THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF SAINT PETER IN EXETER THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF SAINT PETER IN EXETER
From 9th April until further notice the library will be closed on Wednesdays. This is to allow staff to work on a survey of the collections for the National Preservation Office, a prerequisite for certain grant applications.
THE CATHEDRAL LIBRARY
Cathedral Librarian: Peter Thomas, MA DipLib
Assistant Librarian: Michael Howarth, MA DipLib
The Library is situated in the West Wing of the Bishop's Palace. Its contact details are:
Exeter Cathedral Library, Diocesan House, Palace Gate, Exeter EX1 1HX
Telephone 01392 272894
Fax 01392 285986
E-mail library@exeter-cathedral.org.uk
The Library is open Monday to Friday 2–5pm, though this can depend on staff availability. It is closed during some holiday periods. Visitors are welcome; if you want access to a book, it is advisable to contact us first to arrange an appointment, as some books are held on other sites.
The Library's greatest treasures are the 10th-century EXETER BOOK (shown above), a priceless collection of Anglo Saxon poetry, and the EXON DOMESDAY BOOK (1086).
There is an important collection of medical books, and a range of other books including particularly historic theology, and information on the Cathedral and the Church of England in Devon.
Notable among the printed books is a Second Folio of Shakespeare.
Pre-1991 accessions are recorded in a card catalogue and, together with later accessions, in an on-site computer catalogue using the Heritage system. Work is in progress with a view to providing an eventual web-based catalogue. Meanwhile the pre-2001 accessions are included in the online catalogue of Exeter University Library at www.ex.ac.uk/library/. The medical and scientific collections are also catalogued in Medicine and science at Exeter Cathedral Library: a short-title catalogue of printed books, 1483–1900, with a list of 10th- to 19th-century manuscripts, compiled by Peter W Thomas (University of Exeter Press 2003). Other special categories of material (medieval manuscripts, early printed books, etc.) are recorded in the appropriate standard printed and online reference works.
For a full account of the library see our booklet: The Library and Archives of Exeter Cathedral, by L J Lloyd and Audrey M Erskine, 3rd edn (Exeter 2004), ISBN 0-9548695-0-8, £2.75 or £4 (inc. post & packing).
Now on view at the Cathedral Library: Books for the New World: an exhibition to mark the 400th anniversary of the foundation of the first successful English settlement in North America in 1607.
THE CATHEDRAL ARCHIVES
Archivist: Angela Doughty, BA DAA
Correspondence: Cathedral Archives, Diocesan House, Palace Gate, Exeter EX1 1HX
Location: The Cloisters, accessible from the Cathedral Refectory
Open Monday to Wednesday 2–5pm by appointment only
Telephone 01392 495954 during opening hours or 01392 383063 (general enquiries) Monday–Wednesday 10.30am–1 pm
E-mail archive@exeter-cathedral.org.uk
The Cathedral Archives contain records of the Dean and Chapter of Exeter from Anglo Saxon times to the present day. Documents concern the Cathedral itself, the building and its staff, and property formerly owned by the Dean and Chapter and the Vicars Choral in Exeter and scattered locations throughout Devon and Cornwall, as well as a few estates in other counties. For local and family history, ecclesiastical records of Devon parishes and the diocese of Exeter, including its bishops and clergy, please enquire at Devon Record Office. The DRO website is at www.devon.gov.uk/record_office.htm , email devrec@devon.gov.uk or telephone 01392 384253.
For a full account of the archives see our booklet: The Library and Archives of Exeter Cathedral, by L J Lloyd and Audrey M Erskine, 3rd edn (Exeter 2004), ISBN 0-9548695-0-8, £2.75 or £4 (inc. post & packing).
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