@exeterunispeccoll
Join us in exploring the University of Exeter Library's Special Collections, which include archives, manuscripts, rare books and maps. There's something for everyone, and everyone is welcome. Find out more! ➡️ libguides.exeter.ac.uk/archives
Oh I see! I thought you might be referring to the '24' at the top of West Gate Street. Yes, the House that Moved was moved to West Street from Edmund Street, which is unfortunately not noted on the map, but was located on the corner with Frog Street.
Photograph of three pocket diaries dated 1955, 1957 and 1963. Underneath each diary is a four-leaf clover in a labelled melinex sleeve. A metal ruler next to the diaries shows how small the items are.
A pocket diary is pretty tiny...but sometimes its contents can be even tinier! 🍀
Each of these three pocket diaries, which belonged to Dorothy Harmsworth, contain four-leaf clovers - the tiniest being just over an inch long.
📷 EUL MS 435/6/5/1
#TinyTuesday #WomensHistoryMonth #WHM #Archives
What's on at the DEI this March! 🍂
Thrilled to be involved in this fantastic project!
#WomensScreenWork #Digital #Humanities #DigitalHumanities #DHLab #IWD #InternationalWomensDay #Film #TV #WomenFilmmakers #Archives #FilmArchives
To celebrate #InternationalBagPipeDay here is a pleased looking pooch playing the puppy pipes. M.S. B.11.27 mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Manuscript/B...
Join Noreen Masud on 26 March:
✍️ Workshop
Relaxed creative writing workshop exploring life‑writing
📖 Author Talk
Author of The Flat Place - shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Non-Fiction
🎟️Tickets: ex.ac.uk/dYP [Free to @exeter.ac.uk students!]
@swrls.bsky.social @literatureworks.bsky.social
If you mean the mill by Exe Lane, then yes! That is the same site where the Mill on the Exe stands today. It was a paper mill at the time this map was made. The mill was demolished in 1982, and the Mill on the Exe was reconstructed on the site in 1983.
Are you referring to All-Hallows-on-the-Wall Church? Or is there something else you've spotted?
Plan of Exeter, decorated in shades of red, yellow, green, brown and blue. The map was engraved by John Roper and dates to 1810. A reference key on the right lists the places of worship in each ward. At the bottom of the plan is an illustration of Exeter Cathedral.
This colourful plan of Exeter, dating back to 1810, was engraved by John Roper. It includes a lovely illustration of Exeter Cathedral.
Which landmarks can you identify that still exist today? And what has changed?
📷 Townsend Maps T17
#MapMonday #MappingOurExeter #Maps #Exeter
Discover what's on this week at Exeter Cathedral:
📆 Library & Archives In Focus: “Women’s Work” at Exeter Cathedral (Monday 9 March)
📆 Exeter Philharmonic Choir - Solomon (Saturday 14 March)
Find out more: exeter-cathedral.org.uk/whats-on
#ExeterCathedral #YourCathedral
It’s Manorial Monday! 🗺️
Here’s a map mid-digitisation. With sizes that vary wildly, we scan them on our overhead camera or book scanner, relaxing and flattening each one to get the best images for georeferencing.
Postcard featuring illustrations of piskies, wearing read and green outfits, holding hands and dancing around. Green text reads: 'Cornish Piskies' and red text reads: 'Good Luck'.
What better way to end the working week than with luck bestowed by some mischievous Cornish piskies!
We came across this charming and joyful postcard, dating back to 1915, whilst box-listing an archive this morning.
📷 EUL MS 408 Box 27: 1
#FridayFeeling #Archives #Piskies #Cornwall
Today marks the start of #BritishScienceWeek and we'd like to tell you about Eleanor Ormerod (1828-1901).
Ormerod was a pioneering entomologist (expert on insects) and helped to define agricultural entomology as an academic discipline in Britain.
Read our Book of the Month blog: shorturl.at/Pklbw
British Science Week starts today!
We hope this online subject guide to Science, Technology & Medicine will be a great starting point for exploring our collections. It includes items relating to astronomy, fungi, the Channel Tunnel - & even the Exeter Hip!
#BritishScienceWeek #Archives #RareBooks
WORKSHOP: A Friendly Introduction to Palaeography!
🔎 Explore 14th century medical + culinary recipes
🔎 Based exclusively on records in our Archives
🔎 Learn about Middle English
🔎 No practical experience required
15 April | 2pm-4:30pm
Book your tickets: www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk/whats-on/eve...
It was once not uncommon for maps to be populated by sea monsters 🐉 and imaginary islands 🏝️
🗺️Come along to BRLSI to find out what the world looked like in the Renaissance, with Kate Herbert, Chief Curator of the #AmericanMuseumandGardens🏛️
🔗
White text at the top says, 'Library training events for PGTs, PGRs & academic staff A dark green background' and at the bottom says, 'Check the details and booking requirements here: bit.ly/ExeterUniLibEvent'. In the centre are illustrations in white of a laptop, a piece of paper with a pencil, and a stack of books on a bright green border and 'NEXT WEEK' in white capital letters above it. A bright green graphic of a calendar is in the top left-hand corner.
