Exeter is the largest community in the municipality of South Huron (2006 pop. 9,982). South Huron was formed in 2001 when the townships of Stephen and Usborne were amalgamated with Exeter in 2001.
Exeter was laid out in 1855. The earliest settlers had been the families of James Willis and William McConnell who had come to the area in 1833. Within a year, McConnell had erected mills on the banks of the Aux Sables River near which a community known as Francistown developed. South of the mills near Willis's location on the "London Road", Isaac Carling opened a store and tannery in 1847 and James Pickard a general store in 1851. By 1860, Exeter had become the chief market centre of the district. In anticipation of the growth that the London, Huron and Bruce Railway would bring, Exeter and Francistown were amalgamated and incorporated as the village of Exeter on March 29, 1873.
Trivitt Memorial Church, Exeter, Ontario was opened in 1883 replacing the first Anglican Church built in 1860. Its design is based on a portion of Exeter Cathedral in England. Thomas Trivitt, Justice of the Peace in Huron County, paid for the church after he had inherited a substantial estate.