Exeter
Exeter (ĕkˈsətər), city and district, Devon, SW England, on the Exe River. It is the market, transportation, administrative, and distribution center for SW England. Manufacturing predominates, with metal and leather goods, paper, and farm implements as Exeter's chief products. The fort town Isca Dumnoniorum occupied the site in Roman times. Because of its strategic location, Exeter was besieged by the Danes in the 9th and 11th cent., by William the Conqueror in 1068, by Yorkists in the 15th cent., and by religious factions in the middle of the 16th cent. From the 10th to the 18th cent. the city was an important center for the production and exportation of woolen goods. The cathedral, with its massive Norman towers, is a classic example of
Decorated style architecture. In the cathedral library is the famous
Exeter Book. Ruins still remain of the Roman walls and of Rougemont Castle (11th cent.), built under William the Conqueror.
Exeter
Exeter. 1 City (2020 pop. 10,439), Tulare co., S central Calif.; inc. 1911. The town is an agricultural center in the San Joaquin valley. In Oct. 1929, a large race riot erupted as locals stormed a camp filled with Filipino laborers. 2 City (2020 pop. 16,049), Rockingham co., SE New Hamp.; founded c. 1638. The land was purchased from the local Wehanownowit tribe by exiled members of the Massachusetts Bay Colony who disagreed with the mainstream Puritan beliefs. Local grist and sawmills were established in the mid-17th century. From 1775-89, the town was the capital of New Hampshire; in 1781, Phillips Exeter Academy was established there. By the early 19th century, water power from the Squamscott River enabled textile, shoes, lumber, brick, and other manufacturers to operate in town. Several historic homes are located in the town. 3 Town (2020 pop. 6,460), Washington co., SW Rhode Isl.; founded 1742. It was the site of the so-called "Mercy Brown vampire incident" in 1892, in which a young woman's body was exhumed to ward off an outbreak of tuberculosis in her family; the common belief was that the young girl was undead and the cause of the family's illnesses.
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Exeter
a city and borough in southwestern England. Port on the River Exe. Seat of Devon County. Population, 93,300 (1976). Exeter has enterprises of the machine-building and food-processing industries. The city has a university.
Exeter is located on the site of a Celtic settlement. Traces of regular Roman street layout remain; however, the historical part of the city, located within the standing portions of a wall dating to the Middle Ages, presents a picture of unplanned growth. Structures of architectural interest include the ruins of the late Romanesque castle on Rougemont Hill (begun 1068), a 12th-century guildhall combining the Romanesque and Gothic styles (rebuilt 14th and 16th centuries), and a Gothic cathedral in the decorated style (originally a Romanesque church; rebuilt 1275–1375). The Royal Albert Memorial Museum, with archaeological collections of pottery and bronzes, is located in Exeter.
REFERENCE
Sharp, T. Exeter Phoenix. London, 1946.The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.