Devon

Tech and Life Pal is a research project I created and that was inspired around 2020 during the lockdown in the UK.

And what happened was I, at the time I was stuck in Exmus, it's a very small town in Southwest in Devon.

And my neighbors were the average age, I would say over 70.

So they were really struggling with their phone.

to calm them down, not just mom and dad, but also someone.

So I decided to build this project Tech and Life Power.

We connect students from Exeter University with older people over 65 years old in Devon region.

So they become learning partner.

And it wasn't as common in those days.

And it just, never mind foreign... you know even within the the UK it just wasn't something we did that often I think that my parents were you know it was a decision they'd made that my mum wouldn't work for the while we were young or at least wouldn't work full-time and so they were getting by and paying a mortgage on on one salary and that probably didn't leave a ton of money for uh for adventures but we did have some And I remember travelling to Devon to stay in a static caravan that belonged to an old college friend of my mother's.

I don't remember ever meeting the college friend, although I have an image of her in my mind, so who's to say? Perhaps I did.

But I don't remember it.

I do remember that caravan and I do remember rainy holidays largely in Devon.

I think we went there a couple of times.

And yeah, some really nice times stick in my mind from then.

I remember an incredible model railway museum and big model railway in beer in particular.

Connecting with your local past and your local community and your local trails is a really special thing to do, and it helps you, I don't know, become rooted in the home that you've built yourself.

The South Hams Way is a relatively new long-distance trail in South Devon, covering around 100 miles of countryside, moorland and coastline.

I'm Rob and this is Notes from Big Trails.

My guest today is Shauna Fallon, who lives in Totnes, just a few minutes from the trail.

I mean, I think there's a lot of diversity, but in many places, but to have the really dramatic seaside views, the cliffs, the waterfalls.

the wild, windy, it's magical.

And then to have Dartmoor, but then also to pass through these kind of nice little Devon towns where you can just stop for coffee.

Like, I think it has so much to it.

Well, keep your coat handy.

There's a village in Devon with one more thing to take care of before we put all the scary stuff away.

The stone lies near the entrance to St. Michael's Churchyard.

Close by is the Devil's Stone Inn, which is wonderfully reassuring as a place to stop if you've arrived wondering whether you're in the right place.

explore the world like never before with national geographic live at roy thompson hall experience incredible stories of exploration science conservation and dinosaurs brought to life on stage tickets and subscriptions at roythompsonhall.com adventure awaits

part one of exeter by sydney heath THE CITY just as the five cities of colchester lincoln york gloucester and st albans stand on the sites and in some fragmentary measure bear the names of five roman municipalities so isca dum non iorum now exeter appears to have been a cantonal capital developed out of one of the great market centres of the celtic tribes and as such it was the most westerly of the larger romano-british towns the legendary history of the place both temporal and ecclesiastical goes far back to the days when for a late posterity it is difficult to separate fact from fable it is however quite established that here was the capital of the domnonii the british tribe whose dominions included both devonshire and cornwall and who named their capital caerwysk the city of the waters with the coming of the saxons the river the roman isca became the exa and the city was called exencasta modified in due course to exeter in point of position on a mound rising from the river it was a splendid site for a fortress in the days of hand-to-hand warfare and the military value of the site lent support to the statement of some writers that the romans utilised the british fortifications and built a castle in few places of its fize can one fee so clearly the extent of the old walled town while the difpofition and formation of its outer ring of houfes on the lower flopes of the mound fhew very clearly the limits of the mural circumvallation before the city burft afunder its tight-fitting belt of ftone within which for the fafety of its populace it had been imprifoned for centuries climb the higher parts for a bird's-eye view of the city and the scene is entrancing we look down upon the calm flowing aix threading its way through the valley till it debouches at exmouth on the river-side beneath us is the quay with coasting schooners and barges moored alongside and sundry bales of merchandise heaped upon the wharf as though the people were playing at commerce to remind the world at large that exeter was once an important port although some ten miles from the river's mouth but the x in a quiet way has much to boast of in the nature of beauty and romance particularly where it flows past the wooded grounds of powderham castle the devonshire seat of the great courtenay family truly there is much to redeem modern exeter and make it interesting over and above its historical atmosphere yet with comparatively few vestiges of age the city has an historical past in both a religious and a military sense she has played a part in the annals of england and more than one ancient document in the library of the dean and chapter bears testimony to her honour her valour and her glory it is a city which has the impress of many ages and many minds stamped upon it here each influence military from the roman legions ecclesiastical from the saxon prelates feudal from the norman lords has sunk deeply into the land and has affected the general plan of the numerous buildings as it has moulded the slowly succeeding phases of the civic and the religious life It is no mere dream of the early ages, no sentimental reverie of medievalism.