Library events next week include:
Writing a Literature Review (Doctoral College students)
Enhancing E-books: tools for making reading online easier and more productive
Group Work
Presentations
AI Escape Room Experience
Drop-Ins/Research Cafés
See more & book: bit.ly/ExeterUniLibEvent 🗓️
Illustration of a nun standing on the left-hand corner of a blue border. She is wearing a grey habit, black veil and a white linen crown forming a cross over her head, with five red spots that represent the five wounds of Christ. She is holding a book bound in brown leather in front of her, which she appears completely engrossed in. To her right are words in Latin.
We love this tiny illustration of a Bridgettine nun engrossed in a book!
She can be found in the border of Sister Mary Dominic's vow in the Syon Abbey archive.
📷 EUL MS 389/COM/2/2/3/4 (date: 1924-27)
#WorldBookDay #SyonAbbey #Nuntastic
You can find all our events & links for booking here: https://linktr.ee/exeterlibraryevents
✨ A quick update of our events heading into March, April and May.
You'll find your usual discos, quizzes, live music and creative writing events, along with some reptiles, theatre and Lego robots!
#LoveLibraries
To celebrate World Book Day, why not check out our upcoming Words Alive in Libraries events! ⬇️
Shelf of small books in the Syon Abbey Library. Most have parchment bindings and hand-made modern orange labels created by the community of Syon Abbey.
Shelves of books in the Chris Brooks Collection. The books in this photograph were written for children and young adults in the 19th and early 20th century, and many of them have colourful and illustrated bindings.
Shelves of late 19th and 20th century books in the Hypatia Collection of books and journals by and about women. Many of the books have colourful or illustrated spines.
Four shelves of 19th and 20th century books in the John Betjeman Library
Our rare book collections are available for EVERYONE to access for research or enjoyment in our reading room!
With more than 50,000 books published between 1471 and 2025, we have something for everyone.
Find out more! ➡️ libguides.exeter.ac.uk/archives/books
#WorldBookDay #RareBooks #Exeter
Gool Peran Lowen! Happy St Piran’s Day! 🏴🏳️〓〓
Today we are sharing this beautifully coloured, illustrated postcard from the 1920s — part of the Perranzabuloe parish church collection — depicting the legendary arrival of St Piran in Cornwall.
Kernow bys vyken! 🖤🤍
#StPiransDay #GoolPeran #Kernow
We are pleased to share a new commissioned poem from the first ever Exeter Young City Laureate, Graci Wakely. 'The Library' shares an insight into the joys of reading, so it’s perfect to mark @worldbookdayuk.bsky.social today.
Read here:
A page from a manuscript commentary on 'Al-'awāmil al-jadīdah', written in Arabic. The patterned border is decorated in red ink.
This is a page from a 20th century manuscript entitled 'I' lam al-haqabbat' (a treatise on Arabic grammar). It is a commentary on 'Al-'awāmil al-jadīdah' by the 16th century Turkish scholar Muhammad ibn Al-Birkawi. The scribe and date is unknown.
📷 EUL MS 219
#NationalGrammarDay #Arabic #Archives
English alt text / Tekst aral Sowsnek: An English-language poster for the Women of the Gorsedh exhibition at Penryn Campus Library in March 2026. There are three pictures of Cornish bards in blue robes on a blue background.
It’s finally here! We’re very excited to announce that our Women of the Gorsedh exhibition is now open at Penryn Campus Library. 🎉
Celebrating women who have made important contributions to Cornish culture and heritage, the exhibition will be up throughout March. Make sure to come and see it!
ON OUR RADAR // The People of Exeter 🗣️🥪⚽
An afternoon hosted by Love St Thomas focussed on Exeter’s historic multicultural character with talks, conversation and a community lunch.
🗓️ Sat 7 March
🕑 2-5pm
📍 St Thomas Church Hall, Cowick Street
exeterobserver.org/2026/02/26/t...
This Monday, discover the highly-skilled roles occupied by talented women here at Exeter Cathedral across the centuries 🔍
Hatter, seamstress, blacksmith… who else will you uncover with our Cathedral Librarian & Archivist?
✦ 9 March, 1pm-3pm
✦ More info: www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk/whats-on/eve...
Hope you enjoyed the sunshine! ☀️
Collage of four early 19th century colour illustrations of animals numbered one to four. Number 1 is an illustration a malbrouck monkey sitting on a branch and holding a piece of fruit. It appears to be smiling rather sweetly. Number two is an illustration of a lemming on a piece of grass. It looks distinctly disgruntled and its open mouth (with sharp teeth!) appears to be shouting. Number 3 is a an illustration of a manatee, lying on its side next to some water. It looks exhausted and rather fed up. Number 4 is an illustration of a grizzly bear. It appears to have a cheeky expression on its face and a little red tongue is sticking out of its mouth!
We love finding images of wildlife in our collections! ♥️
One of our favourite books is 'Animated Nature' (1828) by Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. Which of these illustrations from the book best sums up your mood today?
📷 Reserve 590 BUF
#WorldWildlifeDay #Animals #MondayMood #RareBooks
A colour illustration of the European lobster, showing the deep blue colouration of the shell. The illustration is large enough that the page is trifold to fit within the book
Today is #WorldWildlifeDay. We could find many images of wildlife in our collections @thembauk.bsky.social but this one of the European lobster caught our eye. We hope you like as much as we do
📖BL.42/L - Malacostraca podophthalmata Britanniae. W.E Leach, 1815-1875. Illustrations by James Sowerby