News
August Saturday Programme – Heritage Outside!
We're back with safe and welcoming workshops in the Institution garden.
Saturday 8 August - Make a Terrarium
Saturday 29 August - Floral Fun
Lithographs of the Great Western Railway by John Cooke Bourne (1814-1896)
From his home in London, John Cooke Bourne (1814-1896) witnessed the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway, the first main-line railway to enter London. The London and Birmingham Railway Company was founded in 1833 and work soon began on a London terminus. Engineers George and Robert Stephenson chose a site on the edge of the city; a station with two platforms and two hotels was designed by Philip Hardwick (1792–1870) with a huge 70-foot Doric portico marking the gateway to the north. London Euston station officially opened on 20 July 1837. The following year a temporary terminus opened on Bishop’s Bridge Road in Paddington heralding the expansion of the railways to the west.
Discover brand new ways to support our conservation programme and become part of the history of the Institution
The Institution is a very special place in the heart of Exeter and we need your support now more than ever to ensure that it continues to thrive for generations to come. Watch the video to find out how you can get involved and become part of the fascinating history of the Devon and Exeter Institution.
Reopening Information for Members – July and August 2020
Our phased reopening plans for the Institution - July and August 2020
John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera
Originally from Barnstaple in Devon, John Gay (1685-1732) became one of London’s most renowned dramatists. His satirical ballad opera, The Beggar’s Opera, opened at Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre on 29 January 1728 and ran for 62 nights. Gay’s assault on the topsy-turvy morals, double-standards and self-interests of 18th century politics and aristocratic society remains one of the few 18th century plays still performed today.
Veryard’s Account of divers choice remarks (1701)
Ellis Veryard (1657-1714) was a West Country physician from Plymtree. He studied medicine in Leyden and Utrecht before embarking on a long period of travel from 1682 to 1696, including […]
Accum’s System of theoretical and practical chemistry (1803)
Friedrich Christian Accum (1769-1838) popularised the study of chemistry in the early years of the 19th century. Originally from Germany, Accum moved to London in 1793. There he met William […]
Horsley’s Isaaci Newtoni opera (1779-1785)
Samuel Horsley (1733-1806) published his tremendous five-volume collected works of Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) between 1779 and 1785. It was the first collected edition of Newton’s works to be published. […]
Nicholson’s Journal of natural philosophy, chemistry, and the arts (1797-1802)
William Nicholson (1753-1815) was an Enlightenment polymath – a chemist, scientist, civil engineer, translator, publisher and journalist. In his early career he even wrote literary skits for periodicals. When he […]
Tredgold’s The steam engine (1838)
Thomas Tredgold (1788-1829) was a self-taught engineer. He trained as an apprentice cabinetmaker in Durham and then in Scotland before moving to London to work at his uncle’s firm of […]