Exeter in Devon

Exeter is a City in the county of Devon.

Exeter is an historic city in Devon, England.

With a rich heritage dating back to the Roman era, Exeter has plenty to offer visitors. The city is home to a number of significant historical sites, including the remains of a Roman wall, as well as a medieval cathedral. Exeter also has a thriving arts and culture scene, with a number of museums and galleries to explore. If you’re looking for a taste of traditional English life, then Exeter is the perfect place to visit.

So whether you’re interested in exploring the city’s history or simply want to enjoy its culture and atmosphere, Exeter is sure to have something for you.

Exeter postcode: EX1 1

Retail in Exeter

There are great places to visit near Exeter including some great cities, historic buildings, villages, canals, rivers and streams, beaches, geological features, sssis, hiking areas, nature reserves, towns, parks, airports, castles and ruins.

Places near Exeter feature a number of interesting cities including Exeter.

Exeter has some unmissable historic buildings nearby like Exeter Cathedral, St Mary Steps, and St Stephen's Church - Exeter.

Exeter's best nearby villages can be found at Starcross, Lynton and Lynmouth, Littleham, Otterton, Branscombe, Beer, and Hope Cove.

There are a number of canals near Exeter including Exeter Canal, and Grand Western Canal at Tiverton.

There are a several good rivers and streams in the area around Exeter like East Lyn River.

Blacklands Beach, Branscombe Beach, and Hope Cove are great places to visit near Exeter if you like beaches.

The area close to Exeter boasts some of the best geological features including Valley of Rocks.

Don't miss Dartmoor's sssis if visiting the area around Exeter.

Places near Exeter feature a number of interesting hiking areas including Dartmoor.

Places near Exeter feature a number of interesting nature reserves including Dartmoor.

The area around Exeter boasts some of the best towns including Dartmouth, Tiverton, Crediton, Topsham, Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth, and Seaton.

Bicton Park is one of Exeter's best, nearby parks to visit in Exeter.

Don't miss Exeter Airport's airports if visiting the area around Exeter.

The area close to Exeter boasts some of the best castles including Berry Pomeroy Castle.

There are a several good ruins in the area around Exeter like Berry Pomeroy Castle.

Exeter History

There are some historic monuments around Exeter:

Areas of Exeter

Like most towns and cities Exeter is comprised of a number of areas, once separate villages or small towns and parishes now part of Exeter.

Many of the areas of Exeter have their own character and places of interest.



Places to see near Exeter

Etymology of Exeter

The modern name of Exeter is a development of the Old English Escanceaster, from the anglicised form of the river now known as the Exe and the Old English suffix -ceaster, used to mark important fortresses or fortified towns. (The Welsh name for the city, Caerwysg, similarly means “fortress on the Exe”.) The name “Exe” is a separate development of the Brittonic name - meaning “water” or, more exactly, “full of fish” (cf. Welsh pysg, pl. “fish”) - that also appears in the English Axe and Esk and the Welsh Usk (Welsh: Wysg).

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History of Exeter

The presence of the fort built up an unplanned civilian community (vicus or canabae) of natives and the soldiers’ families, mostly to the northeast of the fort. This settlement served as the tribal capital (civitas) of the Dumnonii and was listed as one of their four cities (Greek: poleis) by Ptolemy in his Geography (it also appeared in the 7th-century Ravenna Cosmography, where it appears as an apparently confused entry for Scadu Namorum). When the fortress was abandoned around the year 75, its grounds were converted to civilian purposes: its very large bathhouse was demolished to make way for a forum and a basilica, and a smaller-scale bath was erected to the southeast. This area was excavated in the 1970s, but could not be maintained for public view owing to its proximity to the present-day cathedral. In January 2015, it was announced that Exeter Cathedral had launched a bid to restore the baths and open an underground centre for visitors. In the late 2nd century, the ditch and rampart defences around the old fortress were replaced by a bank and wall enclosing a much larger area, some 92 acres (37 ha). Although most of the visible structure is older, the course of the Roman wall was used for Exeter’s subsequent city walls. Thus about 70% of the Roman wall remains, and most of its route can be traced on foot. The Devonian Isca seems to have been most prosperous in the first half of the 4th century: more than a thousand Roman coins have been found around the city and there is evidence for copper and bronze working, a stock-yard, and markets for the livestock, crops, and pottery produced in the surrounding countryside. The dating of the coins so far discovered, however, suggests a rapid decline: virtually none have been discovered dated after the year 380. Bishop Ussher identified the Cair Pensa vel Coyt listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the History of the Britons as Isca, although David Nash Ford read it as a reference to Penselwood and thought it more likely to be Lindinis (modern Ilchester). Nothing is certainly known of Exeter from the time of the Roman withdrawal from Britain around the year 410 until the seventh century. By that time, the city was held by the Saxons, who had arrived in Exeter after defeating the British Dumnonians at Peonnum in Somerset in 658. It seems likely that the Saxons maintained a quarter of the city for the Britons under their own laws around present-day Bartholomew Street, which was known as “Britayne” Street until 1637 in memory of its former occupants.

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Lakes near Exeter

    Rivers near Exeter

    Where to Eat in Exeter

    Streets in Exeter