| Description | This small collection comprises manuscript library catalogues of the parish book collections of forming part of the book collections of Crediton and Barnstaple (Dodderidge) parishes. Contained: 'Mr Ley's Catalogue of Crediton Church Library', [late 17th/early 18th c., with annotations throughout, and with later entries in a different late 17th/early 18th c. hand]; Index of the library of Crediton, with an alphabetical appendix, 1854; Typescript of churchwarden's accounts 1551-1599, Crediton parish, compiled 1912 by Beatrix Cresswell [typescript late 20th c.]; General catalogue of Crediton church library (unbound books, pamphlets, magazines, sermons etc.), Edmund Tompkins, 1926 [Tompkins was made schoolmaster of Dunn's School, Crediton in 1901. This school later became part of Crediton Grammar School and was founded by Samuel Dunn in the 1790s in order to teach navigation]; Crediton church library catalogue (A-C only) (2 copies), 1966 (compiled by Symes and Robinson solicitors, Manor Office, Crediton); Catalogue of Barnstaple (Dodderidge) parish library, compiled in 1943 by Miss Daphne Drake, FLA (with later handwritten annotations, including of stock take 1982) (with one facsimile photocopy). Later additions to the collection include bound volumes containing photocopied lists relating to parish libraries, as follows: book-printed appendix entitled 'Borough of Totnes', original source unknown, including catalogue of contents of the parish library; manuscript 'catalogue of books in the library of Totnes church, 1821', 'Handed over to the Vicar of Totnes, 1914' and 'given to C H Herbert, 1913'; typescript catalogue of books in the library of Barnstaple church, compiled by Miss Daphne Drake, FLA, 1943; manuscript catalogue of books in Crediton parish library, n.d. [late 19th c-early 20th c]; name of Mrs Sally Beament of Crediton attached to first page. |
| AdminHistory | The book collections of four Devon parish libraries are held at Exeter University Library: Crediton, Ottery St. Mary, Totnes and Barnstaple ('Dodderidge').
The Crediton Parish Library is the largest of the libraries (about 2474 volumes) and was deposited at the University in 1968. The Library was originally founded by the Reverend Thomas Ley, Vicar of Crediton 1689-1721, and was for many years housed in the Parvise Chamber over the South Porch of Crediton Church. The earliest catalogue for the collection, thought to date to c 1700, was produced by Ley, and many books in the Library carry his signature. Comparison of Ley's catalogue with the books which survive today suggests that the original library has survived well over the years; very few items have been lost and many still retain their original binding.
The Dodderidge Library (354 items) was founded by John Dodderidge of Barnstaple, Devon (1610-1666), who donated his book collection to the town of Barnstaple in 1664. John Dodderidge, son of Penecost Dodderidge, was the nephew of Sir John Dodderidge, Lord Chief Justice of England, and it was the library of Sir John Dodderidge that formed the nucleus of the library later donated to the parish of Barnstaple in 1664. The library originally consisted of 112 volumes, chiefly of theology in Latin, and the Parish built a special building, partly in the churchyard and partly outside of it, to house the collection. The Dodderidge collection represents one of the earliest town libraries in the country and has continued in existence since its foundation in the later seventeenth-century. In 1888 the library was moved from Barnstaple Church to the North Devon Athenaeum, where it remained until transfer on permanent loan to Exeter University Library in 1957. |