Exeter
[key], city and district, Devon, SW England, on the Exe River. It is the
market, transportation, administrative, and distribution center for SW
England. Manufacturing predominates, with metal and leather goods, paper,
and farm implements as Exeter's chief products. The fort town Isca
Dumnoniorum occupied the site in Roman times. Because of its strategic
location, Exeter was besieged by the Danes in the 9th and 11th cent., by
William the Conqueror in 1068, by Yorkists in the 15th cent., and by
religious factions in the middle of the 16th cent. From the 10th to the 18th
cent. the city was an important center for the production and exportation of
woolen goods. The cathedral, with its massive Norman towers, is a classic
example of Decorated style
architecture. In the cathedral library is the famous Exeter Book. Ruins still remain of the
Roman walls and of Rougemont Castle (11th cent.), built under William the
Conqueror.
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