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On the south side of Fore Street stands St Olave's Church, where, according to Domesday, a church with the same dedication existed before the Conquest. 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.

The Westgate quarter formed part of the manor of Exe Island, and was inhabited chiefly by weavers, fullers, dyers, and those whose occupations required a copious supply of water. The whole of this district is intersected with narrow lanes and passages, beneath and around which are many streams diverted from the river to work the mills.

A few old gabled houses with overhanging upper stories still remain in this district, but they are in a very dilapidated condition, as will be noticed by anyone who traverses one of the numerous byways that lead to South Street, at the lower end of which is Magdalen Street, where are two very interesting hospitals--"Wynard's" and the "Magdalen". The former was founded in 1430 by William Wynard, 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 secular buildings of Exeter most worth visiting, with its gabled houses, dormer windows, and garden plots. An archway leads into the courtyard, around which on three sides are grouped the houses of the twelve pensioners; the chapel occupies the fourth side of the quadrangle.

The Magdalen, or Leper, Hospital, just without the South Gate, was founded sometime before 1135, for in 1136 we find that Bishop Bartholomew permitted a continuance of the ancient right 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 1244 Bishop Bruere 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 1580 no one was to be admitted to the Magdalen Hospital except "sick persons in the disease of the 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 Brantyngham about 1388, 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, 1629, and the owls which constitute the punning, or allusive, 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 Mol's Coffee House. At the time of the Armada it was a private residence. In 1596 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 Mol. As such it was a well-known and popular resort with the citizens of Exeter and the squires of the neighbourhood until 1829. It is now used as a shop by a firm of fine-art dealers, but the fine "Armada" room upstairs is willingly shown to all visitors who express a wish to see it. It is a good panelled room with low windows, and an elaborate frieze of shields bearing the arms of many ancient Devonshire families, among them being those of Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh, and General Monk. Adjoining Mol's Coffee House is the very small Church of St. Martin, now but rarely used for divine service. 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 Annuellor monks, whose college originally stood on the site of Mol'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 direct from the busy High Street to the Cathedral Close.

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 Warelwast, a nephew of the Conqueror, only the two massive towers are standing, the remainder of the building belonging almost entirely to the late Decorated style, of which it is one of the most beautiful examples we possess.

The city of Exeter does not appear to have been divided into parishes until the year 1222, 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 Briwere, in 1225.

Although no part of this church remains, an ancient seal of the Cathedral is of special interest as showing some of the architectural features of the Saxon church. It depicts the west front with two towers, the northern square and the southern circular, the latter surmounted by a cross, 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 show indications of characteristic Saxon masonry. On the central roof is a large fl?che or turret of two stages carrying a weathercock on a very tall shaft.

Of the succeeding church the only contemporary pictorial representations we have are those on early, and somewhat imperfect, seals dating from the end of the eleventh century. The first has a church with cresting of fleurs-de-lis on a hipped and tiled roof, two gable crosses, flanking pinnacles, an arcaded clerestory, and a double door with ornamental hinges, on each side of which is a quatrefoil opening. The second seal shows an arcaded building standing on a stone plinth of four courses, 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 shows the west front of the Cathedral with two western towers and a central porch, and a large roof turret. Another view of the west front occurs on the seal of the Archdeacon's official, 1267, and in this example there are three pointed towers, the central one carrying a cross, the others being capped with flag vanes. In the doorway stands a figure of the official. The two Norman transeptal towers still standing 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.

The west front, with its low, embattled screen of figures, is not a very happy architectural composition, and is not to be compared to the west fronts of Lincoln and Peterborough, where the figure sculpture 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 1869 to 1885.

The elevation of this front consists of three stories: the basement screen, containing three portals; above this is the west wall of the nave; and above this again is the nave gable, in which is inserted a smaller window of the same character as the larger one. The apex of the gable has a canopied niche, within which is a much-restored effigy of St. Peter. The sloping walls built on each side, as if purposely 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 fa?ade. The screen itself was the last important addition to be made to the fabric by Bishop Brantyngham , and it is little more than a low stone scaffolding for holding the rows of figures of saints, kings, and other distinguished persons 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. Stevens.

