Exeter Old & New

Today, we took our first Red Coat Guided Tour. By Red Coat, we are not discussing the 18th century British Army, but rather the Exeter tour guides, who wear red jackets to make them easy to spot when you're walking in a crowded area. The Exeter Old & New Tour follows the history of Exeter from Roman times to today, a bit over 2,000 years of history.

The Romans first came to Exeter shortly before the birth of Christ. They established a fort, which was encircled by a city wall by the second century AD. Much of this wall (over 70%) still stands today. Around 1070, the Norman Conquest came to Exeter (home of the late King Harold Godwinson's mother), and a number of castles were built in the area to guard against invasion and rebellion. The ruins of some of these remain.

The cathedral was built around 1150. More precisely, the second cathedral was built on the site of the old Saxon cathedral, which had been built around 1050. The third Bishop of Exeter was not satisfied with this, and in 1250 he had the cathedral reduced to its foundations and rebuilt in the then-modern Gothic style, which allowed much larger windows, and larger roof spans. The two Norman towers remained untouched, giving the cathedral a distinctive appearance. (What is it about towns we've lived in having odd cathedrals? Worms has a Romanesque-Gothic cathedral, and Exeter has a Norman-Gothic cathedral. What's next?)

From the cathedral square, we walked through a good bit of town, including the Northernhay Gardens (a lovely area with lots of flowers that runs along part of the city wall) and the Princesshay Shopping Center. Princesshay was originally opened in the 1950s, but was recently completely redeveloped, a common theme in modern Exeter. "Hay," incidentally, is an old Saxon word that loosely translates as "field," and is used frequently in this area as a suffix on places' names.

For more details about this tour, and lots of pictures, visit our Picasa album of the tour.