Explore rare and fascinating items relating to architecture in Exeter and Devon at special heritage event
Documents showing the impact of the Exeter Blitz and a letter to Agatha Christie are among the items on show
People can explore rare and fascinating items relating to architecture in Exeter and Devon at a special heritage event this month.
Documents showing the impact of the Exeter Blitz and a letter to Agatha Christie are among the items on show during the free, drop-in session at the University of Exeter Special Collections.
Special Collections staff will be on hand to help people explore the history of local buildings through literature, letters, photographs, artwork, and architectural plans.
The event, on Saturday 20 September, is being held as part of the national Heritage Open Days initiative, which this year has the theme of architecture.
Items on display include architectural plans of university buildings, a letter from a student describing the aftermath of the Exeter Blitz, a sketch book by the artist John Gendall, a letter to Agatha Christie from an architect pointing out architectural errors in her novel ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’ and a variety of rare books from the University of Exeter’s Edmund Collection of Local History, including a book of the ‘Valuation of Lands and Houses in Exeter’, dated 1838.
The event – “Architecture in the Archives” – will be held in the Old Library, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, Devon, EX4 4SB.
Visitors will be able to see and handle items with the help of experienced archive staff. There will be the opportunity to find out more about how they look after the collections and what is involved in preserving it.
Visitors do not need to book and can drop in at any point in the session. For more information see:
https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/submission-event/architecture-in-the-archives.html
The University of Exeter Special Collections holds archives and rare books dating between the late thirteenth century and the present day, with major highlights in international collections relating to the Middle East, as well as archives of more than 40 writers with connections to South-West England, including Agatha Christie and Daphne Du Maurier.
