The area of Cathedral Close, Exeter has been in the centre of

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, Devon, England, since Roman times when there was a basilica and a bath house in this area. A church was established here by the seventh century when a young

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant ...

came from

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter and around from the M5 motorway ...

to study. The area was walled after 1283 and seven gates into the yard were created. The gates included one at St Petrocks and the original grand entrance into the yard – Broadgate. This created the cathedral close. The postal address ''Cathedral Close'' refers only to the properties adjoining the north-eastern side of the grassed area around the cathedral. The north-western side of the Cathedral Green, including the

Royal Clarence Hotel The Royal Clarence Hotel is a former hotel in Cathedral Yard, Exeter, Devon, England. It is often described as the first property in England to be called a hotel; however, The German Hotel, London, was described in this way in 1710, so it is p ...

, is known as Cathedral Yard. In the centre of the green is a statue of

Richard Hooker Richard Hooker (25 March 1554 – 2 November 1600) was an English priest in the Church of England and an influential theologian.The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church by F. L. Cross (Editor), E. A. Livingstone (Editor) Oxford University ...

, a 16th-century

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

theologian, who was born in Exeter.

Buildings in the close

As well as the Cathedral itself there are a number of important buildings in the close. Two churches face the Cathedral – St Petrocks Church and St Martins. There are also a number of other grade 1 listed buildings: Mol's Coffee House, No 5, Nos 8, 9 and 9a and No 10 Cathedral Close. The grade II listed Royal Clarence Hotel in Cathedral Yard, also overlooks the Green.

References

External links

* Exeter Exeter Cathedral {{devon-stub