The first mention of St Peter's Cathedral in Exeter dates back to 1050, when the See of the Bishop of Devon and Cornwall was transferred to Exeter from the the town of Crediton. Exeter already had a Saxon church of the Virgin Mary and St Peter's, and a large cathedral. St Peter's, and a large Norman-style cathedral was not laid out until 1133. В 1258 the cathedral was rebuilt in the "decorated" Gothic style, modelled after the neighbouring cathedral at Salisbury, but most of the Norman buildings survived, including part of the walls and two massive square towers. В Exeter Cathedral has the longest vaulted ceiling in England, because it has has no central tower. Apart from that, the cathedral has a lot more landmarks and original features that make it unique.
The Great East Window is a superb example of 14th century stained glass art. During the Second World War, the window, along with other historical treasures of the of the cathedral was hidden in a bomb shelter in Cornwall. This saved it from destruction, because the cathedral was badly damaged by bombing raids in 1942.
The cathedral's choirs contain England's earliest misericords - stanchions, which gave monks or canons a "merciful" (hence the name) opportunity to sit down during a long service, and from the outside a man in a long, loose cassock would look like he was standing. Among the 50 misericords, no two are identical, they are depict animals, mythical creatures, and the so-called "green men."
"Green men" (spirits of the forest) are another attraction at Exeter Cathedral - depictions of faces or torsos braided and sprouting leaves and branches. This was originally a pagan symbol of fertility and the renewal of nature, which was then adopted by Christians. Exeter Cathedral has the largest number of of such images, both carved from wood and stone.
The unique Minstrels' Gallery in the nave of the cathedral dates from around 1360 1360. The gallery contains 12 sculptural representations of angels playing on medieval musical instruments: zither, bagpipes, oboe, crotchet, harp, trumpet, organ, guitar, tambourine and dulcimer; two other instruments are unidentified.
The cathedral's South Tower houses a belfry of 14 bells, while the North Tower has North tower has only one large bell, called Peter.
The cathedral has housed the Exeter Book, the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon literature to date, since the 11th century Anglo-Saxon poetry of the 10th century to date. In addition to poems, the book contains riddles, some of them quite obscene.
There is an astronomical clock in the cathedral, the oldest part of which was made in the 15th century, and the mechanism was completely replaced in the early twentieth century. At the bottom of the door leading from the cathedral to the clock, a hole was cut through in the 17th century to allow access to the mechanism... a cat! Animal fat was used for lubrication at the time, and it attracted mice and rats, so the bishop's cat was also part of the "maintenance staff".
