By Ellie Jones, Cathedral Archivist
This week, for a change – ahead of International Archives Day on Monday 9 June – we’re turning our attention not to a single document, or a single story, but to a series of more than 150 documents and the thousands of stories they contain.
The Chapter Acts and Chapter Minutes are possibly the most important series of records in the Cathedral Archives. They are closely related, but not quite the same thing. Chapter Act books (which begin in 1382) are technically the records of decisions taken at the regular meetings of the Chapter, whereas the Chapter Minutes (which begin in 1893) are the records of the matters raised at the meetings. Together, they record the discussions held, decisions made, and acts passed at the regular meetings of the Chapter of Exeter Cathedral. They cover the whole spectrum of the administration of the Cathedral including elections, admissions, installations, appointments, discipline, building management, estate administration, and so much more.
It is likely that the Chapter met formally, in the Chapter House, much earlier than the 1380s but we do not have the records of those meetings. For centuries, the Chapter met every Saturday (and sometimes on additional occasions) until 1968, when they moved to monthly meetings, on Thursdays, instead.
The Acts and Minutes were kept in hardbound manuscript volumes until the 1960s, when the Chapter embraced the typewriter and ring binders. This was a practical move, which made the records easier to copy and read (some of the minute takers had spectacularly poor handwriting), but they are a bit less elegant in appearance (and harder to look after). By the 1990s the minutes were being word processed and printed, and it wasn’t just minutes that were kept, but correspondence and reports too. Nowadays, the meeting papers exist in both digital format and as a printed, signed set.
There are a few notable gaps in the sequence, between 1434-1521 and 1562-1607, and from 1643-1660 when the Chapter was suspended during the Civil Wars and Commonwealth. Over the years some matters have been reported in glorious detail, while others are left tantalisingly vague, merely hinting at what must have been going on in the meetings. Some subjects – which it is hard to believe wouldn’t have been discussed – get no mention at all. The Acts and Minutes together still form the backbone of the Dean and Chapter’s archives.
If you visit our online catalogue, you can browse extensive extracts from these most valuable records from the 17th to 20th centuries (look for reference numbers between D&C3553 and 3596). More entries are being added all the time.