it is enough to go through the streets noting the remnants of the ancient walls the brutal strength of the surviving fragment of the castle the sheltered position of the tidal basin the many churches dedicated to the honour of saxon saints the proud beauty and massiveness of the cathedral if one would realize not the fancies of the artist and the poet but the hard facts of history that made the ancient days so great and which have caused our own days to be so full of their memories as compared with the sister counties of cornwall and dorset devonshire is not particularly well represented in memorials of the roman occupation although an immense number of roman coins have been unearthed at various times coins however unless found with definite structural remains indicate presence rather than a settled occupation for large quantities of the roman coinage must have continued in circulation long after the last of the legions of imperial rome had departed from british shores the few roman antiquities of exeter that have been found are important in a comparative sense although they contrast poorly in structural character with those of our other romano-british towns it has been held that not only were the foundations of the city walls roman but part of the existing remains of the rougemont castle have also been assigned to this period mr l davidson was of opinion that the old church tower of st mary major now removed exhibited traces of roman work and foundations presumed to be roman were noted by him as having been found at the corner of castle street and high street in st mary arches street bedford circus market street south street and mint lane in eighteen thirty six more definite structural remains were found in high street consisting of a family sepulchral vault seven feet square arched over and containing five coarse cinerary urns arranged in niches around its interior this was discovered behind the three tons inn and during the same year at a great depth below the site of the county bank a low arched chamber was found in which were a quantity of bones of men and animals no exonian find however exceeds in interest the discovery in eighteen thirty three of a bath and tessellated pavement behind the deanery walls in south street the walls were of heavy tree stone and brick and the original pavement was of black and white tessary set in concrete associated remains of a thirteenth century encaustic tile pavement indicates the use of the old roman bath a thousand years or so after it had been made several other tessellated pavements are recorded as having been found in pancras lane on the site of bedford circus and on the north side of the cathedral near the speke chapel in eighteen thirty six a small bronze figure of julius caesar now in the british museum about three inches in height was dug up during the removal of some walls in the westgate quarter of the city the only recorded find of a military weapon is the bronze hilt of a dagger unearthed in south street in eighteen thirty three this is of more than passing interest as it bears the name of its owner i mefiti eo fris which has been read thus servii omarchi mefiti tribuni equitam frisiorum servius omercius mefitus tribune of the frisians the antiquary leland mentions two roman inscriptions as built into the city wall near southern hay but they are gone and besides the inscribed dagger we have only a seal of severius pompeius and sundrys graffiti or funereal pottery in the way of literary relics of roman exeter the poverty of devonshire in memorials of the roman period is shown by the fact that outside exeter there are not a dozen places in the county which have yielded roman vestigia other than coins in nine twenty six the britons were driven from exeter by athelstan who banished them into cornwall and fixed the river tamar as their boundary athelstan was one of the greatest benefactors the city has had for in addition to increasing the fortifications by means of a massive wall flanked by towers he built a castle on the red mount now known as rougemont castle although very little of this now remains a portion of the ruins is generally known as athelstan's tower and has a window with a triangular head which is certainly of saxon style and date in nine hundred and thirty two athelstan rebuilt the monastery of our lady and st peter staffing it with monks of the benedictine order and presenting them with the reputed relics of st sidwell a saint who is still somewhat of a puzzle to ecclesiologists a few years later the monastery was plundered by the danes when the monks beat a hasty retreat but returned in nine hundred and sixty eight on the entreaty of king edgar a mint was shortly established here wherein the first coins were struck naming athelstan king of england the danes made continuous raids in the neighbourhood but were decisively defeated by the west countrymen in ten o one at pinhoe a few miles from exeter from that time until the treacherous massacre of the danes in wessex upon st price's day in ten o two by ethelred this part of the country was comparatively free from their inroads but gunnhilde the sister of swegan king of denmark being among the slain this king came to avenge her death he sailed up the aix burning and plundering the villages on its banks and for four years his army marched in every direction across wessex and was at length induced to withdraw on being paid a wergeld war-tax which was the first levied on exeter after the battle of hastings gytha the mother of harald took refuge in exeter and leofric the bishop offered to render homage to william as royal suzerain but the conqueror would have no half-hearted submission so exeter closed its gates to the normans it held out for eighteen days when the military science of the normans and particularly the skill they showed in undermining the walls caused it to surrender the resistance won the besiegers respect and brought unusually good terms from so ruthless a victor as william the lives of the garrison were spared gytha was allowed to seek safety by sea and it has been said that the victorious troops were withdrawn from the city gates to prevent them from claiming the licentious privileges so generally granted to their followers by the norman kings as is fitting for its county town the first entry in the devonshire doomsday deals with exeter in which city it is recorded the king had two hundred and eighty five houses rendering customary jews the generally debased character of the coinage of the time led to various expedients being adopted by the exchequer for securing approximately accurate payment of a specified sum of money among other things the entries in doomsday ftate that in the total this city of exeter renders eighteen pounds for annum of thefe baldwin the sheriff has fix pounds by weight and affay and colvin has of them twelve pounds by tail for the fervice of queen this entry as significant for one pound or twenty shillings meant one pound or twelve ounces troy of silver and when money was payable by weight twenty shillings were not taken as the equivalent of one pound unless they fully weighed one pound in this instance it is observable that the portion of the customary dues rendered for the two hundred and eighty five houses which went to the exchequer was collected by the sheriff under the strictest rules of weight and assay whereas the portion allotted to the widow of edward the confessor was received by the tale only the authorities took care that the sheriff collected the full amount due to the crown but did not trouble themselves about the ex queens share it has been affirmed that it was by the normans that the fairs of england were moulded into the shape with which we are most familiar at exeter in twelve seventy six in reply to a writ of quo it was satisfactorily shown that the rights of the city its fee farm rent and its farms dated from pre-conquest days the privileges and emoluments attached to fairs in large towns were very great during the time allotted to them the citizens were often debarred from selling anything whereas strangers could vend their wares during the fair but at no other period of the year in cosin's reminiscences of exeter eighteen seventy seven we are told how at exeter on the occasion of the lammas fair a procession yet perambulates the city one man bearing a pole with a gigantic stuffed glove at the top of it the latter being subsequently hung out at the guildhall many of england's reigning sovereigns have visited the city among them being edward the fourth and richard the third henry the seventh came thither on seventh of october fourteen ninety seven on the suppression of perkin warbeck's rebellion when that rebel had attempted to capture the city the rebels were brought here before the king bareheaded and with halters round their necks and after they had pleaded for mercy henry pardoned them on his departure the king presented the civic authorities with a sword and cap of maintenance both of which are still carried before the mayor and corporation on occasions of state the citizens of exeter have always been noted for their staunch loyalty to the reigning house with the consequence that many rights and privileges have been granted to it the city motto semper fidelis was conferred by queen elizabeth in recognition of the contributions both of men and money made to the fleet that vanquished the spanish armada that the motto was merited is evident when we recall the fact that with the exception of frobisher and cavendish practically the whole of the leading seamen who chased the spanish ships along the channel were born in the land of the tamar the tevi and the dart during the early part of the civil war the citizens were divided in their sympathies some supporting the parliament and others the king but the city soon fell into the hands of the former In 1643, however, Sir Ralph Hopton, the famous Royalist General, marched on Exeter with a force made all the more formidable for siege purposes by the cannon he had previously captured at Halton.

