River Exe

For this episode, we've travelled to Exeter, one of Britain's most remarkable maritime cities.

It may sit miles from the open sea, but for almost a thousand years, its fortunes have been shaped by ships, merchants, engineers, and the wonderful River Exe.

Exeter began life as the Roman settlement of Isca Domnuniorum around AD 50.

The ex connected the settlement with the coast and provided an important transport route inland.

Merchants imported wine, salt timber and luxury goods, while busy quays, warehouses and customs houses transformed the waterfront into the commercial heart of the city.

But Exeter's prosperity depended on one thing, access to the sea.

Now over time weirs were built for fishing and mills and they made the River Exe increasingly difficult to navigate.

By the 16th century larger vessels could no longer reach the city so Exeter faced losing the very trade that had made it prosperous.