Smoking Dog Grotesque

and Dido the Seagull

This has been included because it is fun. On the northern side of the cathedral is this rather fine grotesque of a hound smoking a pipe - it was carved by Peter Dare, a cathedral stonemason almost 20 years ago, when they were replacing the badly weathered grotesques on that side. It is based on a dog called Butch that frequented a pub in Exmouth in the 70's and 80's and enjoyed a pipe of tobacco along with its owner - whether it enjoyed a pint at the same time I cannot recall. It is little known, even to the Cathedral staff, and when I enquired there had been a debate about whether it was a cat, a Dean or a dog.

There are two further grotesques, one of a bishop and one of Dido the Seagull, Exeter City's feathered mascot,which can also be foundon the north side of the cathedral. In the 1960's, Bishop Mortimer was a fervent Exeter City supporter, and it was said that the team always won when a seagull landed on the pitch. The Grecians could do with that seagull at the moment!