immediate capture of the city by the royalist forces was expected the mercurius aulius of first june sixteen forty three remarking that if the old observation be of any credit that cats and mice do commonly forsake a ruinous and decaying house that city exeter is not like to continue long in the rebel's hands proud and rebellious city was assaulted and captured by the royalist forces under prince maurice on fourth september sixteen forty three after a siege lasting sixteen days and a full account of its fall appeared in the issue of the mercurius aulius of eighth september in may sixteen forty four queen henrietta maria took up her abode in the city at bedford house where on sixteenth june of the same year the princess henrietta was born in the following month charles i came to see his little daughter and again in september when he appointed thomas fuller vicar of broad windsor in dorset as chaplain to the princess queen who had retired to exit her as a safe place for her confinement soon afterwards had to leave there suddenly on the approach of a parliamentary army in command of the earl of essex her majesty's easiest way to france was by sea and to prevent this cromwell had sent a fleet to torbay to intercept her should she attempt to leave england by that route finding this road closed she made for falmouth from which port she got safely away during the siege by fairfax the inhabitants of the city suffered considerably owing to the food supplies being intercepted one day a flight of larks came into the town which were says fuller as welcome as quails in the wilderness the birds were so numerous that notwithstanding the prevailing famine they were sold for twopence a dozen of this miraculous event wrote fuller i was not only an eye but a mouth witness the city capitulated on thirteenth april sixteen forty six among the conditions of surrender being that the cathedral should be spared and the garrison accorded the honours of war after the landing of william of orange at brixham in sixteen eighty eight he marched through the county to exeter and entered the city by its western gate he proceeded direct to the cathedral and took his seat in the bishop's throne with his chaplain burnet near him a few of the prebendaries and choristers attended the service but when burnet began to read the prince's declaration after the singing of the te deum they hurriedly departed the bishop thomas lamplugh had proceeded to james on hearing that the dutch had landed and was rewarded with the archbishopric of york he afterwards assisted at william the third coronation the dean of exeter had also left the city and the deanery was prepared for the prince's reception george the third was the last english sovereign to stay in exeter and he also resided at the deanery although the cathedral is the main attraction modern exeter has to offer to the tourist a walk through the historic old city will reveal the fact that in addition to some highly interesting old churches it possesses a not inconsiderable number of ancient buildings at the same time there has been an appalling amount of destruction some of it apparently of an unnecessary kind as the recent dismantling of the beautiful old courtyard in the rear of bampfylde house the city residence of the pultimore family the visitor who arrives at exeter either by the great western or the south-western railway the station of the latter being the more central of the two can soon reach the busy and picturesque high street by way of queen street one of the broadest thoroughfares in the city the most interesting building in high street and one that in this respect ranks next to the cathedral is the guildhall with a portico projecting over the pavement it is probably one of the oldest municipal buildings in the country for in thirteen thirty we find that the guildhall was again in a ruinous condition and it was then rebuilt again in fourteen sixty four it was built up anew in a more commodious and efficient manner while the building as we see it to-day with its faade is the result of still further alterations in the entrance porch is separated from the inner hall by a massive oak doorway and the hall itself sixty feet long and twenty five feet wide is panelled throughout in oak with a frieze consisting of shields charged with the arms of former mayors aldermen recorders and of the city companies curious brackets of figures bearing staves support the roof the judge's chair is of carved oak and bears the name and date of the donor christopher ball esq sixteen ninety seven on the walls hang six large portraits among them those of george the third and general monk the latter by sir peter lely and over this picture hang the colours of the fourth devons a regiment raised in the city by the general in sixteen eighty one another portrait here by lely is of the princess henrietta concerning which the old records state that in sixteen seventy one the king charles the second in order to keep his promise made the last year when he visited this city in person and as a signalled testimony of his love towards the same was pleased to send hither the effigy or portraiture at length and richly framed of his dear sister the duchess of orleans lately deceased a princess born within this city and for beauty was esteemed to be one of the fairest in christendom which faid picture being placed in a fair cafe of timber richly adorned with gold is erected in the open guildhall of the faid city there to remain as a perpetual monument of his majesty's high favour towards this his truly ancient loyal and honourable city of exeter the upper room is known as the mayor's parlour where are many more portraits and the city's fword and cap of maintenance the scabbard of the sword which is the one presented by edward the fourth is still draped in crape as it used to be for the processions on king charles martyr's day thirtieth of january the cap of maintenance presented to the city together with his sword by henry the seventh was sent up to london to be repaired the cost for sarkanne damask and pin lace amounting to four guineas the original cap still remains within its covering and it appears to consist of two pieces of black felt sewn together during the fifteenth century the chapel of st george and st john was built over the guildhall with an apartment above for the priest who served it the chapel being probably connected with a religious guild the junction of north and south streets with four and high streets was formerly known as the carfois or carfax quatre voies i e four ways where at one time many executions took place here also stood the ancient conduit which supplied the city with water but this was removed to south street in seventeen seventy nine at the corner looking down fourth street was a fine fourteenth century life-size figure of st peter holding a model of a church in his right hand and a book in his left his feet trampling on a demon this has been removed from its original position and placed high up in a niche over a shop close by on the opposite side of high street is st petrock's church at one time almost hidden from sight by the adjacent buildings it is a curious little church of which portions have been assigned to the saxon period the parish of st petroc is in the centre of the city and was one of the oldest and most important being one of the nineteen churches to which william i ordered the provost to pay a silver penny yearly the church was enlarged on the south side during the fifteenth century and in the following century the jesus isle was added when thomas chard acting as bishop oldham's suffragan reconsecrated the church the chancel is now towards the east in what was once an isle the original chancel being where the north isle is now with the consequence that the interior of the church has a very curious appearance farther up high street on the same side are some picturesque houses with elizabethan gables the interiors of many of them adorned with fine specimens of oak carving in situ the building now occupied by messrs greene as a drapery establishment was at one time the new inn and it is mentioned in this capacity so early as fourteen fifty six in a lease relating to the building in which it is referred to as the new inn in fifteen fifty four the cloth mart was established here and early in the seventeenth century the new inn hall was used as the exchange where the cloth merchants met to transact their business the house was rebuilt towards the close of the century and the apollo room was added as a banqueting hall for the judges on circuit this is now ufed as a show-room but it ftill retains its elaborate plaster ceiling bearing the date sixteen ninety five and the original oak panelling the frieze confists of a feries of wreaths upholding fhields charged with the armorial bearings of many county families together with the royal arms and thofe of the city farther up the street is the church of st stephen mentioned in doomsday the original church was destroyed by the commonwealth in sixteen fifty eight and rebuilt in sixteen sixty four stephen's bow the adjacent archway was always a part of the church and above it rises the tower beneath the church is an ancient crypt a turning to the right close by leads to bedford circus with a statue of the earl of devon at the entrance in the thirteenth century a dominican convent was founded in this part of the city and occupied the southern portion of the circus together with chapel street and the adjoining mews in fifteen fifty eight the convent was dissolved and bedford house the west-country residence of the dukes of bedford was erected here henrietta maria held her court and here the little princess was born the dukes of bedford ceased to use this residence in the eighteenth century and in seventeen seventy three it fell into the builders hands when the eastern side of the circus was built the western side not being begun until eighteen twenty six the place to-day possesses no attractive features and only the memories of its past history remain the earlier excavations brought to light a great number of skulls bones and fragments of sculpture while during the later building operations especially those conducted on the site of the conventual church a large number of carved stones were unearthed which had evidently formed part of the dominican house some of these fragments were richly ornamented with painting and gilding another discovery was the life-size stone head of an effigy with a hood of closely set ring mail this is now preserved in the cathedral cloisters returning to high street bamphile street lies a little higher up a great portion of this street is occupied by the front of bampfylde house built by sir amyas bampfylde at the end of the sixteenth century in later years this became the town-house of the poultimore family although shamefully modernized the house has retained a few interesting features in the hall is feen a narrow window filled with old glafs on which armorial bearings are difplayed while the broad ftaircafe leads to a fine apartment panelled in oak and having an elaborate plafler ceiling the mantel-piece is a good piece of work and bears the arms of the paltimores in its centre there are one or two other good rooms and fome deep cupboards and one very fmall apartment is faid to be a genuine eighteenth century powdering clofet the beautiful old courtyard at the back will no longer be recognised by those who knew it a few years ago it has been restored the church of st lawrence is situated on the north side of high street and dates from twelve hundred and two it was sold during the commonwealth and bought by the parishioners for one hundred pounds on the south side and slightly farther up is st john's hospital situated near to where the old east gate formerly stood the hospital was founded circuit twelve twenty five by gilbert and john long bishop grandison was a great benefactor to it as in addition to increasing the number of inmates and clergy he added a master of grammar and twelve scholars the foundation was suppressed in fifteen forty but in sixteen twenty this restoration was planned by hugh crossing and carried out after his death by his widow the institution was refounded in sixteen twenty nine when only the school was revived and is now known as the blue boys school the playground is partly bounded by a piece of the old city wall whence one can look down on the southern hay gardens and obtain a good impression of the strength of the ancient fortifications the seal of st john's hospital is an interesting one of thirteenth century date on which is depicted the exterior of st john's chapel which is shown as having a shingled roof and gable crosses also an external arcade of three semicircular arches another interesting seal of the same century is that of the hospital of st alexius founded in eleven seventy this foundation and the hospital of the bishops formerly on the site of the present vicars college were afterwards united with the hospital of st john at the east gate the seal shows the hospital with gable crosses an arcaded clerestory and three quatrefoil openings in its wall beneath is an arcade of six arches high street merges into sidwell street st sidwell's was one of the nineteen old city parishes although without the walls the site of st sidwell's church is said to be on the spot where a saint of this name suffered martyrdom she is one of those half-mythical british saints said by tradition to have been beheaded by a scythe whilst praying beside a well a church is said to have been built in her honour so early as seven forty nine the present building has undergone repeated restorations but some ancient pillars still remain with sculptured capitals and there is also a representation of st sidwell or sidwella whose attributes are a well and a scythe to the monastery he had founded athelstan presented some reputed relics of the saint at the top of sidwell street is st anne's almshouse one of the most interesting foundations in the city it was originally a hermitage but little is known about it until fourteen eighteen when it was newly constructed and in fifteen sixty one oliver and george mannering founded a hospital for eight poor people the chapel is a small building that has retained its piscina and two niches for holding figures the almshouse was fortified by fairfax during the civil war and for many years the chapel was in a ruinous condition but it was restored early in the nineteenth century st anne's day twenty sixth july has been observed regularly by the inmates of the charity since its foundation retracing our steps to the beginning of high street and proceeding up castle street we reached the highest point of the city the red mount crowned by the gateway and ruin towers of an ancient castle the fortress formed as part of the fortifications erected by athelstan and the red tower with its triangular-headed window may be confidently assigned to the saxon era during the norman period the castle was rebuilt by brian de molis in stephen's reign it was besieged and taken from earl baldwin de redves who was banished until the following reign when his possessions were restored The castle belonged to the de Redvers and Courtenay families until 1231, when Henry III presented it to his brother Richard as part of the earldom of Cornwall.

