Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts | Page 3

Romans found their way so
far West. It is not known when they took the city, nor when they
abandoned it, nor is there any date to mark the West Saxon occupation.
Professor Freeman, however, points out a very interesting characteristic
proving that the conquest cannot have taken place until after the Saxons
had ceased to be heathens. 'It is the one great city of the Roman and the
Briton which did not pass into English hands till the strife of races had
ceased to be a strife of creeds, till English conquest had come to mean
simply conquest, and no longer meant havoc and extermination. It is
the one city of the present England in which we can see within recorded
times the Briton and Englishman living side by side.' In the days of
Athelstan, 'Exeter was not purely English; it was a city of two nations
and two tongues.... This shows that ... its British inhabitants obtained
very favourable terms from the conquerors, and that, again, is much the
same as saying that it was not taken till after the West Saxons had
become Christians.'
The earliest reliable records of the city begin about 876, when the
Danes overwhelmed the city and were put to flight by King Alfred. A
few years later they again besieged Exeter, but this time it held out
against them until the King, for the second time, came to the rescue,
and the enemy retreated. Alfred, careful of the city and its means of
defence, built a stronghold--very possibly in the interval between these
two invasions--upon the high ground that the Briton had chosen for his
fastness, and on which the Castle rose in after-days. Rather more than a
hundred years later Athelstan strengthened the city by repairing the
Roman walls. But it is with an event of greater importance that
Athelstan's name is usually associated, for it was he who made the city
a purely English one by driving out all the Britons into the country
beyond the Tamar. It is probable that there was already a monastery in
Exeter in the seventh century, and that it was broken up during the
storms that raged later. In any case, Athelstan founded or refounded a

monastery, and in 968 Edgar, who had married the beautiful daughter
of Ordgar, Earl of Devon, settled a colony of monks in Exeter. About
thirty years afterwards the Danes, under Pallig, sailed up the Exe and
laid siege to the town, but were repulsed with great courage by the
citizens. Beaten off the city, they fell upon the country round, and a
frightful battle was fought at Pinhoe. A curious memorial of it survives
to this day. During the furious struggle the Saxons' ammunition began
to run low, and the priest of Pinhoe rode back to Exeter for a fresh
supply of arrows. In recognition of his service, the perpetual pension of
a mark (13s. 4d.) was granted him, and this sum the Vicar of the parish
still receives. Two years later the Danes made a successful assault upon
the city, and seized much plunder, but made no stay.
Edward the Confessor visited Exeter, and assisted at the installation of
Leofric as first Bishop of Exeter, when the see was transferred from
Crediton. The Queen also played a prominent part in the ceremony, for
Exeter and the royal revenues within it made part of her 'morning gift.'
Leofric instituted several reforms, added to the wealth of his cathedral,
and left it a legacy of lands and books. The most interesting of the
manuscripts is the celebrated Exeter Book, a large collection of
Anglo-Saxon poems on very different subjects. To give some idea of
their variety, it may be mentioned that, amongst other poems of an
entirely distinct character, there are religious pieces, many riddles, the
legends of two saints, the Scald's or Ancient Minstrel's tale of his
travels, and a poem on the 'Various Fortunes of Men.'
Seventeen years after King Edward's visit, William the Conqueror's
messengers came before the chief men of Exeter demanding their
submission. But the citizens sent back the lofty answer that 'they would
acknowledge William as Emperor of Britain; they would not receive
him as their immediate King. They would pay him the tribute which
they had been used to pay to Kings of the English, but that should be all.
They would swear no oaths to him; they would not receive him within
their walls.' William naturally would not listen to conditions, and
arrived to direct the siege in person. For eighteen days the repeated
attacks of the Normans were sturdily resisted; then the enemy dug a
mine, which caused the walls to crumble, and surrender was inevitable.

'The Red Mount of Exeter had been the stronghold of Briton, Roman,
and Englishman;' under the