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Exeter Cathedral – Past, Present and Future
Sat. 24 May 2025 at 9:45 am
£25
Celebrating Devon’s World-Class Heritage
This year, the Devonshire Association is ‘Celebrating Devon’s World-Class Heritage’ in a project supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund which aims to raise awareness of our county’s UNESCO-designated natural and cultural heritage and the Devonshire Association’s role in promoting that heritage over the past 163 years.
See this page for details of all the events.
A study day to be held at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and the Cathedral in Exeter.
Exeter Cathedral has long been celebrated as Devon’s finest building, and it continues to attract fresh study from scholars from Britain and beyond. Although it appears timeless, it is currently undergoing major changes. After years of planning, two substantial new projects were opened to visitors last year: first its new, and already much-admired, choir pavement of Devon marbles, and second its handsome new cloister gallery, the cathedral’s first new building since the 1880s. Other less visible changes include its programme of masonry renewal, carried out by the cathedral’s skilled team of masons, and works below ground. Each of these aspects of the work has brought exciting new discoveries about the building and its history. This is therefore an exciting moment to visit the cathedral, both to hear about new discoveries relating to the old building and to see and learn about the recent works.
Our study day is in two halves: a morning of five lectures in the RAMM in Queen Street, followed by site visits at the cathedral in the afternoon. These visits will include insights into lesser known parts of the cathedral itself, the exterior of the Bishop’s Palace, the Deanery and the cathedral archive. The visits will be run in parallel giving participants the opportunity to join two different tours.
Tickets at £25 per person include coffee
This study day was conceived by the Devonshire Association and realised in cooperation with the Friends of RAMM. It has been funded by a grant from the NLHF and is supported by the UK National Commission for UNESCO.
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Programme
Morning at Gallery 20, RAMM
- 09:45 Registration and coffee
- 10:15 Welcome
– The Very Revd. Jonathan Greener, Dean of Exeter - 10:20 An Introduction to the Architectural History and Archaeology at Exeter Cathedral
– John Allan, Exeter Cathedral Archaeologist & Senior Honorary Research Fellow, University of Exeter - 11:00 Delivering changes at Exeter Cathedral
– Camilla Finlay, Exeter Cathedral Architect - 11:30 The Bishop’s Palace
– Stuart Blaylock, Consultant Archaeologist and Architectural Historian - 12:00 The Bishop’s Throne
– Hugh Harrison, Consultant and Contractor in the Conservation of Joinery and Polychromed Timber - 12:30 Reconstruction Drawings from the Cloisters at Exeter Cathedral
– Richard Parker, Freelance Historic Buildings Consultant - 13:00 Lunch (at participants own cost and choice of eateries)
Afternoon at the Cathedral
- 14:15 – 16:30 ‘Rotational’ guided walks to examine aspects of the Cathedral and its environs including those areas covered in the morning’s talks. Leaders: John Allan, Camilla Finlay, Hugh Harrison, Stuart Blaylock, Richard Parker, Diane Walker and Jonathan Greener.
Booking
Tickets for this Study Day are £25 per person. You may either pay on-line via WebCollect (details here) or by sending a cheque payable to ‘The Devonshire Association’, together with an SAE, to the Executive Secretary, Unit 10, Chitterley Business Centre, Silverton, Exeter EX5 4DB.
Booking closes 16 May, 2025