Exeter Cathedral of St Peter, Exeter, Devon

Exeter Cathedral received its charter and was established in 1050, almost 1,000 years ago. The church used at that time was the Saxon Minster church of St Mary and St Peter, which was situated a few yards in front of the present cathedral's west door; the Bishop's seat eventually moved to the new Romanesque Norman cathedral which was constructed behind it. Begun in 1114 and completed circa 1170-80, by 1258 it was already considered out of fashion and, influenced by Salisbury Cathedral, was rebuilt in the Decorated Gothic style and completed in the mid 14th century. Much of the Norman building was retained, giving it a slightly hodge-podge appearance, which included the two square towers and part of the walls. This makes it a quirkily interesting and beautiful exterior, whereas the interior is not only graceful but breath-taking and awe-inspiring.

Well, that was an extremely potted version of what is almost 1,000 years of history. There is far more than I could possibly include here, but I'll do my best! ;) This visit was made on the 30th December 2010, unfortunately at a time when the cathedral grounds were under new construction, fenced off and full of JCBs. I was only able to take interior photos plus a few south exterior ones but I re-visited in August  2011 for photos of the north side, seen here to begin with.  

The two square towers are on the south and north sides. The north tower - St Paul's Tower - seen below, has some delightful decorative details of the Romanesque style with zigzags, blind arcades with rounded arches of differing sizes and roundels. 

On the right hand photo above, there's a row of carved heads beneath the windows. I noticed that there are many along this side, some more of which can be seen below.

And some close-ups created from the above photos.

Some of them are animals whilst others are people. There's a delightful cat second from the right on the one above and below a beautiful fox head on the second from the left with what looks like a duck or goose in its mouth.

Some more of these photos show that the heads are lined all along the extensions too, and also on the higher parts of the building. Amazing to think of all the work and attention to detail that went into these incredible Mediaeval buildings and the expertise of the mason and his crew.

The sides of the roof and tops of the buttresses are covered in pinnacles.

The photos below are just small portions of the massive west front, showing the central door and part of the screen comprising a stone-carved frieze of saints, kings and biblical figures, including the twelve apostles. This was originally painted in bright colours as evidenced by tiny flakes of paint found whilst cleaning and renovating.

The two below were taken on the first visit, hence the different colouring in the winter light.

 

Unfortunately, part of the frontage was still covered in scaffolding on my second visit, seen below. However, it does show the whole width of the west front screen.

Because the retained Norman towers are on the outside, the ceiling throughout the length of the cathedral is completely intact and is the longest uninterrupted Gothic vaulting in Europe.

The photo above was taken from the nave towards the west door, and the one below is as much as I could get in one photo looking up.

The ceiling contains over 400 bosses. Looking tiny from below, they are actually massive, weighing some two tonnes each. A model of one can be seen in the south aisle.

 

Now that we're inside I'll come back to the exterior on the south side later on. As it was the day before new year's eve the massive christmas trees were still in situ, beautifully lit and decorated. One at the west door, above, and two in the quire, below. The quire is another word for choir and which is often used in some cathedrals instead of the usual spelling.

Below is the minstrels gallery, the front decorated with carved and painted angels playing musical instruments. Dated to around 1360, it's a unique feature in English cathedrals.

Just before my visit I read a wonderful book by Nicholas Orme, titled 'Exeter Cathedral As It Was 1050 - 1550'. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who's interested in Mediaeval church and social history. 

Services were not as we know it today with a gathered congregation, but they consisted of the sung services by the Vicars Choral enclosed in the quire behind gated screens. People did come to pray, but at no specific time, and just milled about in the main body of the nave. There was no seating then, and metal rings on the floor can still be seen where horses were tethered as to leave them outside invited theft.

Exeter is one of a small handful of cities in which the cathedral holds its own 'state within a state', a little like the vatican in Rome...albeit on a much smaller scale! There was always an uneasy alliance between the cathedral and civic authorities. One account in the above mentioned book described how the sheriff's men chased a felon into the sanctuary of the cathedral during a service, whereupon the large body of clergy immediately rose up, drew cudgels and short swords out from beneath their seats, and set upon the trespassing lawmen.

 

Another delightful story from Nicholas Orme's book concerns the daily services. After a long day, some of the clergy liked to play jokes to lighten up the boredom. The night services were particularly known for this, when candles were used to light the choir, and those sitting on the higher seats would tip hot wax onto the tonsured heads of those sitting below.

The main body of the cathedral was built using limestone from the local Devon quarries in Beer and Salcombe Regis, whereas the tall and graceful pillars were built in the 14th century with Purbeck Stone from Dorset.

The right hand photo above shows the loveliest of gilded carvings on the pillar, along with the others in the quire.   

The next photo shows more of that incredibly long vaulted ceiling.

