Exeter’s best-kept secrets: The hidden corners you don’t want to miss

Beyond Exeter’s main streets and familiar landmarks, a network of quieter, lesser-known corners continues to shape everyday life for residents, offering calm spaces and glimpses of the city’s layered history.

While locations such as the High Street, Cathedral Green and the Quayside attract the most attention, many locals say it is Exeter’s hidden routes, small green spaces and historic passageways that define how the city feels day to day.

Many of Exeter’s hidden corners take the form of narrow lanes and alleyways dating back centuries. Gandy Street, long used as a pedestrian cut-through, has evolved into a cluster of independent shops and cafés while retaining its historic character.

Parliament Street is known to be the narrowest street in the UK. It is used as a tourist attraction and curiosity spot in the city but is also a reminder of the city’s medieval layout. 

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Local historian Mark Bennett said: “These streets weren’t designed to be attractions. They were functional spaces, and the fact that they still exist shows how much of Exeter’s original footprint has been preserved.”

Small green spaces also play a quiet but important role in city life. Areas such as Friernhay Gardens and the garden at the Quaker Meeting House are often used by nearby workers, students and residents looking for a brief pause from the surrounding streets.

Exeter resident Hannah Moore said she regularly visits one of the gardens during her lunch break. “It’s easy to walk past without noticing them,” she said. 

“Once you find these places, they feel like a refuge in the middle of everything.”

Parts of Exeter’s city walls remain another example of history that blends into the background. Stretching around Northernhay and Southernhay, the walls form one of the most complete examples of Roman and medieval defences in the country, yet are often passed without comment.

Below street level, Exeter’s medieval Underground Passages extend beneath much of the city centre. While guided tours attract thousands of visitors each year, many residents are unaware of how extensive the network is.

Volunteer city guide Peter Collins said: “People are often surprised by what’s under their feet. You can live here for years without realising how much of the city is hidden below ground.”

Away from the city centre, quieter sections of the River Exe provide another set of lesser-known spaces. 

Paths north towards Exwick and south beyond the canal basin are used daily by walkers and cyclists but remain far less busy than the Quayside.

Wildlife volunteer Sarah Jenkins said these routes offer unexpected encounters. “You don’t expect to see kingfishers or signs of otters so close to the city,” she said. “It’s one of the things that makes Exeter special.”

Community groups and volunteers continue to maintain many of these overlooked spaces, from riverside conservation work to the care of small gardens and green corridors. 

As Exeter continues to grow, residents say these hidden corners are becoming increasingly important as places of quiet connection.