City in Devon, England
Exeter
A city where the largest surviving collection of Old English poetry sits in a cathedral library, and where Brazil played its very first international match against the local football club.
Key information
- County
- Devon
- Nation
- England
- Population
- About 131,000 (2021 Census)
- Known for
- Gothic cathedral, Roman walls, medieval underground passages, the Exeter Book, Exeter Chiefs
- What locals are called
- Exonians
- Famous people
- Thomas Bodley, Richard Hooker, Matthew Locke
- Football clubs
- Exeter City (the Grecians)
About Exeter
The day Brazil played Exeter
In July 1914, Exeter City travelled to South America on tour, and on 21 July they faced a freshly assembled Brazil side in Rio. It was Brazil's first ever international match. Brazil won 2-0. The Grecians, as the club is known, have been part of football folklore in Brazil ever since. Their home at St James Park, a short walk from the city centre, is a modest ground to have such a famous footnote. The nickname comes from the club's early days, and it fits a city that has always liked a classical flourish.
Roman walls and a Norman siege
Exeter began as Isca Dumnoniorum, a Roman fortress and then a town, and much of its Roman wall still circles the centre. Stretches of it you can walk beside today, and later medieval repairs sit on top of the Roman stonework. In 1068 the city held out against William the Conqueror for around eighteen days, and he responded by building Rougemont Castle on a red volcanic rock overlooking the town. Its gatehouse still stands. Below it lies Northernhay Gardens, laid out in 1612 and often described as the oldest public open space in England. Exeter's position on the River Exe made it a big trading town. In 1566 it dug one of Britain's first ship canals, which used pound locks to bring boats up to the Quay. The old Custom House of 1681 still stands on the waterfront.
The cathedral with the longest roof
Exeter Cathedral is one of the great Gothic buildings of England, and its twin Norman towers stand out against the Devon sky. Inside, its vaulted ceiling runs unbroken for around 96 metres, and it is usually called the longest continuous medieval stone vault in the world. Look for the astronomical clock, which dates from the fifteenth century, and the minstrels' gallery, where carved angels play medieval instruments. They are a handy guide to what music sounded like in the 1300s. Then there is the Exeter Book. Bishop Leofric gave it to the cathedral in the eleventh century, and it contains the largest surviving collection of Old English poetry, including nearly a hundred riddles. It is still kept in the cathedral library. It was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World register in 2016.
Tunnels, a wandering house and a night of fire
Under the High Street runs a network of medieval vaulted passages, built to bring clean water into the city. They are among very few of their kind in Britain that visitors can walk through. Some are so narrow that you have to duck. In May 1942, German bombers hit Exeter in one of the so-called Baedeker raids, aimed at historic cities. Much of the centre was destroyed, and the cathedral was damaged. The cathedral survived, but large areas of the old streets did not, which is why Exeter has a mix of Tudor survivals and mid-century rebuilding. One of those survivors is famous for moving. A fifteenth-century house on Edmund Street was shifted about 70 metres on rollers in 1961 to make way for a road scheme, and it is now known as the House That Moved.
Chiefs, students and cream teas
Exeter Chiefs, based at Sandy Park on the edge of the city, won the Premiership and the European Champions Cup in the same season, 2020. They beat Wasps in the domestic final and Racing 92 in Europe. Their tomahawk-chopping fan culture has made the Chiefs a big name in English rugby. The University of Exeter, a Russell Group university, gives the city a young population, and the Quayside, with its old warehouses and cafes, is where many of them end up. The city is also a fine place to settle a Devon cream tea argument. In Devon, the scone gets cream first, then the jam. People in Cornwall do it the other way round, and both sides stand firm.
Famous Exonians
Thomas Bodley was born in Exeter in 1545, and later refounded the library at Oxford that now carries his name, the Bodleian. Richard Hooker, the theologian whose writing shaped the Church of England, was born at Heavitree, now part of Exeter, around 1554. Matthew Locke, the seventeenth-century composer who wrote music for the English court, was also born in Exeter. Locals proudly call themselves Exonians, a name that comes from the Latin form of the city's name, Exonia. Bishops of Exeter still sign with the Latin abbreviation Exon.