part of the well-kept lawns, beneath which lie the bones of the citizens
of seven centuries, but no stones mark their resting places. The most
noticeable feature on this north side is the sturdy Norman tower,
corresponding to its fellow on the south side, the original purposes of
which are still a matter of much discussion among antiquaries. Built by
Bishop Warelwast in the twelfth century, they stood as two distinct and
independent towers, until Bishop Quivil, during the rebuilding of the
Cathedral in 1280-91, 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 Quivil 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 1752 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 VII 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 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 (1258-80), to whom is due a portion of the Lady
Chapel. His successor, Quivil (1280-91), 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.
[Illustration: THE SANCTUARY, EXETER CATHEDRAL]
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. The corbels from which the vaulting shafts spring are mostly
sculptured heads of the Plantagenets; those on each side of the
Minstrels' Gallery depict Edward III and Queen Philippa. This gallery
cuts into the triforium on its north side, and contains niches in which
are sculptured angels with musical instruments. Until the middle of the
last century it was customary for the surpliced choir to sing the Gloria
in Excelsis from the gallery on Christmas Eve.
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 (1465), 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
(1327-69). 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.
The south transept, that corresponds with the northern one, is formed
from the lower part of the south tower, which contains a fine set of
bells, although only ten of them are now rung. There are some
interesting monuments in this transept. 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 Ralegh; and the monument to Sir Peter Carew. A niche in the
wall holds a few fragments of sculptured stone saved from the tomb of
Leofric, first Bishop of Exeter, who was buried in "the crypt of his own
church". A marble slab against the south wall is believed to be the
resting place of "Bishop John the Chanter" (1186-91). A small door in
this transept leads to the Chapel of the Holy Ghost and to the Chapter
House.
[Illustration: OLD COURTYARD IN THE CLOSE]
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 Humphrey de Bohun and Sir Henry
de Ralegh. 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 1301. 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 Ralegh'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 knight took his body to the
Cathedral, where the usual mass was celebrated, after which the body,
with the bier and pall belonging to the friars, was carried back to the
convent doors. The friars now refused 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 still refusing to receive it, they
carried it to be buried in the Cathedral, as it could not be left longer
unburied owing to the stench (_fetare_)".
On the south side of the aisle is the Chapel of St. James, which was
built by Bishop Marshall and restored by Quivil in the early Decorated
style. The vaulting and the windows are similar to those of the choir
aisles. Over it was formerly the muniment room, but in 1870 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 used for blowing the
organ. The next chapel on the south side is the chantry of Bishop
Oldham, or St. Saviour'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 also charged with the three owls.
The effigy of the prelate rests beneath an ogee arch, and is lavishly
coloured, although the original work has been restored by Corpus Christi
College, Oxford, in memory of Bishop Oldham, who contributed 6000 marks
to the collegiate foundation. On the south side of the Lady Chapel is
St. Gabriel's Chapel, built by Bishop Bronescombe in honour of his
patron saint. Here lies the effigy of the bishop in a carved and richly
gilded tomb.
The Chapel of St. Mary Magdalene, originally built by Bronescombe, was
altered by Quivil. It has a Perpendicular screen and some
fifteenth-century glass in the east window. Close by, on the north side
of the north choir aisle, is Sir John Speke's Chantry, 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 aisle 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 (1571). 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 archæological fact that the
cross-legged attitude had no particular reference to the romantic wars
of the Crusades.
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
(1224-44). 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 choir stalls, carved to illustrate the _Benedicite_, the pulpit, and
the reredos are all modern, having been erected from designs by Sir
Gilbert Scott. The lofty tapering bishop's throne, an essential feature
of every cathedral church, is the most remarkable of the choir fittings.
It has been ascertained from the fabric rolls that it was the gift of
Bishop Stapledon (1465), and the exact sum paid for the work and timber
was just under thirteen pounds, a considerable sum of money when its
modern equivalent is calculated. The throne consists of a series of
pinnacles and niches, rising in diminishing tiers until the crowning
pinnacle almost reaches to the clerestory window. There is not a single
nail in the whole of this canopied seat, although it rises to a height
of more than sixty 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 save it from Cromwell's
troopers, and a second time by Sir Gilbert Scott, for the purposes of
cleaning. It is highly probable that the oak of which it is made came
from Chudleigh, some ten miles away, where the bishops of Exeter had a
palace, of which fragments remain in Palace Farm.
[Illustration: THE ABBOT'S LODGE]
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.
The cloisters 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 1887 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:
"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
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 so, we cannot do better than seek
a measure of quietude and repose along the banks of the Exe, a river
which, rising on Exmoor, gives name to Exeter, Exminster, and Exmouth.
Although rising 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
Exe flows through a country of great beauty and much romantic interest,
which has been immortalized by R. D. Blackmore in _Lorna Doone_.
[Illustration: THE EXE AT TOPSHAM]
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.
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 combe-furrowed
moorland clothed with scrub oaks and feathery larches. After leaving
this forest shrine the Exe enters Devonshire, where, after flowing
through richly wooded and fertile valleys, it sweeps past the ancient
town of Tiverton, where it is swelled by the waters of the Loman. Three
miles from Tiverton it reaches Bickley Bridge, beyond which it is the
recipient of the Culm, the largest of all its tributaries. Along the
greater part of its course to this point its silver streams thread their
way between sloping hills crowned with hanging woods, and by scenery 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 _Creedy-ton_, or Crediton. The course of the
Exe, 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 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 mediæval 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".