The present building was complete by about 1400 and has several notable features, including an early set of misericords, an astronomical clock and the longest uninterrupted medieval stone vaulted ceiling in the world.

[3] The founding of the cathedral at Exeter, dedicated to Saint Peter, dates from 1050, when the seat of the bishop of Devon and Cornwall was transferred from Crediton because of a fear of sea-raids.

[4] Following the appointment of Walter Bronescombe as bishop in 1258, the building was already recognised as outmoded, and it was rebuilt in the Decorated Gothic style, following the example of Salisbury.

During the Second World War, Exeter was one of the targets of a German air offensive against British cities of cultural and historical importance, which became known as the "Baedeker Blitz".

The cathedral sustained a direct hit by a large high-explosive bomb on the chapel of St James, completely demolishing it.

The medieval wooden screen opposite the chapel was smashed into many pieces by the blast, but it has been reconstructed and restored.

[6] Many of the cathedral's most important artefacts, such as the ancient glass (including the great east window), the misericords, the bishop's throne, the Exeter Book, the ancient charters (of King Athelstan and Edward the Confessor) and other precious documents from the library had been removed in anticipation of such an attack.

[citation needed] The Norman cathedral construction began in 1112, presumably at the east end and was consecrated in 1133, by which date the choir, transept and first two bays of the nave were probably complete.

The architecture of Exeter Cathedral at first appears remarkably harmonious with the continuous run of tierceron vaults extending from west to east.

[10] More detailed analysis nevertheless reveals a number of changes, including the decision to adopt a three-storey facade with a triforium more typical of cathedrals than the previous two-storey design.

Notable architectural features of the interior include the multiribbed ceiling and the compound piers in the nave arcade.

The Great East Window contains much 14th-century glass, and there are over 400 ceiling bosses, one of which depicts the murder of Thomas Becket.

[12] Because there is no centre tower, Exeter Cathedral has the longest uninterrupted medieval vaulted ceiling in the world, at about 96 m (315 ft).

Its front is decorated with 12 carved and painted angels playing medieval musical instruments, including the cittern, bagpipe, hautboy, crwth, harp, trumpet, organ, guitar, tambourine and cymbals, with two others which are uncertain.

This was cut in the early 17th century to allow entry for the bishop's cat to deter vermin that were attracted to the animal fat used to lubricate the clock mechanism.

Some books were lost but a large part of them were saved due to the efforts of Dr Robert Vilvaine, who had them transferred to St John's Hospital.

At a later date he provided funds to convert the Lady chapel into a library, and the books were brought back.

The most decorated manuscript in the library is a psalter (MS 3508) probably written for the Church of St Helen at Worcester in the early 13th century.

The earliest printed book now in the library is represented by only a single leaf: this is Cicero's De officiis (Mainz: Fust and Schoeffer, 1465–66).

90–138 [1]Persons buried within the cathedral include the following: One 19th-century author claimed that an 11th-century missal asserted that King Æthelstan, the previous century, had brought together a great collection of holy relics at Exeter Cathedral; sending out emissaries at great expense to the continent to acquire them.

[28] According to the semi-legendary tale, the Protestant martyr Agnes Prest, during her brief time of liberty in Exeter before her execution in 1557, met a stonemason repairing the statues at the cathedral.

[30] The tube web spider Segestria florentina, notable for its iridescent shiny green fangs, can be found within the outer walls.

The walls are made of calcareous stone, which decays from acidic pollution, to form cracks and crevices which the spider and other invertebrates inhabit.

[31] Exeter Cathedral Choir is composed of 38 Choristers (boys and girls) along with Choral Scholars and Lay Vicars.

[32] Recorded names of organists at Exeter go back to Matthew Godwin, 1586. Notable organists at Exeter Cathedral include Victorian composer Samuel Sebastian Wesley, grandson of Methodist founder and hymn-writer Charles Wesley, educator Ernest Bullock, and conductor Thomas Armstrong.

[33] The Cathedral organ stands on the ornate medieval screen, preserving the old classical distinction between quire and nave.