the
Exe, from its source on Exmoor to the sea at Exmouth, is estimated at
about seventy miles. It is a pure pellucid stream until joined by the
Creedy, which imparts to it a reddish colour from the soil through which
the latter flows.

The importance of the river to Exeter, especially before the waterway
was obstructed by Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon, cannot be
overestimated, and in old books many of the now flourishing ports on the
south coast are described as "creeks under Exeter". From ancient records
it seems certain that an arm of the sea extended to the very walls of
the city, and from the facility thus afforded to commerce, Exeter, at a
very early period, became the great trading port of the West Country. Of
the various trades carried on here those of the woollen and its allied
industries were the most numerous. It was also one of those favoured
English ports to which licences were granted in 1428 for the embarkation
of devout persons and pilgrims who were visiting the great Continental
shrines, and particularly that of St. James at Compostella. Before they
were permitted to leave this country these mediaeval devotees were
required to swear a solemn oath that they would "not take with them
anything prejudicial to England, nor to reveal any of its secrets, nor
carry out with them any more gold or silver than what would be
sufficient for their reasonable expense".

As civilization increased trade and commerce, both foreign and domestic,
kept pace with the growth of the city, and in the reign of Elizabeth the
wool merchants of the county and the woolstaplers of its capital had
risen to fame and opulence. In the year 1560 Queen Elizabeth granted the
traders of Exeter a charter of privileges, and letters patent were
issued forming them into a company under the name of a "Socitie of
Marchante Adventurers of the citie of Exeter". The possession of the
charter induced the citizens to commence the spirited undertaking of
cutting a canal to Topsham, a work that was begun in 1564, and which
constitutes one of the earliest examples of canal navigation in the
country. "But why", it may be asked, "did the need for cutting a canal
arise when the river flowed up to the heart of the city?" The need arose
in consequence of the obstruction of the natural waterway near Topsham,
by Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon, with the result that no
ships could proceed beyond Countess Weir, at Topsham, 4 miles below
Exeter.