Exeter Cathedral

On my second full day in Exmouth, I went to Exeter, the major city in the area. I didn't much care for most of the city, as it seemed to be full of department/couture stores, but they did have some cool landmarks. I went to Rougemont Castle and Gardens and apparently missed the castle. I made it to some Norman ruins and totally missed the giant Georgian structure behind it. Shows where my mind was. Anyway, the ruins I saw were the remnants of a guardhouse and some massive walls. Mainly I walked around and looked at the flowers, because it was sunny and probably at least 50 degrees. Yes, spring is here. There's a ton of crocuses, and some irises and roses. Our program lady, Mary, was lamenting the fact that there's no daffodils yet. Usually by now there's tons and they're exporting them already.

But I digress.

Exeter Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St. Peter in Exeter, is a massive building built mostly between 1200 and 1400. The earliest parts are definitely Norman, but that was pretty much the transept and some pillars. The nave has this massive vaulted ceiling, which is pretty gorgeous. It's the longest uninterrupted vaulted ceiling in England.
My favorite thing about the cathedral was the clock in the transept, which is a huge astronomical clock from the 1480s. The earth is the shiny gold ball in the middle (because this is the geocentric age). The next ring around shows how old the moon is, and the silver ball has a black cover that rotates to show what phase the moon is in. Beyond that the sun (as a fleur-de-lis) points to the hour, and also shows the position of the sun in the sky. The bottom reads "Pereunt Et Imputantur", which means "they perish and are reckoned to our account", referring to the minutes and hours we spend. This is a popular motto for sundials and such, and was written by the poet Martial. I think my favorite thing about the clock is the door beneath it. The mechanisms of the clock were greased with animal fat, which attracted mice, so the bishop had a hole carved in the door for his cat to go through and catch the mice. This is supposedly where Hickory Dickory Dock came from.
The cathedral is also home to the Exeter book, which is the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon literature. According to my professor, it had been used as a cutting board by some monks who were apparently short of kitchen equipment and had to make do. I had to go around to the bishop's house, which doubled as the library, in order to go and see it, but no one answered the bell. I'm a little disappointed.
But the man who gave me directions there was very nice, and even recognized I was American and translated for me (aka, "pavement" became "sidewalk").
I felt a little sacrilegious taking pictures in there, but they didn't have a lot of postcards and I wanted to remember specific things. I think they didn't have a great shop because they wanted to emphasize the religious and spiritual nature of the cathedral. Makes sense. It's a fairly big departure from the Westminster Abbey shop, I'll tell you that.