Falmouth & Exeter Uni Archives
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Falmouth & Exeter Uni Archives
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Unique, eclectic, inspiring - discover our Archives & Special Collections at Falmouth University & University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Cornwall.

Find out more: linktr.ee/fxuniarchives
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🎃 Nos Kalan Gwav Lowen dhyworth an govskrifva! / Happy Halloween from the archives! 🎃

We're sharing some of books relating to horror films from our Bill Douglas and Peter Jewell Collection. Scary stuff!

The Special Collections are open to browse, 10am-4pm, Monday to Friday.

#Archive #EYAMonsters
Four books arranged on a white background. Clockwise from top left, the books are titled Horror Cinema, The Modern Horror Film, Nightmare Movies: A Critical Guide to Contemporary Horror Films, and The New Horror Handbook. Some of the covers include images from horror films, including Freddy Krueger and the 'door scene' from The Shining.
October 31, 2025 at 11:40 AM
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Over the last few weeks we've been very busy with lots of teaching sessions, meeting students from history, illustration and theatre courses among others!

This is some of the material we got out for BA Illustration students, showing a variety of creative approaches and responses.
A sketchbook with blue watercolour and pen drawings of orbs with additional border designs. A sketchbook with colourful abstract designs of landscapes in green, blue, red, yellow, orange and purple. There are handwritten notes at the bottom of the page about the colours used. A sketchbook with a watercolour and ink drawing of the ruins of a prisoner of war camp at Dunham Park. In the background, there are four other sketches on the table. A sketchbook with a pencil illustration for part of a stage design. A large red triangle shape is in front of a grey tiered platform on a blue background.
October 24, 2025 at 3:42 PM
fxuniarchives.bsky.social
A flock of cranes has arrived in the #Archives! Our 'Japan in Print' display of books related to Japan is now up in the reading room, complete with origami decorations.

Pop in and have a look! The #SpecialCollections are open to browse, Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm, on Level 0 of the Exchange.
A blue paper crane hanging in front of a glass window. In the background are paper cranes of other colours, some books on display, and double doors with the text "Archives & Special Collections" on them.
September 26, 2025 at 10:18 AM
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The Archives & Special Collections reading room is on Level 0 of the Exchange Building on Penryn Campus.

You're always welcome to come and say hello and we hope to see you soon!
A post with a blue background titled "Where are the Archives?" in black text. The body of the post reads "The Archives & Special Collections are on Level 0 of the Exchange Building on Penryn Campus. Come and say hello!". Beneath it is a photograph of the corridor leading to the Archives & Special Collections reading room.
September 19, 2025 at 11:32 AM
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The best way to access the collections is by emailing us! Then we can book you an appointment and get all the material ready.

For our Special Collections, you can come and browse without an appointment. If you want to spend longer with the material, let us know so we can ensure there's enough space
A post with a blue background titled "How can I access the collections?" in black text. The body of the post reads "By emailing us! Send us a message at archives@fxplus.ac.uk and we'll book you an appointment to see material from the Archives. The Special Collections (our specialised book collections) are available to browse from 10am - 4pm, Monday - Friday. There's no need to book, but it's advisable to email us if you want to spend longer looking at the material so that we can make sure there's space for you."
September 19, 2025 at 11:32 AM
fxuniarchives.bsky.social
We care for both original archive material as well as specialised book collections, both of which you can use to inform your research or creative practice.

Our collections cover a vast array of different areas - whatever you're interested in, we could well have material relating to it!
A post with a blue background titled "What do we do?" in black text. The body of the post reads "We bring together original records with specialised book collections - unique, eclectic and inspiring sources that you can use in your research or creative practice. Our collections cover a wide range of topics from Cornish politics to theatre production, from textile design to agricultural history. Find info about our online catalogues and research guides at the link in our bio."
September 19, 2025 at 11:32 AM
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Welcome to new and returning student from all of us at Falmouth and Exeter University Archives & Special Collections!

We thought we'd do a quick introduction of what we do and how you can use the collections.
#WelcomeBack #FalmouthUni #UniversityOfExeter @cornwall.exeter.ac.uk
A post with a blue background titled "Introduction to the Falmouth and Exeter Archives & Special Collections!" in black text.
September 19, 2025 at 11:32 AM
fxuniarchives.bsky.social
This week is the #GorsedhKernow Esedhvos festival in Marazion. / Yma'n #Esedhvos yn Marghasyow an seythen ma

This book from our #GorsedhKernow Collection was written by Henry Jenner, a founder of the Gorsedh, to help people learn Cornish. It even has a chapter on Cornish swear words!

