Exeter Cathedral

13/10/2026

Today our bells are ringing out to mark Edward the Confessor’s Feast Day 🔔

Did you know…
✦ He’s the only British monarch to have been canonised as a saint
✦ He’s one of the medieval patron saints of England
✦ He founded Exeter Cathedral

If you’re in Exeter, this is THE perfect time of year to visit the Treasures Exhibition, as you can view two incredible documents linking to Edward the Confessor.

Let us explain…

“On the day King Edward was alive and dead”

This striking phrase appears more than 2,000 times in the Exon Domesday, now on view in our new Treasures Exhibition.

But what does it refer to? In January 1066, when Edward the Confessor died, a power struggle ensued that led to the start of the Norman era with William I (“the Conqueror”) on the English throne.

And what’s the link to Exon Domesday? Exon Domesday is the oldest surviving part of William I’s great Domesday survey of 1086.

The manuscript is 1,000 pages long, divided into more than 100 booklets, and one of those booklets is always on show in Exeter Cathedral’s Treasures Exhibition.

The newly turned page is one of the most visually striking in the whole manuscript, adorned with elaborate paragraph markers which lead into text detailing the land around the famous Glastonbury Abbey in Somerset.

Edward’s connection with Exeter is marked in another document on display in the Cathedral’s Treasures Exhibition: the Cathedral’s foundation charter of 1050.

You can now see our 1050 Foundation Charter alongside a booklet of Exon Domesday in our Treasures Exhibition.

Make sure to see these historical gems with your very own eyes – two BIG bucket list items!

Plan your visit:
Monday-Saturday, 10am-4pm
✦ Closed on Wednesdays & Sundays
✦ 45-minute tours with an expert guide available at 10am, 12pm & 3pm
✦ Access to the Treasures Exhibition is included in the Cathedral admission fee
✦ Free access with a locals’ Welcome Card

13/10/2026

It has been our pleasure to welcome Alice Loxton – historian, broadcaster and No.1 bestselling author – to Exeter Cathedral this week ❤️

12/10/2026

Looking for an evening to relax? 😌
Enjoy arts & crafts? 🎨

If this sounds like you, why not join us in our Café on Friday 23 October from 6pm - 8pm. Choose between three crafts: beginners embroidery, making your own fabric pumpkin or creating your own lino cut stamp.

Tickets: £25 – all materials and first drink included (hot, cold & alcoholic options are available).

🔗 bunyipcraft.com/product/exeter-cathedral-craft-class-october/

12/10/2026

Here’s what’s on this week at Exeter Cathedral:

✦ Stones & Bones Tour (13 October)
✦ Exeter Cathedral Autumn Fair (13-14 October)
✦ Bishops Garden & Cathedral Tour (14 October)
✦ A Friendly Introduction to Palaeography: Reading 15th & 16th Century Royal Letters (14 October)
✦ Exeter Cathedral Photography Exhibition 2026 – Competition Finalists (16-31 October)
✦ Roof Tour (17 October)
✦ Trafalgar Day Service (18 October)

Find out more: exeter-cathedral.org.uk/whats-on/

11/10/2026

Join us in praying over this coming week 🙏

Faithful Lord,
whose steadfast love
never ceases
and whose mercies
never come to an end:
grant us the grace to trust you
and to receive the gifts of your
love, new every morning
in Jesus Christ our Lord.

11/10/2026

Today is Sight Loss Sunday. This summer we collaborated with our friends at to launch our new Braille Visitor Guides – a vital aid that helps those with sight loss enjoy discovering Exeter Cathedral’s one thousand years of history.

“Our Christian faith encourages us to care for one another, and this is just one of the many steps I hope that we as a Cathedral community can take to ensure every individual feels welcome.” – Our Interim Dean, The Very Revd Stephen Waine

Braille Visitor Guides are available in Grade 1 & 2 from our Welcome Desk ☺️

10/10/2026

⭐Devon Book of the Year!⭐

We are absolutely delighted that Making Domesday: Intelligent Power in Conquered England (OUP, 2025), edited by Stephen Baxter, Julia Crick and C. P. Lewis, has been awarded Devon History Society’s Devon Book of the Year!

This extraordinary book is probably the biggest project Exeter Cathedral Library & Archives has undertaken on an item in its collections since its foundation in 1050.

We are especially grateful to the generosity of the Friends of Exeter Cathedral and to the dedication and enthusiasm of everyone who was involved in this once in a lifetime opportunity to consider why and how William the Conqueror commissioned the Domesday survey.

Visitors to the Cathedral can view part of the incredible Exon Domesday manuscript in our Treasures Exhibition.

Plan your visit:
▪️ Monday-Saturday, 10am - 4pm
▪️ Closed on Wednesdays & Sundays
▪️45-minute tours with an expert guide available at 10am, 12pm and 3pm
▪️Access to the Treasures Exhibition in included in the Cathedral admission fee
▪️Free access with a locals' Welcome Card

Come and see a piece of history!

09/10/2026

We are pleased to welcome Paul Netherton and John Byfield as new non-executive members of Chapter.

Paul, who officially joined on 24 September, brings three decades of policing experience as former Deputy Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall, alongside his extensive work in civil contingencies, resilience and faith-based community initiatives – recognised with an OBE in 2020 and his recent appointment as Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Devon.

John, who joins on 1 November, brings a distinguished legal and business background, having built a successful commercial law practice and later founded and chaired a sports management company that became a global leader in professional player representation, and now contributes his governance experience and local community involvement as a volunteer sidesman and steward at the Cathedral.

Together, they represent a wealth of strategic leadership that will support Chapter’s stewardship of Exeter Cathedral for generations to come.

You can find out more here: https://www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk/news-events/latest-news/new-chapter-members/

09/10/2026

“Ea die qua rex Eduuardus fuit vivus et mortuus” (on the day King Edward was alive and dead) sounds like a riddle, but it is a legal formula referring to 5 January 1066 - the day Edward the Confessor (the last Anglo Saxon king of England) died without an heir. His death set off the struggle for the English crown that ended with the Norman Conquest.

The phrase appears more than 2000 times in the Exon Domesday, where it is often abbreviated to “die qua Rex E.F.V.”

🔗 To read more visit: exeter-cathedral.org.uk/news-events/latest-news/the-day-king-edward-was-alive-and-dead/

09/10/2026

Tomorrow, a new introit by Errollyn Wallen CBE, Master of the King’s Music, will be performed for the first time at Evensong at Exeter Cathedral 🎵

A new work 🎶

This Saturday, a new introit by Errollyn Wallen CBE, Master of the King’s Music, will be performed for the first time at Evensong at Exeter Cathedral as part of our National Gathering.

The work has been commissioned by Cathedral Music Trust in partnership with supporter Tom Hoffman, whose charitable trust has established an endowment to fund a new anthem every two to three years, in perpetuity, for cathedral, church and chapel choirs.

The aim is to bring new music by contemporary composers into the living repertoire of choral music. Errollyn Wallen's introit is the first commission through the endowment, written for the Choir of Exeter Cathedral. Its first performance on Saturday 10 October also falls during Cathedral Music Trust's 70th anniversary year, making this a particularly special moment for us.

We are looking forward to hearing this new work for the first time at Exeter Cathedral.

Image of Errollyn Wallen CBE by Paul Tucker