Prehistoric and Roman times

The favourable location of Exeter, on a dry ridge of land ending in a spur that overlooks a navigable river that was teeming with fish, and with fertile land nearby, suggests that it would have been a site that was occupied early

Significant parts of the Roman wall remain, though most of the visible structure is later.

More than 1,000 Roman coins have been found in the city indicating its importance as a trading centre.

After the Romans left Britain in the early 5th century nothing is known of Exeter for about 270 years

Saxon times

The Saxons arrived in Exeter after defeating the Britons at the Battle of Peonnum in Somerset in 658

In 876 Exeter was attacked and briefly captured by the Danes. Alfred the Great drove them out the next summer.In 893 the city held off another siege by the Danes.In 1001 the Danes again failed to get into the city, but they were able to plunder it in 1003 because they were let in, for unknown reasons, by the French reeve of Emma of Normandy, who had been given the city as part of her dowry on her marriage to Æthelred the Unready the previous year.

Tudor and Stuart times

The city's motto, Semper fidelis, is traditionally held to have been suggested by Elizabeth I, in acknowledgement of the city's contribution of ships to help defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588, however its first documented use is in 1660.

Georgian and Victorian times

The first railway to arrive in Exeter was the Bristol and Exeter Railway that opened a station at St Davids on the western edge in 1844

In 1832, the pestilence cholera, which had been erupting all across Europe had reached Exeter

Wartime and post-war times

Exeter was bombed by the German Luftwaffe in the Second World War, when a total of 18 raids between 1940 and 1942 flattened much of the city centre.

Large areas of the city were rebuilt in the 1950s, when little attempt was made to preserve Exeter's ancient heritage. Damaged buildings were generally demolished rather than restored

Despite some local opposition, the Princesshay shopping centre has been redeveloped between the Cathedral Close and the High Street. The development was completed and opened on time on 20 September 2007. There are 123 varied residential units incorporated into the new Princesshay.