#EYAEducation
A page from Henry Jenner's 'Handbook of the Cornish Language' at the start of a chapter titled 'Swear-Words and Expletives'. The visible text reads: "Cornish is a disappointing language in respect of swear-words, for it is by no means rich in those “ornaments to conversation.” Except for a few very distressing expressions, now better forgotten, which are put into the mouths of the evil characters in the Dramas, the swears are mostly quite harmless, and even pious. It is not at all difficult or morally dangerous to learn to swear in Cornish." "Surprise is generally expressed by Re Varîa! By Mary! By Our Lady! shortened at times to Arîa! and Rîa! This is used as an Englishman might say “By Jove!” or “By George!” or a Frenchman “Dame!” "If there is an element of annoyance mingled with the surprise, An Jowl! The Devil, may be mentioned with effect, perhaps by those to whom Re Varîa! savours too much of Popery; but Re Varîa! is in better taste. An Jowl may be used, as in English, after words signifying where, what, why, when, to strengthen a question." "An assertion is strengthened by the use of the name of a saint, preferably the patron of one’s own parish (though any Cornishman may swear by St. Michael)"
September 4, 2025 at 10:44 AM
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It would be wrong to let #EYAComedy month pass by and not mention #CharlieChaplin.

📷: Books from the Bill Douglas and Peter Jewell Collection #Comedy #Chaplin #Archives @exploreyourarchive.bsky.social @bdcmuseum.bsky.social
A number of books about Charlie Chaplin laid out on a white table. The central books are 'Chaplin and American Culture' by Charles J. Maland, 'The Great Charlie' by Robert Payne, and the Charlie Chaplin Annual. All the books have different depictions of Chaplin on their covers.
August 27, 2025 at 10:19 AM
fxuniarchives.bsky.social
Keeping up the #CharlesWoolfCollection word association and linking in to #EYAHumour month, here's a photo of the beach at Porth Joke, near Newquay in 1967. We expect it probably isn't quite as empty as this today! 🏖️

📷: ICS12/10451, Beach, Porth Joke
#Joke #Archives @exploreyourarchive.bsky.social
An almost empty beach at low tide with two people in the shallows near the sea. In the background on the right, there are grassy cliffs and rocks which stick out into the sea.
August 15, 2025 at 10:05 AM
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Today is #InternationalWolfDay so what better time to showcase the #CharlesWoolfCollection!

This image is of a troop of Wolf Cub scouts in a parade in Newquay in 1957.

Although it's not an actual wolf, we think this qualifies 😉

📷: ICS12/2648, Wolf Cubs Parade
#WolfDay #Newquay #Archives
A group of Wolf Cub scouts standing in formation ready for a parade in front of shops near Newquay railway station. They are wearing grey uniforms and green caps.
August 13, 2025 at 9:40 AM
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Today we've been looking at handwritten compositions in the #ElmhirstCollection that were gifted to Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst by a composition class in 1944.

They are by several students and written for a variety of instruments. Now we just need a string trio to play this piece!

📷: M780 THI
Handwritten musical notes on a page with printed staves. A handwritten inscription reading "To Leonard and Dorothy, with love. Third Book of Dartington Compositions by members of the Tuesday evening composition class, May to July, 1944." on a page with printed staves.
July 18, 2025 at 3:04 PM
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Our Myth, Folk and Fairytales resource list is now live!

Items about folklore, myths and legends throughout all of our collections are now easily findable in one place.

📷: ICS12/12774, #CharlesWoolfArchive, Performance of Ordinalia by Bristol University Drama Group
#Myth #Folk #Fairytale #Archives
A picture of a performance of the Ordinalia at Perran Round where a number of devils are entering the stage while Adam and Eve sleep.
July 9, 2025 at 3:12 PM
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#SeythenKewselKernewek yw an seythen ma! / This week is #SpeakCornishWeek!

Yma lies lyvrow a-dro dhe Gernewek y'gan Kuntel Arbennik #GorsedhKernow. / There are many books about Cornish in our Gorsedh Kernow Special Collection.

Vysytyewgh ni rag dyski moy! / Visit us to find out more!

#Kernewek
Three books about Cornish language on a white background. At the top of the photo is 'The Cornish Language Around Us' by Richard Gendall which has green and orange illustrations on the cover. At the bottom left is 'Cornish For Beginners' by P.A.S. Pool which has a blue cover. At the bottom right is 'Notes on Spoken Cornish' by Rod Lyon and John Pengilly which has an off-white cover and an illustration of a maritime scene with boats and fishermen.
June 27, 2025 at 10:48 AM
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Since his death, Darke continues to inspire others through his work, his archive, and the Nick Darke Award, which promoted new writing for stage, screen and radio.

