Advertisement
Published: August 6th 2007
On July 4th, I celebrated my independence from the British by... exploring their countryside. It didn't feel like the 4th at all, though I did see an American flag - more on that in the next blog entry. First stop, Exeter in Devonshire. See a map of the trip to the left.
I traveled with some friends and a baby, Jonah, who was lovely to have as a neighbor in the back seat, though he spent much of the time sleeping. Once we got to Exeter, we walked past Exeter's City Wall, which is almost 2000 years old, dating back to Roman times. This took us down the the Quayside, where trade ships used to come in on a canal connected to the River Exe. Much of Exeter's commerce was based on the wool trade (yay, sheep!), and the river is lined with old warehouses that are dug into the hillside and have the shape inside of a Quonset hut. Now they're filled with cutesy antique shops and workshops that will make you a dining room table to order.
After lots of browsing through the shops and a cafe lunch, we walked up to Exeter Cathedral, dedicated to St.
Peter and consecrated in 1133. The main nave is Gothic, but it was added on to two huge Norman towers that still stand and form the North and South transepts. The church is surrounded by a big green area with lots of shops nearby.
Inside, the Cathedral is famous for having "the longest unbroken Gothic vault in the world," completed in 1369. The top of each arch is finished with a wedged keystone, which keeps the whole thing from tumbling down. These are carved and painted on the underside and known as bosses, which, even though they look tiny in my pictures, weigh up to 2 tons. One of them shows the murder of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Cantebury who got into a fight with King Henry II and was murdered by the King's supporters in Cantebury Cathedral. Becket, of course is considered a martyr.
The Cathedral has several interesting burial effigies, including one of a cadaver tomb that serves to remind that glory on Earth is fleeting. Another focus is the Exeter Clock in the South Transept, which dates to the 15th century and depicts the Earth as a golden ball in the center with the
sun traveling around it once every 24 hours. Parts of the Cathedral were bombed during WWII.
After wandering around and trying not to get run over by English school kids and German tour groups, we packed back in the car and headed to the coast... or so we thought. Navigating is never straight-forward here!! In any case, we got to see several lovely views and hilly pastures before getting back on the right track. Photos of Torbay coming soon to a blog near you...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.034s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 14; qc: 20; dbt: 0.0145s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
