As Pevsner observes, the unknown architect (the master of Exeter), handled the vaulting 'with a sense of luxuriance, the epitome of late thirteenth-century tendencies. His work makes even the Angel Choir of Lincoln appear restrained.' The lack of a central tower at Exeter means this is the longest uninterrupted medieval vaulted ceiling in the world.

Girtin’s 1797 work is by far the most informative view that survives showing the cathedral interior as it was before the major changes undertaken by John Kendall in 1810–1830. It is a unique record of a number of things which disappeared soon after 1800, such as the box pews in the nave installed in the 1680s; the arrangement of the organ with the clusters of pipes against the north and south walls, removed subsequently; and the appearance of the nave floor, before it was repaved in the 1830s. It is the only record of the colour scheme of the cathedral at this date and thus is an important record of Georgian taste.