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NEW Treasures Exhibition
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What's On
NEW Treasures Exhibition

General Treasures

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Discover more about some of the fascinating items in our Treasures Exhibition. 

Foundation Charter

Elephant Misericord

Scott Flag

Exon Domesday

Wax Votives

Clinton Cross

Altar Frontal

Fortescue Book of Hours

The Bishop's Crozier

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Foundation Charter

This charter records the foundation of Exeter Cathedral in 1050 and the enthronement of Leofric as its first Bishop. It is the oldest surviving document of its kind in England and has been carefully preserved at Exeter for nearly a thousand years.

Since 1046, Leofric had been bishop of two separate dioceses, Devon and Cornwall, each with a cathedral: Crediton in Devon and St Germans in Cornwall. However, in 1050 King Edward the Confessor merged the dioceses of Devon and Cornwall to create a new diocese of Exeter, with a cathedral at Exeter housing the bishop’s throne. This large diocese existed until 1876 when the Bishopric of Truro Act once again separated Cornwall from Devon, paving the way for Cornwall to gain a new cathedral at Truro and a new bishop.

According to this charter, King Edward created the new diocese of Exeter with the approval of the Pope, Leo IX. The region had suffered badly in attacks of Danish pirates and a fortified city at Exeter was easier to defend than rural Crediton or Cornwall. Leofric became the first bishop of Exeter; an iron cross to the west of the present cathedral marks the location of the foundations of a large Anglo-Saxon church that became his cathedral.

King Edward and Queen Edytha came to Exeter for the enthronement ceremony on St Peter’s Day 1050. The King laid this charter on the high altar of the cathedral and, with the Queen, enthroned Leofric in the presence of many prominent churchmen and laymen. The charter was witnessed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the bishops of Salisbury, Winchester and Worcester, and numerous abbots, earls and lords, including members of Queen Edytha’s family. It was even witnessed by the Queen’s brother, Harold Godwinson, who would later become, briefly, the last Anglo Saxon king of England before his death at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Photo by Simon Tutty

Elephant Misericord

Misericords, or mercy seats, are a fascinating and often overlooked part of church history. From the Latin ‘misericordia’, meaning pity or mercy, misericords are shelves or ledges tucked away on the underside of tip-up seats. In the Middle Ages, they were a practical solution to the problem of weary legs. The clergy in churches and cathedrals, and monks in monasteries and abbeys, prayed the daily prayers of the Divine Office standing up with arms extended; if they became tired, they could fold their seats up and lean on the misericords to take the weight off their legs.

Exeter Cathedral has one of the earliest sets of medieval misericords in England, dating from the middle of the 13th century. The Cathedral no longer has its original choir stalls but the misericords have been preserved and reset in the seats of successive sets of choir stalls. Most recently, Sir George Gilbert Scott used 49 of the 50 misericords in the stalls he created during his restoration of the choir, which was completed in 1876.

Misericords are remarkable for their elaborate carvings. Since they were hidden from public view, they often feature secular or pagan imagery that can seem at odds with traditional Christian symbolism. Today, misericords provide a rare glimpse of the medieval imagination. Some feature scenes from daily life or imagery from folklore; animals were especially popular, including mythical creatures. Among the fifty or so misericords at Exeter Cathedral, are kings, knights, doves, parrots, fish, lions, monsters, dragons, centaurs, and even mermaids; others feature leaves and other foliage.

This fabulous oak misericord is about 750 years old and is one of the earliest carvings of an elephant in England. Although there was a real, live elephant in England in 1255, a present to King Henry III from Louis IX of France, we cannot be certain that the carver of Exeter Cathedral’s misericords ever saw it; it is more likely that he copied an illustration of one in a medieval bestiary. In medieval Europe, elephants symbolised many things, including loyalty, self-control and innocence.

Scott Flag

Robert Falcon Scott was born in Plymouth on 6 June 1868. The son of a Plymouth brewer, he attended school in Hampshire until the age of thirteen when he returned to Devon as a naval cadet on HMS Britannia at Dartmouth. For the next eighteen years, Scott worked his way up through the ranks of the Royal Navy. In 1899, he seized the opportunity to captain an expedition to the Antarctic on board the ship, Discovery.