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 Grandisson prepared his tomb.

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 Agnus Dei.

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 clerestory 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 west end of the nave to the east end of the choir, are the flying buttresses that counteract the thrust of the heavy roof vaulting of the interior.

At the extreme eastern end of the Cathedral the Lady Chapel and its sister chantries can be seen to great advantage with their windows filled with tracery. The great Perpendicular east window is partially hidden by the more easterly portions of the fabric, but it contains some fine old glass, on which are full-length representations of nineteen saints and patriarchs, and many armorial bearings. The full beauty of the glass can only be seen from the interior. The south side of the Cathedral is very similar to the northern one, except that the portion east of the tower is hidden from view by the episcopal palace.

Once inside the nave, which should be entered by the western portal, the dullest 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 Bronescombe , to whom is due a portion of the Lady Chapel. His successor, Quivil , 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 east window, which is of the Perpendicular period, the whole of the interior is of the purest Decorated work, and is the finest, as it is the most complete, example of this style on a large scale in the country. Exception has been taken to the lack of height in the nave, due to the low spring of the vaulting, and there is some justification for the criticism. 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 Gothic arches of the nave, large and beautiful, rest upon massive clustered piers of Purbeck marble. The development of these piers as the building progressed westwards is clearly seen. Between the Lady Chapel and the choir is a pier of four shafts, then one of eight, which eventually develops into one of sixteen shafts, repeated throughout the length of the nave. Although the tracery of the aisle windows is very varied in design, each window on the north side has its counterpart on the south side, and some of the tracery of these windows has a marked tendency to the flamboyant, thus showing the lateness of much of the work at Exeter, for what is called the flamboyant style is contemporary in France with our Perpendicular work, which is a purely English style unknown on the Continent.

The choir screen was put up by Bishop Stapledon , but its height and effectiveness are sadly marred by the great organ placed upon it. Until comparatively recent years an altar stood on each side of this screen. The great west window of the nave, the beautiful tracery of which has already been alluded to, was due to Bishop Grandisson . 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 1877, to the memory of Bishop Patteson of Melanesia, "is", says the Rev. Baring-Gould, "much of a piece with the stuff turned out by clerical tailors and church decorators who furnish us with vulgar designs in illustrated catalogues".

The transepts, as we have seen, were bored by Quivil through the two Norman towers built by Warelwast, and in consequence are of small dimensions. In the north tower is the great bell called "Peter", which was brought from Llandaff by Bishop Courtenay towards the end of the fifteenth century, and which weighs 12,500 lb., the only heavier bell in this country being great "Tom of Oxford", the weight of which is 17,000 lb. "Peter" was rung formerly by the united exertions of twenty-four men using two ropes and double wheels, but it was cracked on 5 November, 1611, from a "too violent ringing in commemoration of the Gunpowder Plot".

In 1752 the bell was placed in the lower part of the tower, and so fixed in a massive framework of timber that it cannot now be rung; it is, however, used as a clock bell, and the sound of its deep notes can be heard at a great distance. 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 see. If so, the clock would date from about 1317. 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 1 to 30 for the age of the moon, the other numbered from 1 to 12 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 1760, more works were added--to show the minutes, which are painted in a circle. The works of the clocks have been renewed many times, and are now placed in the disused chantry of Sub-Chanter Sylke, situated in the northeast corner of the transept, just below the ancient clock.

On the eastern side of this transept is St. Paul's Chapel, now used as a vestry.

Other interesting monuments in this aisle 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 II, 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 Bruere . The complete set numbers forty-nine, and among the subjects represented are a merman and a mermaid, an elephant, and a knight slaying a leopard.

