ExeterDaily

📍 The Exeter Alphabet - C is for Cathedral

Probably one of the easier letters to guess! 😂 For C, it had to be Exeter Cathedral.

But while it’s one of Exeter’s most familiar landmarks, there’s nearly a thousand years of history behind what we see today.

The story of a cathedral in Exeter begins in 1050, when Bishop Leofric became the first Bishop of Exeter. The first cathedral used an existing Anglo-Saxon church, believed to have stood immediately in front of today’s West Front - an iron cross in the grass now marks the location of its foundations.

Construction of a new, purpose-built cathedral on the present site began in 1114, in the Norman style. The two enormous square towers were built between 1114 and 1133, and they are among the most obvious surviving parts of that Norman cathedral.

Then, from around 1270 to 1350, the Cathedral underwent a huge transformation. Much of the Norman building was rebuilt in the Decorated Gothic style, but rather than demolishing the two towers, the medieval builders incorporated them into the new Cathedral as its north and south transepts. Historic England dates the main Gothic work from 1275 into the mid-14th century.

Inside is another extraordinary feature you can’t appreciate from the outside. Because Exeter Cathedral has no central tower interrupting the roof, its medieval stone vault runs continuously for approximately 96 metres from the nave through the quire - recognised by the Cathedral as the longest continuous medieval stone vault in the world.

The Cathedral has survived centuries of change, but one of its most dramatic moments came during the Exeter Blitz. In the early hours of 4 May 1942, a high-explosive bomb hit the Cathedral directly, destroying the medieval Chapel of St James and causing extensive damage around the south choir aisle. The damaged areas were subsequently reconstructed and restored.

Where do you think D will take me?