The Discovery Expedition set sail from the Isle of Wight on 6 August 1901. Scott and his fellow explorers, Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson, discovered the edge of the Polar Plateau, the vast ice sheet around the South Pole, and reached a latitude of 82°17’S – a new record – on 30 December 1902. Despite treacherous conditions and poor health, the team made it safely back to Britain in September 1904.

Polar explorers hauled equipment and other essentials over the ice on sledges. Sledging flags, typically made by mothers, sisters or wives, reminded them of family back home and were symbols of unity, pride and loyalty. Flags also marked special occasions, such as the start or end of an expedition, and often appeared in photograph opportunities along the way.

This handmade sledging flag accompanied Scott on his first Antarctic sledge journey between 2 November 1902 and 3 February 1903. Its condition is truly remarkable for having travelled across 960 miles of ice in blizzards and temperatures as low as -45°C. Made almost entirely of silk, it features St George’s cross, and the Scott family crest, a stag’s head, and motto, ‘Ready Aye Ready’. In the 1920s, Scott’s family gave it to Exeter Cathedral where it has been displayed ever since.

Scott took a different flag with him (now in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich) when he led the Terra Nova Expedition to the Antarctic in 1910. He selected Henry Bowers, Edgar Evans, Lawrence Oates and Edward Wilson to accompany him on the final push for the South Pole. They reached the Pole on 17 January 1912, only to discover they had been pipped to the post by the Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen.

Sadly, the brave explorers of the Terra Nova Expedition did not make it back to base camp. Scott recorded their final days together in his journal, concluding on the 29 March 1912: ‘Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman.’ Scott probably died the following day.

Photo by Simon Tutty

Exon Domesday

Exon Domesday (pronounced ‘dooms day’) contains unique information about politics, society, and the landscape of the south west of England after the Norman Conquest a thousand years ago. It is the oldest part of England’s oldest public record.

At Christmas 1085, King William I, known as William the Conqueror, ordered a survey of people and property in England. He divided the country into several regions, excluding the far north. In January 1086, royal officials travelled to every region to record in meticulous detail the names of landowners, the taxable value of their lands, and the wealth of resources on their estates, including the precise numbers of labourers and even animals – every sheep, pig and goat. They travelled hundreds of miles and interviewed many people in English, French and Cornish. The survey became known as the Domesday Inquest.

In late 1086 and early 1087, administrators collated the reports from each region to produce a final version, the Great Domesday Book – the country’s oldest official public record, now housed at The National Archives. Remarkably, Exon Domesday is the only surviving regional report. It covers the whole south west region, including Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and parts of Wiltshire, and was written in Latin by two dozen scribes, most of them French-speaking. Exon Domesday is a vital link in the Domesday process; comprising 103 booklets, it contains much unique information that was not copied across into the Great Domesday Book.

Exon Domesday was probably brought to Exeter soon after the completion of the Domesday Inquiry by a bishop who could see its administrative value for his diocese. Notes in the margins tell us it was used for centuries for reference and administration in the Diocese of Exeter.

The 1,000-page manuscript used to be bound as a book, but the early 19th century binding was so tight that it was difficult to open. In 2011, a specialist conservator removed the old binding, releasing the pages into their original booklets, and revealing text that had been hidden in the margins for 200 years.

The entire manuscript is now digitised; visit exondomesday.ac.uk to explore every page, complete with Latin transcription and English translation.

Wax Votives

In May 1942, a German air raid damaged parts of Exeter Cathedral, including the stone screens that divide the quire from the aisles on either side. The tomb of Edmund Lacy, Bishop of Exeter from 1420 to 1455, sits under one of the screens in the north aisle. While repairing the screens in September 1943, stonemasons made an intriguing discovery in the space above Bishop Lacy’s tomb: a hoard of pieces of glass, oyster shells and stone, and over a thousand objects made from beeswax, some with pieces of string attached. Among the many fragments of moulded heads, hands, feet and limbs – both human and animal – was a single figure of a female, about 20cm tall, wearing a long skirt and bodice, and holding her hands together in prayer.

These fragile objects are believed to be the only surviving examples in England of medieval wax votives, also known as votive offerings or ex-voto. In the Middle Ages, people hung wax votives at the shrines of saints to give thanks for, or to ask for healing of a particular ailment or injury.

