The Devon and Exeter Institution is hosting a free drop-in event exploring maps of Exeter on Saturday 12 November.
There will be a special display of historic maps selected from collections held at the Devon and Exeter Institution and the University of Exeter.
Participants will be invited to add places that hold personal meaning for them to a new digital map of Exeter, the final version of which will be available to view online following the event.
Historic map of Exeter
The event is taking place as part of the annual Being Human festival of the humanities, led by the University of London in partnership with The British Academy and the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
This year’s festival runs from 10 to 19 November, when more than 200 free events will take place in 43 towns and cities across the UK.
The festival, which started in 2014, invites researchers to collaborate with local communities to create public events aimed at celebrating the humanities and demonstrating the value of academic research in literature, history, languages and philosophy.
International partner events have also taken place since 2017 in locations including Melbourne, Singapore, Paris, Rome and Princeton, New Jersey.
The Devon and Exeter Institution building in Cathedral Close
The Devon and Exeter Institution is an independent library and educational charity established in 1813 to promote “the general diffusion of science, literature and the arts, and for illustrating the natural and civil history of the county of Devon and the history of the city of Exeter”.
It occupies a medieval building in Cathedral Close which was inherited by the Courtenay family in the 17th Century and used as their town house for more than 150 years.
The museum objects which originally accompanied the Devon and Exeter Institution library became the foundation collection of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in 1868.
The two galleried libraries at the institution hold a unique historical book collection, virtually unchanged since 1813, and collections of maps, prints, drawings and fine and decorative art.
Mapping our Exeter is at 10am-12.30pm on Saturday 12 November 2022 at the Devon and Exeter Institution, Cathedral Close.
For more information visit the Being Human website.
