now little more than
a perimeter of red-stone walls that are best appreciated from
the surrounding Rougemont and Northernhay Gardens. Following
the path through this park, exit at Queen Street to drop in at
the excellent Royal Albert Memorial Museum (Mon-Sat 10am-5pm;
free), the closest thing in Devon to a county museum. Exuding
the Victorian spirit of wide-ranging curiosity, this motley assortment
includes everything from a menagerie of stuffed animals to mock-ups
of the various building styles used at different periods in the
city. The collections of silverware, watches and clocks contrast
nicely with the colourful ethnography section, and the picture
gallery has some good specimens of West Country art.
Exeter's centre is bounded
to the southwest by the River Exe, where the port area is now
mostly devoted to leisure activities, particularly around the
old Quayside . Pubs, shops and cafés share the space with
handsomely restored nineteenth-century warehouses and the smart
Custom House , built in 1681, its opulence reflecting the former
importance of the cloth trade. Next door, the Quay House from
the same period has an information desk and, upstairs, a video
on Exeter's history (Easter-Oct). The area comes into its own
at night, but is worth a wander at any time, and you can rent
bikes and canoes at Saddles & Paddles on the quayside (tel
01392/424241, ) to explore the Exeter Canal , which runs five
miles to Topsham and beyond.
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