St Stephen

Both have three-light Perpendicular windows with panel tracery under semicircular heads, those on the S evidently 19th-century renewals, those on the N either perhaps late medieval originals.

The plain slit windows in the belfry stage are work from the late 17th-century rebuilding.

However, the most unusual and interesting feature of the exterior is the small, embattled NE medieval chapel which is placed on a low, segmental arch above a public thoroughfare.

There is a royal arms at the W end dating from 1640.

The octagonal font is early 19th-century and has quatrefoils etc on the bowl.

There are three good wall monuments

The rather garish stained glass in the N aisle window is by G. Cooper Abbs and dates from 1946 and represents St Stephen being welcomed into heaven.

HISTORY: Norman work at the church was revealed in 1826 when a crypt was discovered and which was found to have two short columns with primitive capitals, one block-shaped, the other with an elementary honeysuckle motif.

The arch beneath the NE chapel is said to be of the 13th century although is has no characteristic datable features.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The church of St Stephen, High Street, Exeter, is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons: * It is of considerable interest as one of the surviving medieval churches of Exeter.

It dates back to Norman times (although the Norman crypt is not now visible) and has the very distinctive feature a NE chapel raised above a public thoroughfare.

It has late medieval details and was substantially rebuilt in the 1660s. * It has some fittings of interest in terms of three 17th- and 18th-century wall monuments and an early 17th-century royal arms. * It forms an important visual focus in an area of central Exeter which was otherwise razed by wartime bombing.