At the heart of Devon, Exeter Cathedral unfolds the longest uninterrupted Gothic vault in the world — nearly a hundred metres of ribbed stone. A secular (non-monastic) cathedral, it came through the Reformation less harshly than the abbeys, but knew iconoclasm, and counted among its bishops one of the great translators of the English Bible.
A secular cathedral facing the Reformation
Unlike the cathedral-abbeys served by monks, Exeter was a secular cathedral, held by a chapter of canons. It thus escaped the Dissolution of the Monasteries that struck so many others. It did not for all that escape the Reformation: Protestant iconoclasm made statues and images disappear. It nevertheless keeps exceptional medieval treasures, including a rich library — a catalogue of 1506 already listed more than 530 titles — a testimony of the intellectual life of a great ecclesiastical centre.
The translating bishop and the martyr
Exeter crossed two destinies emblematic of the Reformation. Bishop Miles Coverdale (1548-1553) was the first to publish a complete printed translation of the Bible in English (1535) — a founding work that put Scripture within the people's reach, at the heart of the reformed project. At the opposite pole, the town also knew martyrdom: Agnes Prest, a woman of the people, was burned at Exeter in 1557, under the Catholic reign of Mary I, for her Protestant faith. The cathedral was thus the setting of the two faces of the century: the translated Bible and the stake. To see: the longest uninterrupted medieval vault in the world (~96 m), the astronomical clock (dial of 1484), the 50 misericords (the oldest complete set in the UK), the minstrels' gallery with its musician angels.
Did you know?
Before being burned in 1557, the martyr Agnes Prest is said to have told a stonemason busy repairing statues of saints that 'in a few days they will all lose their heads'. The prophecy came true: reformed iconoclasm, under Elizabeth, did indeed bring down the heads of stone. A woman of the people had seen, before the theologians, where the century was going.
Notes
Exeter Cathedral lies at Exeter, Devon; a working cathedral, open to visits. Hours to check.
Quiz
- What is exceptional about Exeter Cathedral?
- The longest uninterrupted Gothic vault in the world
- The tallest spire
- The largest dome
- Which bishop of Exeter translated the Bible into English?
- Miles Coverdale
- Thomas Becket
- Richard Fox
- Who was burned at Exeter in 1557?
- Agnes Prest, Protestant martyr
- Anne Boleyn
- Lady Jane Grey