In 1537, Henry VIII granted Exeter a charter, giving the city the privilege of being a county with its own sheriffs, excepting Rougemont Castle, which still belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall.

From this point one can see the tapering spire of St. Michael's Church in the grounds of Mount Dinham, where are the almshouses erected and endowed in 1860 by John Dinham.

Here are 43 cottages and Episcopal charity schools, the latter founded originally in 1709 by Bishop Offspring Blackhall.

continuing along the baftion the limit of the northern wall is foon reached many of the old ftreets in this quarter of the city are worth vifiting for in the narrow thoroughfares are fome interesting old houfes in st mary arches ftreet is the church of the fame name fhut in by houfes it is one of the old parifli churches of exeter and one that takes part of its name from the fine norman pillars and arcade of the nave which is the oldeft in the city in the south isle is a chantry containing the altar tomb of thomas andrews mayor in fifteen hundred and five and fifteen ten and who died in fifteen eighteen mint street as its name implies was associated with the mint established there by permission of william the third the coinage minted there may be recognised by the letter e placed beneath the king's head bartholomew ftreet brings us to four ftreet a narrow and very fteep thoroughfare within which is the fine front of the tucker's hall belonging to the incorporated guilds of weavers fullers and sheermen chartered in fourteen ninety close at hand are steps leading down to x island which was for many years a fubjeft of difpute between the earls of devon and the citifans but on the attainder of henry marquis of exeter in fifteen fifty eight the property reverted to the crown on the conclusion of the prayer-book riots the island was granted to the city by edward the sixth as a reward for the services it had rendered the authorities many of the old portions of the island have been destroyed many of them in recent years but an interesting specimen of a tudor house remains with the covering of slates somewhat resembling scale armour shields appear in the ornamentation one of them bearing the tudor rose at one time this ftyle of wall covering was very common in exeter but the example in x island is the only one now remaining on the fouth fide of fore ftreet ftands st olefs church where according to doomsday a church with the fame dedication existed before the conqueft it is said traditionally to have been built by gytha harold's mother in order that masses might be said for the souls of her son and earl godwin william i gave the church to the monks of battle abbey in whose possession it remained until the reformation more than a century later st olave's was lent to the french huguenot refugees many of whom settled in exeter where they established an important woollen industry the present church bears few indications of antiquity beyond some norman arches and a little early carving in the tower at the lower end of fourth street is west street marking the western limits of the old walls a right-hand turn leads to st edmund's church built in the thirteenth century at one end of the old bridge when it was known as st edmund's supe pontem in eighteen thirty one the original ftructure was pulled down and the prefent building begun it is faid to ftand upon fome of the arches of the ancient bridge turning eaftwards we reach the foot of stepcote hill and the church of st mary's steps a remarkable exterior feature is the old clock and figures known locally as matthew the miller the dial is enriched with basso-relievos representing the four seasons and in a niche just above is a small effigy of henry the eighth in a sitting posture who nods his head as each hour is struck on each side is a military figure their morions crowned with feathers javelins held in their right hands and small hammers in their left hands with which they alternately strike the quarter-hours on two small bells at their feet the name of matthew the miller is faid to have originated from the punctuality of a miller of that name who was fo regular in going to and from his mill that people fet their clocks by him the church contains a fine chancel fcreen with twenty eight panels of painted faints which was removed from the church of st mary major the font is a good one of norman date just oppofite st mary's steps ftood the weft gate of the city which was taken down in eighteen fourteen the weft gate quarter formed part of the manor of x island and was inhabited chiefly by weavers fullers dyers and thofe whofe occupations required a copious fupply of water the whole of this diftrict is interfected with narrow lanes and paffages beneath and around which are many ftreams diverted from the river to work the mills a few old gabled houfes with overhanging upper stories ftill remain in this diftrict but they are in a very dilapidated condition as will be noticed by any one who traverses one of the numerous byways that lead to fouth ftreet at the lower end of which is magdalen ftreet where are two very interesting hofpitals weinhardt's and the magdalen the former was founded in fourteen thirty by william winard sometime recorder of the city for the habitation of a priest and twelve poor men the attached chapel was dedicated to the holy trinity and the hospital was called god's house the founder left many lands and tenements to provide funds for the establishment the master might not be absent more than once or twice in the year and his total holidays in the twelve months were never to exceed three weeks and three days he was also required to teach from three to nine boys starting them with the alphabet and going on to the great psalter of the holy david the foundation passed eventually into the possession of william kennaway who built a vault within which he was buried the hospital to-day is one of the fecular buildings of exeter moft worth vifiting with its gabled houfes dormer windows and garden plots an archway leads into the court-yard around which on three fides are grouped the houfes of the twelve pensioners the chapel occupies the fourth fide of the quadrangle the magdalen or leper hospital just without the south gate was founded some time before eleven thirty five for in eleven thirty six we find that bishop bartholomew permitted a continuance of the ancient rite by which the lepers were allowed to collect food twice a week in the market and alms on two other days to all of which the healthy members of the community naturally objected in twelve forty five bishop brouwer resigned the guardianship of the leper hospital to the corporation and was given in its stead the mastership of the hospital of st john one of the mayors of exeter richard orange was a great patron of the lazar house and when he himself contracted leprosy he took up his abode in the hospital where he died and was buried in the chapel even so late as the sixteenth century there would appear to have been lepers in exeter for we find that in fifteen eighty no one was to be admitted to the magdalen hospital except sick persons in the disease of leprosy in south street is college hall or the hall of the college of priest vicars or vicars choral a fine oak panelled apartment the original hall was built by bishop brantingham about thirteen eighty eight and access was then gained to it from the close the houses of the priest vicars being arranged on each side of a green all this has now disappeared with the exception of the hall which was rebuilt in the fifteenth century at one end is a gallery upon the upper panels of which are paintings representing former bishops of the diocese beginning with leofric on the carved mantelpiece is the date sixteen twenty nine and the owls which constitute the punning or alluvive arms of bishop oldham near the hall a road leads into the close passing the church of st mary major a modern building replacing a beautiful old one which appears to have been needlessly destroyed on the eastern side of the close is a picturesque elizabethan building known as moll's coffee-house at the time of the armada it was a private residence in fifteen ninety six the original house was pulled down and the present building erected on the introduction of coffee into england it was opened as a club and coffee-house by an italian named moll as fuch it was a well-known and popular refort with the citizens of exeter and the fquires of the neighbourhood until eighteen twenty nine it is now ufed as a fhop by a firm of fine art dealers but the fine armada room upftairs is willingly fhewn to all vifitors who exprefs a wifh to fee it it is a good panelled room with low windows and an elaborate frieze of fhields bearing the arms of many ancient devonshire families among them being those of sir francis drake sir walter raleigh and general monk adjoining moult coffee-house is the very fmall church of st martin now but rarely ufed for defined fervice on the catherine street side of the church is a building formerly an almshouse which has an attached chapel of much interest dedicated to st catherine the chapel is conjectured to have been built by the anuello monks whose college originally stood on the site of maule's coffee-house where traces of it may still be seen in the cellars the narrow passage of st martin's lane known to the present-day citizens as luxury lane on account of its shops leads directly from the busy high street to the cathedral close part one part two of exeter by sidney heath the cathedral the present cathedral church of the diocese of exeter may be said to be the third building that has stood on the site nothing remains of the saxon church elevated to the dignity of a cathedral when the bishopric was removed from crediton and of the norman church erected by warrelwaft and nephew of the conqueror only the two massive towers are standing the remainder of the building belonging almost entirely to the late