[9] The Romans established a 42-acre (17 ha) 'playing-card' shaped (rectangle with round corners and two short and two long sides) fort (Latin: castrum) named Isca around AD 55.

The fort was the southwest terminus of the Fosse Way (Route 15 of the Antonine Itinerary) and served as the base of the 5 000-man Second Augustan Legion (Legio II Augusta) at some time led by Vespasian, later Roman Emperor, for the next 20 years before they moved to Caerleon in Wales, which was also known as Isca.

When the fortress was abandoned around the year 75, its grounds were converted to civilian purposes: its very large bathhouse was demolished to make way for a forum and a basilica, and a smaller-scale bath was erected to the southeast.

The Devonian Isca seems to have been most prosperous in the first half of the 4th century: more than a thousand Roman coins have been found around the city and there is evidence for copper and bronze working, a stock-yard, and markets for the livestock, crops, and pottery produced in the surrounding countryside.

[19] Bishop Ussher identified the Cair Pensa vel Coyt,[20] listed among the 28 cities of Britain by the History of the Britons, as Isca,[21] although David Nash Ford read it as a reference to Penselwood and thought it more likely to be Lindinis (modern Ilchester).

Gytha Thorkelsdóttir, the mother of the slain King Harold, was living in the city at the time, and William promptly marched west and initiated a siege.

Redvers submitted only after a three-month siege, not when the three wells in the castle ran dry, but only after the exhaustion of the large supplies of wine that the garrison was using for drinking, baking, cooking, and putting out fires set by the besiegers.

[36] During the high medieval period, both the cathedral clergy and the citizens enjoyed access to sophisticated aqueduct systems which brought pure drinking water into the city from springs in the neighbouring parish of St Sidwell's.

In 1549, the city successfully withstood a month-long siege by the so-called Prayer Book rebels: Devon and Cornish folk who had been infuriated by the radical religious policies of King Edward VI.

When John Hooker was appointed to the city payroll in 1561, he created the Court of Orphans as a municipal government for families broken by the premature death of their major economic source.

[citation needed] When in 1638 Reverend John Wheelwright was exiled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony and subsequently established a community on the banks of the Squamscott River, he named the region Exeter after its Devonian counterpart.

[45] Exeter was secured for Parliament at the beginning of the English Civil War, and its defences very much strengthened, but in September 1643 it was captured by the Cornish Royalist Army led by Prince Maurice.

[48] Magalotti writes of over thirty thousand people being employed in the county of Devon as part of the wool and cloth industries, merchandise that was sold to "the West Indies, Spain, France and Italy".

Extensive canal redevelopments during this period further expanded Exeter's economy, with "vessels of 15 to 16 tons burthen [bringing] up goods and merchandise from Topsham to the City Quay".

The South Devon Railway Company extended the line westwards to Plymouth, opening their own smaller station at St Thomas, above Cowick Street.

[54] In 1896 £88,000 was spent constructing sewerage system which reduced the risk of infectious diseases,[55] The first horse-drawn trams in Exeter were introduced in 1882 with 3 lines radiating from the city's East Gate.

The street plan was altered in an attempt to improve traffic circulation, and former landmarks like St Lawrence, the College of the Vicars Choral, and Bedford circus disappeared.

[83][84][85] However, in late 2021 it was announced that the hotel scheme was "significantly unviable",[86] and the Royal Clarence site would be converted into twenty-three luxury apartments with the ground floor acting as a leisure and hospitality space.

A judicial review was called by Devon County Council and the Court held that the Minister had acted unlawfully in granting Unitary status to Exeter at the same time, however, following the 2010 general election the new coalition government announced in May 2010 that the reorganisation would be blocked.

Temperatures do not vary much throughout the year compared to other locations at this latitude; however, the topography of Exeter can enhance the diurnal range by a couple degrees Celsius, as spots along the sheltered valley of the River Exe such as Quayside, St Thomas and Exwick see colder nights and warmer days, the only exception to this is with foggy and frosty weather in the winter during anticyclonic activity when fog can linger all day and keep daytime temperatures suppressed.

Princesshay, a post-war retail area connecting to the south side of the High Street was home to a number of independent stores prior to redevelopment in 2007, but is now also largely occupied by national chains.

"[147] Exeter is a major rail hub in the South West and is linked to most branch lines in Devon, including to Paignton, Exmouth, Barnstaple and Okehampton.

There are also seven suburban stations, Topsham, St James Park, Polsloe Bridge, Pinhoe, Digby & Sowton, Marsh Barton and Newcourt, served only by local services.

Under the ongoing Devon Metro scheme, a gradual upgrade programme is underway to bring a rapid transit-style service on Exeter's local rail network using these existing commuter lines.

Connections to international hubs began with Paris-Charles de Gaulle in 2005 and later a daily service to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport which ended with the collapse of Flybe in 2020.

His coverage of St Mary Arches is more detailed: "worth seeing ... as the completest Norman church in Devon: beautifully light and airy after its restoration from the bombing in 1942.

[173] Chris Martin, lead singer of rock band Coldplay, was born in Exeter and grew up in a Grade II-listed Georgian house in the nearby village of Whitestone.

[175] Subsequently, the band has frequently returned to Exeter to perform, including during BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in 2016, which was hosted at the nearby Powderham Castle.

[178] The Cavern Club has become one of Exeter's primary live music venues since its opening in 1991, hosting artists including Coldplay, Muse, Biffy Clyro, George Ezra, The 1975, Bastille and Kaiser Chiefs.

Thom Yorke, lead singer of rock band Radiohead, attended the University of Exeter in the early 1990s and helped to set up the Cavern Club.