A guest blog post by Katie Gray, Special Collections Exhibitions Volunteer
When I first began researching for this exhibition, my intention was to explore the history of Exeter as a whole, peeling back the layers of the city to understand where it began, how it developed, and how it became the city we know today. However, as I began looking through the University’s Special Collections, I quickly realised how much material there was to work with. The range of photographs, maps, personal correspondence and printed material was exciting, but it also made it difficult to create a focused narrative within the space available. I therefore began to consider whether concentrating on a particular period would allow me to explore the collection more meaningfully. I became particularly interested in material relating to the Second World War and gradually decided to focus the exhibition on Exeter during wartime. This change allowed me to consider not only what happened to Exeter, but how these events were experienced by the people who lived through them.
One of the things I found most interesting about working with the Special Collections was encountering the original archival material. An object can feel very different when looking at the physical item rather than simply reading about it. I did not want the exhibition to focus solely on familiar images of bombing and destruction but instead wanted to explore the different ways the war affected people’s lives. This led me to organise the exhibition around four core themes: university life, the impact of the war on the city, children, and statistics. Together, these allowed me to present a more varied picture of wartime Exeter.
The section on university life felt like a natural place to begin, particularly because I am a student at the University myself. I included The South Westerner, a Student Guild membership card, a letter from a student during the Blitz, and photographs of bomb damage alongside staff and residents of Reed Hall from 1941–42. I found it interesting to see evidence of university life at a time when the wider world was changing so dramatically. The South Westerner showed how students were engaging with the war, while the membership card represented an individual within the wider university community. The Reed Hall photograph captured a more everyday moment, making me think about how people continued aspects of ordinary life despite the uncertainty surrounding them.
I then moved on to the impact of the war on the city. Photographs of damaged buildings and streets, alongside a map of Exeter, helped to show the scale of the Blitz and where its effects were felt. I found the map particularly useful because it connected the historical material to places that still exist within the city today.
However, the object that affected me most was John Saunders’ handwritten correspondence describing the Exeter Blitz. Seeing an individual’s handwriting alongside photographs and newspaper reports made the Blitz feel much less distant. The letters gave the event a human voice and made me think about the person who had written the account and the circumstances in which it was produced. For me, this demonstrated how an archival source can make the past feel much more immediate.
As my research developed, I realised that these experiences could not be fully represented through university life and the physical damage to Exeter alone. This led me to include a section on children, using sources such as Michael Foreman’s Memories of Childhood. I found this perspective particularly valuable because childhood experiences can easily be overlooked when discussing wartime history. It encouraged me to consider how the same period could be experienced differently depending on a person’s age and circumstances.
The final section focused on statistics, using material such as This Jewel Remains to show the scale of the damage and suffering experienced by Exeter. At first, I saw the statistics mainly as factual information, but I became more aware of how differently numbers communicate the past. Statistics can show the scale of an event clearly, but they cannot necessarily convey what those figures meant to individuals. Placing them alongside photographs, correspondence and personal accounts therefore helped to show both the scale of the Blitz and its human consequences.
Once I had chosen the material, I had to consider how it would work as an exhibition rather than simply as a collection of sources. The limited space meant that I could not include everything I had found, so I had to decide which objects contributed most effectively to the story and how the four themes would connect. I also had to consider how much information visitors would realistically have time to read. This made me realise that curating is itself a form of interpretation. The exhibition was shaped not only by the archive, but also by my choices about what to include, leave out and how to present it.
Looking back, changing the focus from the history of Exeter as a whole to wartime Exeter was one of the most important decisions I made. It allowed me to consider how different sources could work together to tell a story rather than simply displaying historical material. Working with the original objects also made me appreciate how much can be communicated through small details, whether that is someone’s handwriting, a photograph, a map or a set of statistics. Most importantly, bringing together university life, the impact on the city, childhood and statistics allowed me to present wartime Exeter through a range of experiences and perspectives.
The exhibition ‘The Exeter Wartime Experience‘ is available for University students, staff and members of the public to visit until the 11 December 2026.