decorated ftile of which it is one of the moft beautiful examples we poflefs the city of exeter does not appear to have been divided into parishes until the year twelve twenty two in pursuance then no doubt of archbishop langton's constitution of the same year the cathedral itself was first constituted a parish by being placed under the charge of a single dignitary the dean by bishop briware in twelve twenty five four years after he ascended the throne in ten forty two edward the confessor gave the united bishopric of crediton and cornwall to his chaplain leofric who observing that crediton was an open town difficult to fortify against the danish raiders obtained from pope leo the ninth permission to remove the episcopal see to exeter when the benedictine minister of st mary and st peter became the cathedral church of the diocese although no part of this church remains an ancient feel of the cathedral is of fpecial intereft as fhowing fome of the architectural features of the faxon church it depicts the weft front with two towers the northern fquare and the fouthern tercular the latter furmounted by a crofs and pierced by three round openings in the walls there are two porches one in the centre the other in the north tower and the walls fhow indications of characteristic faxon masonry on the central roof is a large flefh or turret of two stages carrying a weathercock on a very tall fhaft of the fucceeding church the only contemporary pictorial reprefentations we have are thofe on early and fomewhat imperfect ceils dating from the end of the eleventh century the firft has a church with crefting of fleurs-de-lis on a hipped and tiled roof two gable croffes flanking pinnacles an arcaded cleriftry and a double door with ornamental hinges on each fide of which is a quatrefoil opening the second seal shows an arcaded building standing on a stone plinth of four quarters and flanked by towers with conical roofs and ball finials the roof is surmounted by a large fleur-de-lis and exhibits an unusual form of tiling a third seal eleven ninety four to twelve hundred six shows the west front of the cathedral with two western towers and a central porch and a large roof turret another view of the weft front occurs on the fiel of the archdeacon's official twelve sixty seven and in this example there are three pointed towers the central one carrying a crofs the others being capped with flag veins in the doorway ftands a figure of the official the two norman tranfeptal towers ftill ftanding give the cathedral a unique appearance this arrangement being found nowhere else in england save at the highly interesting and not far distant collegiate church of ottery st mary having thus briefly sketched from pictorial evidence the architectural characteristics of the predecessors of the present cathedral we may begin our tour of the building exeter is known as a cathedral of the old foundation as in pre-reformation days it was served by secular canons and as such it was not refounded by henry the eighth so that there has been no break in the continuity of its ecclesiastical history since its original institution in the days of leofric with the exception of carlisle which was served before the reformation by augustinian or austin canons all the cathedrals of the old foundation were served by secular canons it must be remembered that although nearly the whole of the architectural merit of the cathedral lies in the interior and particularly in the magnificent ftone vaulting of the roof which is the high water mark of vaulting on a large fcale in england there are feveral portions of the exterior that are worth noting externally the great defect of the building is the low elevation of the body and the want of a central tower to counteract the heavy effect produced by folid fquare towers at each tranfept the weft front with its low embattled fcreen of figures is not a very happy architectural compofition and is not to be compared to the weft fronts of lincoln and peterborough where the figure fculpture is earlier and better executed than at exeter the one redeeming feature of an otherwise unimposing west front is the decorated tracery of the great window now filled with modern and not very satisfactory glass in memory of archbishop temple who was bishop of exeter from eighteen sixty nine to eighteen eighty five the elevation of this front consists of three stories the basement screen containing three portals above this is the weft wall of the nave and above this again is the nave gable in which is inferted a fmaller window of the fame character as the larger one the apex of the gable has a canopied niche within which is a much reftored effigy of st peter the floping walls built on each fide as if purpofly to conceal the buttresses of the nave and its aisles give this portion of the church an awkward perspective and tend to diminish the apparent height of the whole faade the fcreen itfelf was the laft important addition to be made to the fabric by bishop thirteen seventy to thirteen ninety four and it is little more than a low-stone fcaffolding for holding the rows of figures of faints kings and other diftinguifhed perfons which fill the niches an attempt to identify these sixty-five individuals with the aid of early drawings and still earlier documents may be said to have established the identities of the majority of the effigies although they have suffered so much from rough treatment restoration and weathering that many of the saintly emblems and regal attributes are difficult to decipher at the present time two of the figures which were broken with falling were replaced by new and very indifferent figures by mr e b stephens some years ago it was found that the whole of this embattled screen was merely a stone veil erected for the purpose of protecting the original west front one or two stones were removed a little to the right of the north door of the west entrance and the inner mouldings exposed within the thickness of the wall is a little chapel dedicated to st radegund in which bishop grandison prepared his tomb the north fide of the cathedral can be viewed in its entirety from any part of the well-kept lawns beneath which lie the bones of the citizens of seven centuries but no ftones mark their refting places the moft noticeable feature on this north fide is the fturdy norman tower corresponding to its fellow on the fouth fide the original purpofes of which are ftill a matter of much difcuftion among antiquaries built by bishop warilwas in the twelfth century they stood as two distinct and independent towers until bishop quivl during the rebuilding of the cathedral in twelve eighty to twelve ninety one ingeniously opened up the inside walls supporting the remaining portions of the walls upon arches thus forming the interiors of the towers into transepts the exterior of the northern tower is plain walling for part of its height when it is divided into four stages by horizontal bands each stage containing elaborate norman arcading ornamented with zigzag moulding it is surmounted with an embattled parapet with a turret at each angle in the north wall a fine decorated window was inserted by quivel for the purpose of lighting his newly-made transepts to make way for this window a portion of the arcading of the first stage was cut away the towers are similar to each other and they were formerly capped with spires in seventeen fifty two the spire on the north tower was taken down that on the south tower having been removed at a much earlier date just below the window on the face of the north tower are the masonry marks of the gable of a house this was the old treasurer's house wherein henry the seventh was lodged when he came to exeter to put down perkin warbeck's rebellion near the north tower is the projecting north porch with its embattled parapet on the eastern side of the interior are the fragments of what was once a calvary and on the central boss of the roof is a representation of the agnes an apartment above is known as the dog whipper's room a relic of those days when an official was appointed whose duty it was to keep stray dogs out of the sacred building on the exterior of the clericery wall immediately above the porch is a projection which marks the minstrels gallery and is lighted by a window along the whole length of the cathedral from the weft end of the nave to the eaft end of the choir are the flying buttresses that counteract the thruft of the heavy roof faulting of the interior at the extreme eaftem end of the cathedral the lady chapel and its fifter chantries can be feen to great advantage with their windows filled with tracery the great perpendicular eaft window is partially hidden by the more eafterly portions of the fabric but it contains fome fine old glafs on which are full length reprefentations of nineteen faints and patriarchs and many armorial bearings the full beauty of the glafs can only be feen from the interior the fouth fide of the cathedral is very fimilar to the northern one except that the portion eaft of the tower is hidden from view by the episcopal palace once infide the nave which fhould be entered by the weftern portal the dulleft eye cannot fail to perceive the uniform character of the work a quality which gives to this cathedral a congruity of structural forms and an architectonic value that is lacking in buildings which exhibit the styles of various periods here we see the complete architectural expression of one master mind although the edifice was erected under the supervision of successive bishops the present cathedral was begun by bishop bronze twelve fifty eight to twelve eighty to whom is due a portion of the lady chapel his successor twelve eighty to twelve ninety one furnished designs for the entire rebuilding of the church and how faithfully his successors adhered to these plans is proved by the fact that a great deal of this decorated building was erected at a time when the perpendicular style was in full swing all