Exeter Cathedral did not have a shrine to a saint but by the early sixteenth century, Bishop Lacy’s tomb had become a focus for healing miracles. Lacy not only had a reputation for holiness but he had also suffered a very painful disease in his legs in later life. People came from far and wide to hang wax votives around his tomb in the hope that his saintly influence would bring them healing. Some believe Lacy may even have been considered a candidate for sainthood, known as canonisation, had the church in England remained Roman Catholic.

The Reformation in the mid sixteenth century put an end to the medieval practice in England of making offerings and prayers to saints. At Exeter Cathedral, Bishop Lacy’s tomb was defaced at the order of Simon Heynes, Dean of Exeter from 1537 to 1552, who was appointed by Henry VIII to carry out his reforms. However, the tombstone survives, worn smooth by the hands of pilgrims, and these precious wax votives, now carefully preserved, embody the hopes and prayers of thousands of Christians across the centuries.

Explore a 3D model of the wax figure >

Photos by Simon Tutty.

Clinton Cross

Processional crosses have a long history. According to St Bede the Venerable, St Augustine carried a silver cross before him like a standard when he processed into Canterbury on a papal mission to revitalise the Christian faith in England in 597. For centuries since, crucifers, or cross-bearers, have carried crosses ahead of processions at church services.

Crosses often bear inscriptions commemorating people or events, or offering prayers for healing and protection. Charles Henry Rolle Hepburn-Stuart-Forbes-Trefusis, 20th Baron Clinton and Lord Lieutenant of Devon, gave this richly jewelled and enamelled silver gilt cross to Exeter Cathedral in 1902 as an offering of thanksgiving for the safe return of his two sons, John Frederick and Walter Alexander, from the second Anglo Boer War in South Africa. The cross was first used at the Cathedral on Christmas Day 1903 and has appeared at the head of processions at special services throughout the year ever since.

Carried high in a procession, the cross is a powerful symbol of the Christian faith. The arms of this elaborate cross also feature blue enamel quatrefoils containing the symbols of the four Evangelists: St Matthew (angel), St Mark (winged lion), St Luke (ox) and St John (eagle). At the centre, a red enamel quatrefoil features the Agnus Dei, or Lamb of God.

The designer of the cross, George Halford Fellowes Prynne, was a renowned Devon architect of the High Victorian Gothic style. He designed and renovated many parish churches in the South West, including Holy Trinity, Exmouth, and St Peter, Budleigh Salterton, for members of the Clinton family, and St Peter in Plymouth, where his father was vicar.

Photo by Simon Tutty

Altar Frontal

An altar frontal is a type of antependium, a general term for decorative hangings in front of church altars, lecterns and pulpits. Frontals have been used since the 5th century and vary in materials and design, from simple fabric coverings to embroidered or decorated silk, damask and brocade, and even metal or painted wood panels. This altar frontal is worked with silk and metal thread embroidery and appliqué decoration.  

Ornamental altar frontals add colour and pattern to church interiors but they are also symbolic of the sanctity of the altar as Christ’s table. Decoration typically includes crosses, saints, evangelists, and other sacred symbolism. In this altar frontal, scenes from the Book of Revelation and other Christian imagery surround a central image of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ child.

  • The central image depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Christ child, wearing a crown of twelve stars, and standing on a crescent moon surrounded by rays of light. The image originates from the Book of Revelation 12:1: “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.”
  • The super frontal (top section) features three embroidered scenes depicting St John the Evangelist (left), Christ’s nativity (centre) and Mary Magdalene at Christ’s tomb.
  • The left roundel depicts the Lamb of God resting on the scroll with the seven seals from the Book of Revelation 5:9: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain.”
  • The right roundel depicts an eagle, the symbol of St John the Evangelist, author of the Book of Revelation.
  • The left orphrey (border) features a cardinal’s hat above a lion, the heraldic emblem of the Hieronymites, or Jeronimites, an Iberian monastic order associated with St Jerome.
  • The right orphrey depicts a spiked wheel, the symbol of martyrdom of St Catherine of Alexandria.
  • Scallop shells and walking sticks symbolise transformation and pilgrimage and are most famously linked to the camino, or route, to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain.

