Devon and Exeter Institution

The Devon and Exeter Institution is a subscription library in the City of Exeter, Devon, founded in 1813 for "The general diffusion of science, literature and the arts". It is situated at 7, Cathedral Close, Exeter, in a building facing the north side of Exeter Cathedral which was formerly the Exeter townhouse of the Courtenay family of Powderham Castle.

Membership is by annual subscription, although current students and staff of Exeter University may use it free of charge.

The library houses two marble busts by the sculptor Edward Bowring Stephens (1815–1882) of Exeter, of Sir William Webb Follett (1796–1845), MP for Exeter and Sir John Bowring (1792–1872), of Exeter, Governor of Hong Kong and President of the Devon and Exeter Institution 1860–61.

The building in which the Institution is housed at 7, Cathedral Close, was purchased from the Dean and Chapter of Exeter Cathedral and was formerly the Exeter townhouse of the Civil War Roundhead General Sir William Waller (c.1597-1668) of Forde, Wolborough, Devon. Following the death of his son, his eventual heiress was his daughter Margaret Waller (d.1694), who married Sir William Courtenay, 1st Baronet (1628–1702), of Powderham, Devon, to which family she brought the Waller estates including the Exeter townhouse. Her descendants became Viscounts Courtenay and Earls of Devon.

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