The Seymour Tomb, Berry Pomeroy Church
By far the most important and remarkable ecclesiastical building in Devonshire is Exeter Cathedral, which, although not one of the largest or—externally, at any rate—one of the most majestic cathedrals in this country, is without doubt the most beautiful example in all England of the Decorated style of architecture. It is built of Beer stone; a material which when first quarried is white and easily worked, but which, in this case, is now dark and crumbling with age.
The two features which specially distinguish this from all other cathedrals are its transeptal towers, of which the only other English example is at Ottery St Mary; and the great length of its roof, which extends unbroken over nave and choir.
The exterior is further remarkable for the statuary on its west front with its figures of kings and knights, saints and angels; for its flying buttresses and its richly carved pinnacles. And the interior, which has been called the finest in Europe, is distinguished for the beautiful tracery of its many Decorated windows, the elaborate details of its side-chapels; its episcopal throne, more than fifty feet high, a marvel of wood-carving, without a rival in the island; its noble screen, one of the best in a county particularly rich in screens; its ancient and quaintly-carved misereres, the earliest in England; its fourteenth century minstrels' gallery, the most nearly perfect known; its long stretch of stone vaulted roof, the longest of the kind in existence; its clustered columns; its richly yet delicately carved bosses and finely sculptured corbels; its many monuments and recumbent effigies of knights in armour and of bishops in their robes of office; and, generally, by the wonderful uniformity and symmetry of its design.
Exeter Cathedral, West Front