City of Exeter

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Region: South West
Country: England

§ This page provides an overview of an officially designated city in the UK, bringing together various information to help you better understand this city.

Exeter’s city status is by ancient prescriptive right, reflecting its Roman origins (Isca Dumnoniorum), medieval cathedral and prominence in the wool trade; governance evolved from county corporate and county borough to a non-metropolitan district in 1974. The city remains under Exeter City Council within Devon County Council, after a 2010 central-government decision halted a move to unitary status; in 2025 councillors revived work on a bid for unitary reorganisation as part of wider devolution discussions. The Lord Mayoralty was granted in 2002, underscoring Exeter’s civic heritage.

City Council Status

Exeter City Council is a non-metropolitan district; Devon County Council provides county-level services, so the city operates within a two-tier structure (not a unitary).

Civic Honours: Lord Mayors & Lord Provost

Exeter was granted a Lord Mayoralty in 2002 during the Golden Jubilee civic honours.

In the UK, city status and the dignity of Lord Mayor (or Lord Provost in Scotland) are separate honours, each granted by the monarch via letters patent. Of the 76 cities, 28 have a Lord Mayoralty and 4—Scotland’s four cities—have a Lord Provost; these titles don’t automatically follow from city status. A Lord Mayoralty exists in 24 cities in England, 2 in Wales, and 2 in Northern Ireland.

Only 24 cities in England have Lord Mayors: Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Canterbury, Chester, Coventry, Exeter, Kingston-upon-Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, the City of London, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Norwich, Nottingham, Oxford, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, the City of Westminster, and York.

In the UK, a city is not defined by size or population but by formal status granted by the monarch, often through historical charters or, more recently, civic honours competitions. There are 76 officially recognised cities, some of which are relatively small compared to other urban areas. In contrast, local authority districts (361 in total) are administrative areas created for local government purposes and may include a mix of urban centres, suburbs, and rural communities. Within districts, there may be one or more towns, which generally refer to sizeable urban settlements but do not hold city status unless it has been formally granted. In practice, a city can exist within a district, and a district can cover multiple towns, showing the clear distinction between legal status, administrative boundaries, and everyday usage.

Cities in South West