ancient Isca Dumnoniorum
City and administrative district (pop., 2001: 111,078), administrative and historic county of Devon , England.
The county town (seat) of Devon, it is located on the River Exe about 10 mi (16 km) above the English Channel and commands an important river crossing. An early British tribe, the Dumnonii, made Exeter their centre; when it was taken by the Romans, they named it Isca Dumnoniorum. The main town in southwestern England during the Middle Ages, Exeter was subjected to a number of sieges. Alfred the Great twice held it against the Danes (877 and с 894); the Danes finally took the city in 1003 but lost it in 1068 to William I (the Conqueror). Exeter's Norman cathedral, consecrated in 1133, houses the Exeter Book, the largest collection extant of Old English poetry. The city has light manufacturing and is a service centre for an extensive region.