over the country with the exception of the great eaft window which is of the perpendicular period the whole of the interior is of the pureft decorated work and is the fineft as it is the moft complete example of this ftyle on a large fcale in the country exception has been taken to the lack of height in the nave due to the low fpring of the vaulting and there is fome juftification for the criticifm the vaulting however is exceedingly beautiful and the long line of unbroken roof stretching from the west end of the nave to the east end of the choir is so charming a feature that when inside the building we no longer regret the absence of a central tower the bosses that unite the vaulting ribs represent a variety of subjects the last but one near the west window depicting the martyrdom of becket corbels from which the vaulting shafts spring are mostly sculptured heads of the plantagenets those on each side of the minstrels gallery depict edward the third and queen philippa the gallery cuts into the triforium on its north fide and contains niches in which are fculptured angels with mufical inftruments until the middle of the laft century it was cuftomry for the surpliced choir to fing the gloria in excelfis from the gallery on chriftmas eve the gothic arches of the nave large and beautiful reft upon maffive cluftered piers of purbeck marble the development of thefe piers as the building progreffed weftwards is clearly feen between the lady chapel and the choir is a pier of four fhafts then one of eight which eventually develops into one of fixteen fhafts repeated throughout the length of the nave although the tracery of the aisle windows is very varied in design each window on the north fide has its counterpart on the fouth fide and fome of the tracery of thefe windows has a marked tendency to the flamboyance thus fhowing the lateness of much of the work at exeter for what is called the flamboyant ftyle is contemporary in france with our perpendicular work which is a purely englifh ftyle unknown on the continent the choir fcreen was put up by bishop stapledon fourteen sixty five but its height and effectiveness are fadly marred by the great organ placed upon it until comparatively recent years an altar ftood on each fide of this fcreen the great west window of the nave the beautiful tracery of which has already been alluded to was due to bishop grandison thirteen twenty seven to thirteen sixty nine the font at the western end of the south nave aisle was made specially for the baptism of princess henrietta while the nave pulpit erected in eighteen seventy seven to the memory of bishop pattison of melanesia is says the reverend baring gould much of a piece with the ftuff turned out by clerical tailors and church decorators who furnifh us with vulgar defigns in illustrated catalogues the tranfeps as we have feen were bored by quivel through the two norman towers built by warrelwaft and in confequence are of fmall dimensions in the north tower is the great bell called peter which was brought from clandaff by bishop courtenay towards the end of the fifteenth century and which weighs twelve thousand five hundred pounds the only heavier bell in this country being great tom of oxford the weight of which is seventeen thousand pounds peter was rung formerly by the united exertions of twenty-four men using two ropes and double wheels but it was cracked on fifth november sixteen eleven from a too violent ringing in commemoration of the gunpowder plot in seventeen fifty two the bell was placed in the lower part of the tower and fo fixed in a massive framework of timber that it cannot now be wrong it is however ufed as a clock bell and the found of its deep notes can be heard at a great diftance the old clock in the same transept has been regarded as the gift of bishop courtenay but this is doubtful as from entries in the fabric rolls it seems that the clock was constructed more than a century before that prelate presided over the sea if so the clock would date from about thirteen seventeen this ancient clock is very remarkable being constructed upon the idea that the earth and not the sun was the centre of the solar system it shows the hour of the day and the age of the moon the dial is about seven feet in diameter and on it are two circles one numbered from one to thirty for the age of the moon the other numbered from one to twelve twice over for the hours in the centre of the dial a semi globe is fixed representing the earth around which a smaller globe indicating the moon revolves monthly and by turning on its axis as it revolves shows the various lunar phases between the two circles is a third globe representing the sun with an attached fleur-de-lis which points to the hours as the ball revolves around the earth in seventeen sixty more works were added to fhow the minutes which are painted in a circle the works of the clocks have been renewed many times and are now placed in the difufed chantry of subchanta filk fituated in the north eaft corner of the tranfept juft below the ancient clock on the eaftern fide of this tranfept is st paul's chapel now ufed as a veftry the fouth tranfept that correfponds with the northern one is formed from the lower part of the fouth tower which contains a fine fet of bells although only ten of them are now rung there are fome interesting monuments in this tranfept here are the great courtenay tomb originally occupying a place in the nave the elizabethan tomb of sir john gilbert brother of sir humphrey gilbert and half-brother to sir walter raleigh and the monument to sir peter carew the niche in the wall holds a few fragments of fculptured ftone faved from the tomb of leofric firft bifhop of exeter who was buried in the crypt of his own church a marble flab againft the fouth wall is believed to be the refting place of bishop john the chanter eleven eighty six to eleven ninety one a fmall door in this tranfept leads to the chapel of the holy goft and to the chapter houfe on the roof of the south choir aisle are bosses carved with representations of the heads of edward i and queen eleanor this aisle contains many interesting effigies among them two of those of unknown knights considered to commemorate sir humphry de bohun and sir henry de raleigh the body of the latter knight was the cause of a contention between the dean and chapter of the cathedral and the dominican friars in the year thirteen hundred and one the quarrel was a bitter one and lasted for five years the dean and the chapter affirmed that from time immemorial and by special arrangement with the friars they had the right to have all bodies which were intended to be buried in the dominican church with the exception of those which belonged to the convent brought to the cathedral with the usual wax and offerings for the first mass the friars refused to allow sir henry raleigh's body to be taken to the cathedral and they claimed the wax and offerings after a lengthy dispute the executors and friends of the night took his body to the cathedral where the usual mass was celebrated after which the body with the beer and pall belonging to the friars was carried back to the convent doors the friars now refufed to readmit the body upon which the executors took it again to the cathedral and after keeping it for a day and a night and the friars ftill refufing to receive it they carried it to be buried in the cathedral as it could not be left longer unburied owing to the stench on the south side of the isle is the chapel of st james which was built by bishop marshall and restored by quivel in the early decorated style the vaulting and the windows are similar to those of the choir isles over it was formerly the muniment room but in eighteen seventy the archives were removed to the chapter-house for greater safety during some excavations a crypt was found beneath the chapel with a finely groined roof the crypt now contains the machinery ufed for blowing the organ the next chapel on the fouth fide is the chantry of bishop oldham or st xavier's chapel richly decorated with carvings among which the owl of the bishop forming part of the rebus of his name is prominent his armorial bearings are alfo charged with the three owls effigy of the prelate refts beneath an ogee arch and is lavifhly coloured although the original work has been reftored by corpus christi college oxford in memory of bishop oldham who contributed six thousand marks to the collegiate foundation on the fouth fide of the lady chapel is st gabriel's chapel built by bishop bronifcombe in honour of his patron faint here lies the effigy of the bishop in a carved and richly gilded tomb the chapel of st mary magdalene originally built by broniscombe was altered by quivel it has a perpendicular screen and some fifteenth century glass in the east window close by on the north side of the north choir isle is sir john speke's chantrey or st george's chapel of perpendicular work and containing the effigy of the knight when the cathedral was divided into two parts in puritan days a doorway was made where the altar now stands leading into east peter's on the north side of the choir isle is st andrew's chapel corresponding with that of st james on the south by the north wall is the large sixteenth-century monument of sir gawain carew his wife and his nephew sir peter carew fifteen seventy one the effigy of the last-named is cross-legged and so late an example of this disposition of the lower limbs supports the now generally accepted archological fact that the cross-legged attitude had no particular reference to the romantic wars of the crusades other interesting monuments in this isle are the cross-legged effigy of sir richard de stapledon half-brother to the bishop and that of bishop stapledon the latter although in the choir is seen to better advantage from below a story runs to the effect that while sir richard was riding one day in london with his brother a cripple laid hold of his horse by one of the fore-legs