Exeter Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral located in the city of Exeter, Devon, in the South West of England. The main building was completed around 1400 and has several features of note, including an early set of misericords, an astronomical clock, and the longest uninterrupted medieval stone vaulted ceiling in the world. The cathedral is open to the public and definitely worth visiting if you are in the South West of the UK.
What may be a lesser known fact is that Exeter Cathedral has been collecting books and documents for its library and archives since it was founded in 1050, and as a result there are now tens of thousands of items in the collections, covering over 1,000 years of history. In partnership with VISTA AR, Exeter Cathedral are using digital technology to bring aspects of the Cathedral to life in new ways. Armadillo are very honoured to have taken part in this process by providing our Turning the Pages software, initially running as a touchscreen kiosk inside the Cathedral, but now also available on the web using Turning the Pages Online. You can now explore five of the Cathedral’s favourite books and documents in their online library of Virtual Books:
The Exeter Book of Anglo Saxon Poetry
The most famous book in the Library. A unique anthology of poetry written in Old English in c.970AD. It is the oldest book in the Cathedral Library.
The Exon Domesday
The south west of England’s draft of William I’s famous Domesday Survey of 1086.
Andreas Vesalius De humani corporis fabrica (1555)
One of the most famous Renaissance books on anatomy.
G.L. A Compleat Abstract of the Holy Bible…done into verse for the help of weak memories, and instruction of children (c.1715)
One of the smallest of all the Bibles in the Library, written in rhyming verse.
Mr Hart’s Famous Scrapbook
One of the most charming documents in the Archives, it is filled with cartoons and character sketches collected by the Cathedral’s head virger in the 1950s.
We hope to see Exeter Cathedral putting more of their amazing and varied collection online in the future!