Exeter monastery

The origins of monasticism in Exeter are uncertain. Christianity arrived in Britain when Exeter was still a Roman city and the area's military and civic capital. However, the end of Roman rule in Britain led to the city being nearly abandoned for over 400 years. During the Post-Roman period it was part of the Romano-British kingdom of Dumnonia. Celtic Christianity was introduced to the area during the fifth century by Welsh, Irish and Breton missionaries During the tenth century the population of Exeter grew to around 2,000 and the monastery was re-founded as a minster church by King Æthelstan in . The foundations of the minster were discovered in 1971 under the parish church of St Mary…