throwing both horse and rider to the ground and causing the knight's death hence the name cripplegate bishop stapledon was treasurer to edward the second and held london against queen isabella the bishop was taken prisoner and condemned to death at a mock trial he was beheaded at cheapside and his body cast on a rubbish heap whence it was eventually taken to exeter and accorded an honourable burial no examples of miserere carvings are known in english churches before the thirteenth century and the set at exeter are probably the earliest we have the character of their foliage denoting the early english period they are thought to have been the gift of bishop brewer twelve twenty four to twelve forty four the complete set numbers forty-nine and among the fubjeft represented are a merman and a mermaid an elephant and a knight flaying a leopard choir ftalls carved to illustrate the benedicite the pulpit and the reredos are all modern having been erected from defigns by sir gilbert scott the lofty tapering bishops throne an eftential feature of every cathedral church is the moft remarkable of the choir fittings it has been affertained from the fabric rolls that it was a gift of bishop stapledon fourteen sixty five and the exact fum paid for the work and timber was juft under thirteen pounds a confiderable fum of money when its modern equivalent is calculated the throne confifts of a feries of pinnacles and niches rifing in diminifhing tiers until the crowning pinnacle almoft reaches to the cleriftery window there is not a fingle nail in the whole of this canopied feat although it rifes to a height of more than fixty feet from the choir floor it has been taken to pieces on at least two occasions once by the son of bishop hall when it was hidden away during the civil wars to fave it from cromwell's troopers and a fecond time by sir gilbert scott for the purpofes of cleaning it is highly probable that the oak of which it is made came from chudley fome ten miles away where the bifhips of exeter had a pallas of which fragments remain in pallas farm the beautiful stone sedilia was due to stapledon above the seat are three arches ten feet in height surmounted by elaborately designed tabernacle work the arches spring from three carved heads reputed to be those of st edward the confessor leofric and edith the lady chapel is at the eastern end of the choir from which it is separated by a broad ambulatory and within it are the tombs of bishop stafford broniscombe simon of apulia and bartholomew as well as the tomb of sir john dodderidge a plain slab marks the resting-place of bishop quivel the stone bearing an incised cross and around it the inscription petra tegit petrum nihil officiat the large number of interments in the lady chapels was due to the perfectly natural desire of our forefathers to be laid to rest in the chapel dedicated to the blessed virgin the cloister stood formerly on the south side in front of the chapter house they were so sadly mutilated by the cromwellian troopers that houses were erected and a weekly market held on the site in eighteen eighty seven a portion of the ruinous cloister was restored so that a new cathedral library could be placed above it for the purpose of housing the valuable libraries bequeathed to the cathedral no more space being available in the chapter house an interesting manuscript preserved in the library of the devon and exeter institution contains many references to the city which have not been recorded by other historians with reference to the cloisters the unknown author of this manuscript says sixteen fifty seven the cloisters near to peter's church was converted into the surge market which was before in southgate street sixteen sixty the wall which divided east and west peters was taken down in december and in the month following the surge market was removed out of the cloisters and carried again into southgate street where it was before although the uniting of feveral parifhes into one was again made void and each parifh to enjoy her own privileges and liberties as before when daniel defoe visited exeter in seventeen twenty three it had the largest serge market in england next to leeds although the close has not succeeded in retaining any of its gates it is interesting by reason of the few old houses that still surround it whilst behind their gabled roofs rises the double-towered cathedral completing the picturesqueness of a really charming scene of which the prevailing tone is a dark grey ftained and almoft blackened by weathering and by age in the fourteenth century the clofe at exeter was enclosed with walls and until comparatively refent times it was built over the well kept clofe is peculiar to england the bifhop's palace dates from about thirteen eighty one and is fuppofed to have been either built or enlarged by bishop courtenay it was in a very ruinous condition when bishop philpot set to work to reftore it when many old fragments of masonry were let into the new work the fine archway leading into the cloyfters was put up at this time and a large oriel window of the library came from another old houfe in exeter within the hall of the palace is an ancient chimney-piece erected about fourteen eighty six upon which are sculptured the courtenay arms and badges the arms of england and the emblem of st anthony during the commonwealth the palace came into the possession of a sugar-baker and the succeeding bishop was content to leave him undisturbed the next occupant of the see however turned a sugar-baker out of the house which he occupied himself several traces of the fugar refinery were difcovered when the palace was refored by bishop philpotts the palace gardens are very extenfive and are bounded on the fouth fide by the remains of the city wall upon which is now a pleafant walk near the centre of the wall is a curious building generally known as the lollards prifon although whether it ever was ufed for this purpofe is a matter of conjecture one of the finest views of the cathedral is that obtained from a corner of the lawn in the palace gardens the x after leaving the peaceful atmosphere of the cathedral the noise and distractions of the modern city grate upon us the return to the twentieth-century commonplace after the fourteenth-century refinement is too sudden there being no intermediate stage between the one and the other between the gloom of the great church and the glare and feverish hurry of a prosperous city this being fo we cannot do better than feek a meafure of quietude and repofc along the banks of the ex a river which rifing on exmoor gives name to exeter exminster and exmouth although rifing in somerset the river may fittingly be claimed as a devonian one as it enters the county a little below dulverton where it receives the waters of the barle at the beginning of its career the aix flows through a country of great beauty and much romantic interest which has been immortalized by r d blackmore in lorna doon this land of aixmoor is a heathery plateau that rivals in everything but extent the sister moorland which gives birth to that prince of english rivers the dart dartmoor is larger wilder and grander in the bold contours of its cloud-capped tors but the wildness of exmoor is blended with a sweet and gentle charm which is all its own it presents us with a panorama of misty woods gleaming water and glowing heather a comb furrowed moorland clothed with scrub-oaks and feathery larches after leaving this forest shrine the x enters devonshire where after flowing through richly wooded and fertile valleys it fweeps pafs the ancient town of tibetan where it is fwelled by the waters of the lomen three miles from tibetan it reaches bickley bridge beyond which it is the recipient of the culm the largeft of all its tributaries along the greater part of its courfe to this point its filver ftreams thread their way between floping hills crowned with hanging woods and by feenery of the true devonian order at cowley bridge two miles above exeter the river is joined by the creedy which coming from the north-west flows through and gives name to creediton or crediton the course of the ex from its source on exmoor to the sea at exmouth is estimated at about seventy miles it is a pure pellucid stream until joined by the creedy which imparts to it a reddish colour from the soil through which the latter flows the importance of the river to exeter especially before the waterway was obstructed by isabella de fortibus countess of devon cannot be overestimated and in old books many of the now flourishing ports on the south coast are described as creeks under exeter from ancient records it seems certain that an arm of the sea extended to the very walls of the city and from the facility thus afforded to commerce exeter at a very early period became the great trading port of the west country of the various trades carried on here those of the woollen and its allied industries were the most numerous it was also one of those favoured english ports to which licences were granted in fourteen twenty eight for the embarkation of devout persons and pilgrims who were visiting the great continental shrines and particularly that of st james at compostella before they were permitted to leave this country these mediaeval devotees were required to swear a solemn oath that they would not take with them any thing prejudicial to england nor to reveal any of its secrets nor carry out with them any more gold or silver than what would be sufficient for their reasonable expence as civilization increased trade and commerce both foreign and domestic kept pace with the growth of the city and in the reign of elizabeth the wool merchants of the county and the wool staplers of its capital had risen to fame and opulence In the year 1560, Queen Elizabeth granted the traders of Exeter a charter of privileges, and letters patents were issued forming them into a company under the name of a Society of Merchant Adventurers of the City of Exeter.

