By Ellie Jones, Cathedral Archivist
‘Explore Your Archive’ is an Archives and Records Association initiative celebrating archives across the UK and Ireland. As part of it, we’re hosting a free drop-in exhibition on Tuesday 17 November, exploring the question: “What’s in an Archive?”
An archive preserves unique records for their historical, legal or cultural value. The Cathedral Archives holds records of the Dean and Chapter, as well as the people and voluntary groups central to the Cathedral’s life over a millennium. Our oldest records may be a thousand years old while the newest may be only days old; even the oldest document was new once.
Archives preserve evidence of events, decisions and lives in paper, parchment, audiovisual and digital formats. They are organised and described to explain how and why records were created, making them available to those with questions – or simply a curiosity. The collections include letters, photographs, accounts, minutes, registers, archaeological reports and more. Though centred on the Cathedral, they also document people and places across the southwest and beyond.
The Cathedral Archives works closely with the Cathedral Library but we will save describing the Library for another day. For now, consider the simplest distinction: that archives hold documents and libraries hold books. What about items that blur the line?
We have a very special copy of Walter Henry Sweet ‘Exeter: Sketches’ (1915), featuring lovely drawings of buildings around Exeter including the Cathedral, St Nicholas Priory, and the Tudor House. This copy was bought by Leslie Davis, a young pilot during the First World War. He had come from the Midlands to join the Royal Flying Corps at Topsham Barracks aged 19. In his neat handwriting, he added personal comments and notes before sending the guidebook home to his mother. He even marked the position inside the Cathedral where he regularly sat, and the city cafes where “all the best people go”.
Davis was killed in action in France in 1918, aged just 22. The guidebook remained with his family until a few years ago, when it was presented to us as a beloved memorial. This evocative treasure raises a question: is it a library book or a unique archival record? Its story is just one of those we will explore at next week’s display. Join us to find out more about our collections and stories like this. Click here for more information >