The area of Cathedral Close, Exeter has been in the centre of

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England, since

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingd ...

when there was a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

and a

bath house Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

in this area. A church was established here by the seventh century when a young

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

came from

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It stands on the A377 road, A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton, north w ...

to study. The area was walled after 1283 and seven gates into the yard were created. The gates included one at St Petrocks and the original grand entrance into the yard – Broadgate. This created the cathedral close. The postal address ''Cathedral Close'' refers only to the properties adjoining the north-eastern side of the grassed area around the cathedral. The north-western side of the Cathedral Green, including the

Royal Clarence Hotel The Royal Clarence Hotel is a former hotel in Cathedral Close, Exeter, Cathedral Yard, Exeter, Devon, England. It is often described as the first property in England to be called a hotel; however, The German Hotel, London, was described in this ...

, is known as Cathedral Yard. In the centre of the green is a statue of

Richard Hooker Richard Hooker (25 March 1554 – 2 November 1600) was an English priest in the Church of England and an influential theologian.''The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' by F. L. Cross (Editor), E. A. Livingstone (Editor) Oxford Univer ...

, a 16th-century

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, who was born in Exeter.

Buildings in the close

As well as the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

itself there are a number of important buildings in the close. Two churches face the Cathedral – St Petrocks Church and St Martins. There are also a number of other grade 1 listed buildings:

Mol's Coffee House Mol's Coffee House is an historic building and English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries, coffeehouse in Exeter, Devon. It is a Grade I Listed building. The house is in the northern corner of Cathedral Close, Exeter, Cathedral Close, ad ...

, No 5, Nos 8, 9 and 9a and No 10 Cathedral Close. The grade II listed

(currently under a two–year restoration scheduled for completion in 2027), in Cathedral Yard, also overlooks the Green.

References

External links

* Exeter Exeter Cathedral {{devon-stub