But there is no way to deny his many accomplishments and the long-term effect they had on history as Francis Drake firmly established himself as one of the greatest and most daring naval commanders and explorers in history.

Francis Drake was born circa 1540 near Tavistock, in the English county of Devon, to Edmund and Mary Drake, the oldest of 12 siblings.

His father had been a sailor in his youth, before being ordained as a minister, and his son soon followed in his steps.

Edmund found Francis his first position aboard a ship when he was a teenager, and by the time he turned 18, Francis Drake had already been made the purser of a ship sailing to the Bay of Biscay.

Mufri, which has products stocked in several major supermarkets and online, said it had been selling its snowballs for about two years before Mondelez demanded it immediately remove the items from sale just ahead of the busy Christmas period.

Mike Jessop, who co-founded Devon-based Mufri in 2010, when he and his wife could not find allergen-free chocolates for Easter or Christmas, said they began selling online before being picked up by Waitrose and other supermarkets.

He said he had never even heard of a Cadbury Snowball, probably because he was lactose intolerant and couldn't try one.

He questioned whether it could be possible to trademark an apparently generic term.

honest.

The other point is, because it was interesting when we spoke the other day, Paul, about the 5th of November and Guy Fawkes, because what a lot of people don't realise, it's also the date when William of Orange was invited to England, and landed at Torbay in Devon on the 5th of November, 1688.

Mm-hmm.

To begin, became the bloodless revolution.