Special Collections: Common Ground Archive

Everyone is welcome to access the Common Ground archive.

Advice and guidance on how to access to the Common Ground archive can be provided by our Special Collections team. If you would like to consult items from the archive, please contact us at libspc@exeter.ac.uk at least 24 hours in advance of your visit.

As the archive comprises records created and collected between 1982 and 2013, many files in the Common Ground archive contain personal data (information that relates to an identified or identifiable living individual) such as addresses and telephone numbers. Access to these files may be closed or restricted. In most cases, access can be provided on condition that a 'Reader Undertaking concerning Access to Archive Collections that would otherwise be Closed (Data Protection)' form is signed and abided by.

We would like the Common Ground archive to be as accessible as possible to everyone, but at the same time we have to respect the rights of the record creators. Many of the records in the Common Ground archive are held under the copyright of the charity Common Ground. However, the archive also contains works (including letters, artwork, copies of artwork, photographs) created by other individuals, groups, communities and institutions, who hold the copyright to these records. This includes any images of Parish Maps in the archive.

Archival copying is done on a case-by-case basis in consultation with senior Special Collections staff and is dependent on copyright restrictions, the condition/nature of the item concerned, and the size of the order. If you wish to take photographs of any material in the Common Ground archive with a digital camera during your visit to the reading room, please contact the Special Collections team for guidance before your visit by emailing us at libspc@exeter.ac.uk. If permission is granted, all images are for private research only. Please note that to make copies of literary and artistic works - including images of Parish Maps - you will require prior permission from the copyright holder.

Should you wish to reproduce, quote or publish quotations or images of any material in the Common Ground archive, written consent for publication must first be obtained from the copyright holder and Special Collections.