Also in this photo is the massively imposing organ on the rood screen dividing the nave and the quire. Broken up by Parliamentary soldiers during the civil war, the case (built in 1665) was saved and the organ later rebuilt when the throne was restored. Some close-ups below.

Personally, I find it somewhat overpowering and even sinister, but that's just me, lol, plus the low lighting and my camera settings made it look darker than it actually is. However, the music must sound really powerful and amazing.

Above is the north aisle of the arch between the top of the nave and the quire. Within that are icons to either side of the rood screen and this lovely alterpiece situated within the delightfully carved pulpitum.

Exeter cathedral is full of exquisite carving, the photo below showing the beautiful tomb of Bishop Bronscombe.

 
Some other carvings below, although I can't put a name to any of these...   

...apart from this last one, below, which is the tomb of Bishop Oldham.

 

The astronomical clock, below, is one of only four remaining in the country and was placed in the North Transept in 1484. Also in East Devon, one of them is in St Mary's church in the town Ottery St Mary; a church consecrated by Bishop Bronscombe in 1260. It was rebuilt circa 1330 by John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter (1327-69), and was modelled on Exeter cathedral, although much scaled down.

Beneath the clock is a door with a round hole for the cathedral cat to access the tower. The grease used for the clock attracts mice and rats, therefore a cat was essential to keep them at bay. The first one even figured in the 15th century wage rolls for its food at a penny a week, and its image immortalised on one of the bosses.

The photo below shows the delightful tiny Chapel of the Holy Cross, also in the North Transept along with the clock, and with a lovely late Mediaeval mural adorning the wall.

Adjoining that is the chapel of St Paul, the North Tower also dedicated to St Paul.

Various other tombs and small chapels are arranged around the sides and rear. Again, with lovely carvings and designs.

I don't know the name of this chapel in the next photos but I love how they came out; my favourites of the day!

This next one shows a painted door, which I think belonged to the Lady Chapel. Unfortunately the chapel photo itself was too out of focus to use, but I'm really pleased I have this one as I just love these panels. Actually, I have this feeling that the paint might be on fabric, rather than just painted onto the wood. However, I haven't been able to corroborate that so please don't quote me. 

Below that is the window in the chapel.

And another chapel with fabulous carving at the entrance and gilded gates.

Plus one other, which I think was situated at the eastern end of the building. There were more but I wasn't able to manage them all and it all started to merge together after a while. Too much of a good thing, lol.

The ceilings were really lovely, with gilded stars on a blue background, which sadly didn't come out too well on my photos.

If anyone's wondering why I haven't got many photos of windows, it's because of two things; they were rather high up or far away or they didn't come out! I've mentioned before that I'm a bit hit and miss with stained glass windows and it's something I really ought to practice more, so I tended to ignore them a bit on this visit. I did manage this one, although I'm not sure where it fits.

Some of the cathedral furnishings include the Bishop's Throne, below, which is beautifully carved from Devon Oak, dated 1313 to 1317.

The font, below, which was made with Sicilian marble in 1684. Unfortunately I missed out the pulpit, as I'm sure I missed out other things. The cathedral's just so big and is filled with a myriad of gorgeous sights.

And now outside again through the south transept and the Chapter House. The south tower - St John's Tower - is slightly different to the north tower, being shorter in stature and more enclosed in by other buildings. It too is highly decorated in the Romanesque fashion.

And of course looking different in the winter light. :)

The south cloister which separates the main body of the cathedral from the refrectory, seen below...

...where I had a wonderful lunch of home-made leek & potato soup with roll and butter. It almost felt mediaeval except that potatoes didn't arrive here until the late 16th century, although I believe that the Romans brought leeks to Britain...if memory serves correctly!

The photo below is one of the cloister windows taken from inside.

And last but not least for the interior: the chapel of Bishop Grandisson is situated by the western door and is accessed from the outside. It is sometimes open during the summer months and during my second visit I was able to take some photos of the carvings and windows inside.

The windows below are cleverly disguised among the exterior carved figures.

And finally, a slab in the pavement of cathedral grounds, which says 'Love bade me welcome so I did sit and eat'.

I had more photos than this, including carved misericords and other interesting things which I wasn't able to include because they were all out of focus. It was quite dark in some parts of the cathedral and difficult to see through the lens...and using a 35mm film camera I have to wait until I get the prints & negatives back to see what came out okay. 

However, it still worked out to be quite a long article. There was so much to see that I wasn't able to take photos of everything, despite being there for a good two hours, lol.  So I hope you found it enjoyable and don't forget to visit if ever you're in Exeter. It's absolutely stunning and well worth seeing.

Cheers, Eileen. :)

And I've done it again, it's just gone lunchtime and I'm still in my pyjamas, lol. I really wanted to get this published before the end of January and I'm really chuffed I managed it after all. Although, I did rush the last bit so I might have to come back and add more info where necessary or correct any iffy grammar and typos.