Research continues into the origins of the altar frontal but its symbolism suggests it was made about 450 years ago for the chapel dedicated to St Catherine at the Hieronymite monastery at Santa Catalina de Montecorbán, a starting point on the northern way of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela.  In 1835, the monastery was closed and its contents dispersed – perhaps this was when the altar frontal came to Exeter via a shipping route across the Bay of Biscay from Santander to Plymouth.

Photo by Simon Tutty

Fortescue Book of Hours

Books of hours were the most common devotional books in the Middle Ages. They contained private prayers, typically in Latin, for ordinary people who wanted to imitate the daily cycle of prayers, or Divine Office, of the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church and those in monastic communities. Throughout the day’s 24 hours there were eight times of prayer, known as the Hours of the Virgin, or the canonical hours: Matins (before sunrise), Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline (after sunset).

Medieval books of hours were written and illustrated by hand and could be personalised to suit owners’ needs and pockets. Most contained the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary – a simplified version of the Divine Office. Typically, books of hours also contained a calendar, readings from the Gospels, psalms, hymns and the Office of the Dead.

The earliest books of hours belonged only to the very wealthiest families but in the late Middle Ages, the growth in trade and industry gave rise to a new urban middle class with increased disposable incomes. While many books of hours are small and simply decorated, others are lavish productions with illuminated initials, intricate border designs and full-page miniatures depicting religious scenes or portraits and coats of arms of wealthy book owners.

Books of hours typically passed down through families. This exquisite illuminated book of hours was made for Sir John Fortescue (ca. 1394-1479), Chief Justice of England from 1442 to 1460 and author of an important book of English law, De laudibus legum Angliae. The manuscript features a portrait of Sir John in his judicial robes, kneeling at the foot of the Cross. The Fortescue family came to England from France with the Norman invasion of 1066 and settled in Devon. Sir Richard le Fort is said to have protected William the Conqueror with his shield during the Battle of Hastings, earning him the surname ‘fort escu’, or ‘strong shield’. The family’s motto, ‘Forte Scutum Salus Ducum’, translates as ‘a strong shield saves the kingdom’.

Personalised books of hours declined in popularity in England with the arrival of printing with movable type in the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century, the Protestant Reformation saw the Bible, newly translated into English, replace Roman Catholic books of hours as the primary source of individual religious devotion. Fortunately, about 800 English books of hours have survived in libraries, museums and private collections offering a glimpse of medieval artistic, religious and social life.

Photo by Simon Tutty

The Bishop's Crozier

Bishops have been using croziers, or pastoral staffs, since at least the fourth century. The long staff, shaped like a shepherd’s crook, signifies a bishop’s role in guiding, protecting and caring for people, like a shepherd cares for sheep. It also symbolises Christ, the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. A bishop typically holds a crozier in the left hand while processing, and stands with the open side of the crook facing the congregation. 

This ornate crozier was presented to Frederick Temple, Bishop of Exeter from 1869 to 1885, on 18 October 1877 to acknowledge his generous part in creating a separate diocese of Truro. Since the foundation of the diocese of Exeter in 1050, Bishops of Exeter had been responsible for churches in both Devon and Cornwall. However, in 1876, the Bishopric of Truro Act paved the way for Cornwall to gain a new cathedral and a new bishop – and for Truro to be granted a new status as the county’s first and only city.

From Exeter, Frederick Temple went on to serve as Bishop of London and, eventually, as the 95th Archbishop of Canterbury from 1896 until his death in 1902.  His son, William, born in Exeter in 1881, subsequently served as the 98th Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942 to 1944. The Cathedral’s West Front window commemorates both men – the only father and son in history to both serve as Archbishop of Canterbury.  

The designer of this crozier, William Butterfield, was a prolific architect in the High Victorian Gothic style. He had recently carried out restoration work at the Bishop’s Palace and was well-placed for a new commission. The plain ebony shaft supports an intricately carved ivory crook featuring a lamb at the centre. Butterfield employed an award-winning firm of ecclesiastical metalworkers, Hart, Son, Peard & Co., for the delicate silver work. The figures are of St Peter holding the keys to the gates of heaven and of St Paul with his sword and book. The crozier also displays the arms of both the Temple family, featuring two eagles and rows of martlets (mythical legless birds), and the Diocese of Exeter, with two crossed keys and a sword. Though presented to Frederick Temple, the crozier was intended to be used by future Bishops of Exeter and has remained here ever since.  

Photo by Simon Tutty
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