Exeter

Exeter stands on the River Exe in Devon, its cathedral and ancient walls overlooking a city whose origins reach back to Roman Britain. Medieval merchants traded cloth and other goods through its market and river, while the cathedral became one of the great churches of southwestern England. In 1549 rebels from Devon and Cornwall opposed religious changes imposed by Edward VI and besieged Exeter. The city held out for five weeks before royal forces relieved it. During the Civil War the cathedral again suffered upheaval: services were suspended under Parliamentary control, and its medieval cloisters were later demolished.