Editing Exeter Cathedral (section)

==History==
[[File:Exeter Cathedral NW view W Deeble after R Browne 1830.jpg|thumb|left|The cathedral in 1830]]
[[File:A Sermon in Exeter Cathedral.jpg|thumb|left| Watercolour painting of A Sermon in Exeter Cathedral by [[Thomas Rowlandson]] from the Georgian Era]]
[[File:Inside Exeter Cathedral.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Inside the cathedral, showing the vaulted ceiling – the longest uninterrupted medieval vaulted ceiling in the world]]
[[File:Exeter Cathedral nave vaulted ceiling.jpg|thumb|left|Detail of the vaulted ceiling]]

The site where Exeter Cathedral was constructed was home to [[Roman Britain|Roman]] buildings. A legionary fortress was constructed between 50–75 AD. A Roman bathhouse was discovered in 1971.<ref>{{Cite news |date=7 May 2024 |last1=Nalewicki |first1=Jennifer |title=1,900-year-old Roman legionary fortress unearthed next to UK cathedral |work=[[Live Science]] |url=https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/1900-year-old-roman-legionary-fortress-unearthed-next-to-uk-cathedral |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240509185721/https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/romans/1900-year-old-roman-legionary-fortress-unearthed-next-to-uk-cathedral |archive-date=9 May 2024}}</ref>

The founding of the [[cathedral]] at [[Exeter, England|Exeter]], dedicated to [[Saint Peter]], dates from 1050, when the seat of the [[bishop]] of [[United sees of Devon and Cornwall|Devon and Cornwall]] was transferred from [[Crediton]] because of a fear of sea-raids. A [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] minster already existing within the town (and dedicated to [[Mary, the mother of Jesus|Saint Mary]] and Saint Peter) was used by [[Leofric, Bishop of Exeter|Leofric]] as his seat.

In 1107 [[William Warelwast]] was appointed to the see, and this was the catalyst for the building of a new cathedral in the [[Norman architecture|Norman]] style. Its official foundation was in 1133, during Warelwast's time, but it took many more years to complete.<ref>Erskine et al. (1988) p. 11.</ref> Following the appointment of [[Walter Branscombe|Walter Bronescombe]] as bishop in 1258, the building was already recognised as outmoded, and it was rebuilt in the [[English Gothic architecture#Decorated Gothic|Decorated]] [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] style, following the example of [[Salisbury Cathedral|Salisbury]]. However, much of the Norman building was kept, including the two massive square towers and part of the walls. It was constructed entirely of local stone, including [[Purbeck Marble]]. The new cathedral was complete by about 1400, apart from the addition of the [[chapter house]] and [[chantry|chantry chapels]].

Like most English cathedrals, [[Exeter]] suffered during the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]], but not as much as it would have done had it been a monastic foundation. Further damage was done during the [[English Civil War|Civil War]], when the [[cloisters]] were destroyed. Following the restoration of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], a new [[pipe organ]] was built in the cathedral by [[John Loosemore]]. Charles II's sister [[Henrietta Anne of England]] was baptised here in 1644. In 1650 an independent church was meeting in the cathedral and this small church caused upset when the minister "excommunicated" [[Susanna Parr]].<ref>{{Cite ODNB|title=Parr, Susanna (fl. 1650–1659), religious writer|url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-66714|access-date=2020-08-29|year = 2004|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/66714}}</ref>

During the [[Victorian era]], some refurbishment was carried out by [[George Gilbert Scott]]. As a boy, the composer [[Matthew Locke (composer)|Matthew Locke]] was trained in the choir of Exeter Cathedral, under [[Edward Gibbons]], the brother of [[Orlando Gibbons]]. His name can be found scribed into the stone organ screen.

[[File:Exeter Cathedral after the Blitz - Olive Wharry - 63-2004-5.jpg|thumb|Exeter Cathedral after the Blitz – Olive Wharry – 63-2004-5]]During the [[Second World War]], Exeter was one of the targets of a German air offensive against British cities of cultural and historical importance, which became known as the "[[Baedeker Blitz]]". On 4 May 1942 an [[Exeter Blitz|early-morning air raid took place over Exeter]]. The cathedral sustained a direct hit by a large high-explosive bomb on the chapel of St James, completely demolishing it. The muniment room above, three bays of the aisle and two flying buttresses were also destroyed in the blast. The medieval wooden screen opposite the chapel was smashed into many pieces by the blast, but it has been reconstructed and restored.<ref name=LFLT /> Many of the cathedral's most important artefacts, such as the ancient glass (including the great east window), the misericords, the bishop's throne, the [[Exeter Book]], the ancient charters (of [[Athelstan of England|King Athelstan]] and [[Edward the Confessor]]) and other precious documents from the library had been removed in anticipation of such an attack. The precious effigy of [[Walter Branscombe]] had been protected by sand bags.<ref>S C Carpenter (1943) ''Exeter Cathedral 1942''. London: SPCK p. 1-2</ref>

In July 2023, ''[[The Methodist Recorder]]'' reported that the cathedral chapter signed a sharing agreement between it and Mint Methodist Exeter for shared use of the Lady Chapel.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}