Exeter College

Exeter College has occupied a large part of its present site since its foundation in 1314. Its founder, Walter de Stapeldon, was a Devon man who rose from a humble background to become Bishop of Exeter and Treasurer of England under Edward II.One of his main intentions in endowing his new college was to provide an educated clergy for the parishes of his diocese, and, during the first centuries of its existence, Exeter drew its members from the south-western counties, and especially from Devon and Cornwall.

At this time the College, then known as Stapeldon Hall, was a small and relatively poor foundation, consisting of a Rector, a Chaplain and twelve or fourteen Fellows, all in holy orders. Probably from the late fifteenth century, the College offered rooms to a few students. Of this medieval college, all that remains is the building known as Palmer's Tower, due east of the Chapel, which takes its name from a fifteenth-century Rector.