We're glad to have the chance to show his important contributions to theatre and Cornish culture as well as his enduring legacy.
An arrangement of items laid out in a glass cabinet as if on Nick Darke's desk. Items include a blue and white typewriter with a piece of script in, pages of notes and notebooks, seashells, and books including 'A Glossary of Cornish Sea Words' by Robert Morton Nance and 'The Cornish Seabird' by T. O. Darke, Nick Darke's father.
June 18, 2025 at 12:35 PM
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Darke wrote 27 plays in 28 years and used his characteristic wit and humour to deal with a range of political and environmental subjects.

He was also a lobster fisherman, environmentalist and 'wrecker', spending time on the beach by his home salvaging washed-up materials from the shoreline.
Lots of posters for Nick Darke plays on a display board. Visible posters include those for 'Summer Trade', 'Landmarks', 'High Water', 'The Body', 'Bud', 'The Oven Glove Murders', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'The Dead Monkey', 'Ting Tang Mine', 'Danger My Ally', 'Knock Out the Pin!', 'The Bogus', and 'The King of Prussia'.
June 18, 2025 at 12:35 PM
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Our new exhibition is up in the Penryn Campus Library! 'Nick Darke: Life, Work, Legacy' commemorates Cornwall's best-known playwright 20 years on from his death.

#NickDarke #NickDarkeArchive #FalmouthUniversity
Two large black and white photos and a number of smaller colour photos of Nick Darke arranged on a shelf, overlapping each other.
June 18, 2025 at 12:35 PM
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📕'Voyage en Italie' is an 1866 travelogue by French historian and philosopher Hippolyte Taine who visited #Italy in 1864.

Our copy was awarded to a student at Christ's Hospital, London "for progress in French" in 1897; it's now part of the #ChrisBrooksCollection of Victorian Culture.

#EYATravel
A open book on a white background. The left-hand page is text in French and the right-hand page is an engraving of Venice.
June 4, 2025 at 2:59 PM
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It's the last day of our exhibition! 'Beyond the Gaze: Portraits by Ian Stern' showcases the work of Ian Stern, a photographer and filmmaker who died at a young age in 1978.

We've really enjoyed highlighting his portraiture and creative process. Make sure to see it before it comes down tomorrow!
Two white exhibition boards with six black and white prints on. A glass display cabinet between the boards contains more black and white photographs and artefacts.
May 28, 2025 at 11:45 AM
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🚜 Finally, a unique item from our #KneehighTheatreArchive: a small red and yellow tractor with a handwritten invitation to the Cymbeline UK tour in 2006 (FCP/A/52/4/10/1).

These were sent to Friends of Kneehigh Theatre in boxes packed with coloured shredded paper and tied with red thread.

🧵6/7
An open brown cardboard box on a white background. The box is filled with blue shredded paper on top of which is a small red and yellow model tractor. A large brown label reading "Kneehigh Theatre Cymbeline" is attached to the back of the tractor.
May 23, 2025 at 2:41 PM
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🖤 Here we have some designs by Bill Mitchell for Kneehigh Theatre's Tristan & Yseult at the Globe Theatre, London (AC2017-008 Box 4 and 13).

The set design went through several iterations and re-designs, showing the progression from concepts to finished plans.

🧵5/7 #BillMitchellArchive
A large piece of black paper on a table with a design for a heart shape and notes reading "Kneehigh: Tristan + Yseult, Scale: 1:5". In the background a notebook lies open, showing a sketched stage design in blue and yellow pencil.
May 23, 2025 at 2:41 PM
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⛪ These wonderful illustrations are from the #CanonAdamsArchive (ICS3 Box 1 of 3). They show architectural details from the now-destroyed St Nun Chapel in Grampound, Cornwall.

Canon Adams was a Cornish priest and historian who wrote an extensive index of Cornwall's medieval chapels.

🧵4/7
Sketches of architectural details from a medieval Cornish chapel on several pieces of paper overlapping each other in a ring binder. Notes on one of the pages read "Chapel of Saint Non, Nun, Nonita. Details of chapel demolished (about 1810) incorporated in lodge at Veryan Vicarage". Notes on other pages are largely obscured or illegible. A pencil sketch of two windows from a medieval Cornish chapel with accompanying notes reading "Circular window in north wall of lodge. This I conceive to be entirely modern and very difficult to view." and "Window on bottom right of door". Other pages of notes are visible behind the sketches but their contents is largely obscured.
May 23, 2025 at 2:41 PM
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🪡 First up, Hazel Sims' copy of America's Glorious Quilts (FCP13/B/1/84), complete with an example of a hexagonal patchwork quilt.

Sims used recycled cards as inserts in the patchwork and parts of their designs can still be seen on the reverse.

🧵3/7 #HazelSimsArchive
The reverse of a patchwork quilt made out of hexagons and, in the background, a design from a page in a quilting book. Small parts of pictures and writing can be seen on the card inserts inside each hexagon.
May 23, 2025 at 2:41 PM