The beautiful stone sedilia was due to Stapledon. Above the seat are three arches 10 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 Bishops Stafford, Bronescombe, Simon of Apulia, and Bartholomew, as well as the tomb of Sir John Doddridge. A plain slab marks the resting place of Bishop Quivil, the stone bearing an incised cross and around it the inscription--

"PETRA TEGIT PETRUM NIHIL OFFICIAT SIBI TETRUM".

The large number of interments in 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.

"1657. The Cloysters neer to Peters churche was converted into the serdge markett, which was before in Southgate street.

"1660. The wall which divided East & West Peters was taken downe in December and in the month following the serdg markett was removed out of the Cloystures, and carried againe into Southgate street whear it was before. Also the uniting of severall parishes into one was againe made void & each parrish to enjoy her owne priviledges and lyberties as before."

When Daniel Defoe visited Exeter, in 1723, 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, stained and almost blackened by weathering and by age. In the fourteenth century the Close at Exeter was enclosed with walls, and until comparatively recent times it was built over. The well-kept Close is peculiar to England.

The Bishop's Palace dates from about 1381, and is supposed to have been either built or enlarged by Bishop Courtenay. It was in a very ruinous condition when Bishop Philpotts set to work to restore it, when many old fragments of masonry were let into the new work. The fine archway leading into the cloisters was put up at this time, and the large oriel window of the library came from another old house in Exeter. Within the hall of the Palace is an ancient chimney-piece erected about 1486, 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 the sugar baker out of the house, which he occupied himself. Several traces of the sugar refinery were discovered when the Palace was restored by Bishop Philpotts. The Palace Gardens are very extensive, and are bounded on the south side by the remains of the city wall, upon which is now a pleasant walk. Near the centre of the wall is a curious building generally known as the Lollards' Prison, although whether it ever was used for this purpose 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 EXE

This land of Exmoor is a heathery plateau that rivals in everything but extent the sister moorland which gives birth to that prince of English rivers, the Dart.

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 1428 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 anything 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 expense".

On the west bank of the Exe, almost opposite Topsham, are Powderham Park and Castle, the latter supposed to have been built originally by Isabella de Fortibus. It has been conjectured, and is indeed highly probable, that a fortified building or earthwork of some kind occupied the site at a much earlier date, possibly as early as the Danish invasions. In later times the manor belonged to the Bohuns, and it came into possession of the Earls of Devon through the marriage of Margaret de Bohun with Hugh Courtenay, the third earl. In 1645 the castle was besieged, unsuccessfully, by Fairfax, but in the following year it was taken by Colonel Hammond. Until about the middle of the eighteenth century it remained strongly fortified, but at that time it was subjected to many alterations. The oldest part of the present castle dates from the time of Richard II, but the whole fabric has undergone so many restorations that it presents a great variety of architectural styles. The fine modern hall contains a fireplace which is a replica of the one at the Palace, Exeter. The park is a delightful stretch of greensward, studded with ancient oaks, and it extends for many miles around the building. In one corner of the park is the little church of St. Clement, a Perpendicular building of red sandstone, and within which are several memorials of the Courtenays. These include a recumbent effigy popularly supposed to represent the renowned Isabella, although this lady is known to have been buried at Bromnor Priory, Wilts. It is the opinion of some authorities that this monument is a cenotaph to Elizabeth, daughter of Edward I, and wife of Humphrey de Bohun, whose daughter, Margaret, married Hugh Courtenay. On the highest ground of the park is the Belvidere, erected in 1773, a triangular tower with a small hexagonal turret at each corner. It is 60 feet high, and from the summit the view comprises the city of Exeter, the broad estuary of the Exe, the village of Lympstone, and the little town of Topsham, where the spars of the ships appear to mingle with the trees on the river's banks. Looking inland we may see the well-wooded country stretching away in a succession of hills and combes, until the view is bounded by the stone-capped heights of Dartmoor in the far distance.

Exmouth, although a modern watering-place, has a few points of interest, being one of the oldest seaside resorts on the south-west coast.

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