Durham University Collections

An art work showing 2 people in traditional dress placed in a desert scene and an opulent house.

Presented in collaboration with - Oriental Museum, Durham University, hear from Rachel Barclay and artists themselves in online conversations (28 January) or join exhibiting artist Zaina El-Said (14 February) online workshop to create a folk collage.

leightonhouse.digitickets.co.uk/category/34712

An image of a gallery with colourful art works with 2 people viewing them with interest.

Exhibition: 'The View from Here': Contemporary Art from the Middle East and North Africa.
Exploring ideas of heritage, memory and identity through digital assemblage and collage, at Leighton House (until 1/3/2026) showcases voices from an array of cultures and landscapes.

Colour image of a very large Irish Elk skeleton, displayed in front of a red brick internal wall. 

Did you guess? This is Nigel! He's not actually a reindeer but the nearly complete skeleton of an extinct Irish elk (Megaloceros giganteus). One of the largest species of deer to ever exist! 

DURNS.2024.1 

#DUCollections

Very close! He is not quite a reindeer...he's a lot older than that!

Colour image of the skeleton of the hind quarters of an animal. 

Clue number 4! Can you work out what this item is? We are prepared to admit the festive connection is a little tenuous but if Santa is looking for a backup for Rudolph... 

#DUCollections

Close up colour image of the skeletal hoof of an animal.

Clue number 3! Can you work out what this item is and his connection to the festive season? He is very old. If you left a carrot out for him on Christmas Eve, he might not recognise it...

#DUCollections #OlderThanCarrots

You are getting close thematically - but no, his name is not Rudolph.

Close up colour image of the skeleton of the knee joint of an animal.

Clue number 2! Can you work out what this item is and his connection to the festive season? I think you’ve already guessed he is part of the Biosciences collection! Another hint – he is very tall! #DUCollections #biosciences

Close up colour image of an organic, brownish, ridged material with a leaf-like pattern.

We are getting into the festive spirit with a seasonal puzzle for you! 🌲🌲🌲A picture a day to work out what this item is. What connection does he have to the festive season? And bonus points for Durham students and staff...what is his name?

#DUCollections

Drawing of two men, one a student dressed in a blazer and tie commenting ‘The June Ball is only £50 this year’, the other a member of the local community dressed in a band t-shirt and jeans next to a newspaper board stating ‘All job centres closed until further notice’. 

StopGap was a Durham Town-Gown student magazine, ‘focusing on local and student issues and Arts with the intention of highlighting the huge GAP which exists between the two communities.’ Although intended to be monthly, only one issue was published. 

@durham.ac.uk

To access this material or any item in the Sudan Archive either in person in Durham or online in a Virtual Search Room appointment please contact pg.library@durham.ac.uk or make an enquiry using this form
forms.office.com/e/Zj4LpE6h9e

Highlights include: research on traditional Sudanese games; S. Sudanese language pamphlets; Denshawai incident correspondence; memorabilia - 'Gordon's Last Despatch' 3-penny facsimile; S. Sudan National Parks reports from 1950s.
reed.dur.ac.uk/xtf/view?doc...

Image of a 3-penny facsimile of 'Gordon's Last Despatch', sent by General Charles Gordon out of the besieged city of Khartoum, Sudan, in December 1884 

Summary lists of all 284 boxes of uncatalogued material in the Sudan Archive have now been made available online for the first time in the Summary Guide! This is a significant milestone to make all our collections as accessible as possible.

libguides.durham.ac.uk/asc-sudan-ar...

A digital illustration of a city street with stone frontage western style houses overlooking a stone flagged street. Gas lantern style street lights line the street on both sides. In the foreground are various large flowers in white, blue, red and yellow. There are several human figures in the street, mostly wearing long capes, big hats and carnival masks in various styles. The main figure in the centre of the image is a young child wearing a top hat and an oversize shirt pulled up over its mouth and nose. In the background at the end of the street is a large, angular structure rising up into the sky and tipped with a point like a corkscrew. Suspended in the sky above this is a large circular gold and red disc covered with regular geometric patterns and faintly resembling a clock face.

To celebrate #LumiereDurham, a spectacular Light Art festival we have scoured the collections for images of light.

This illustration is titled ‘The City with the Moon and the Tower’, and was created in Japan and printed c. 2011
DUROM.2012.64

#DUCollections

A poster with the text: Telling Tales: Making Stories Come to Life. It has illustrations of a Javanese puppet, the Soga Brothers, woodblock prints, a blue-white ceramic, a scary Noh mask, a blue Peking Opera face painting, a musician playing a horn, an orange robe with a golden dragon and a colourful shadow puppet. 

There’s only a few days left to experience the wonder of storytelling through our MA students’ exhibition, Telling Tales, at the Oriental Museum. This family-friendly exhibition will be closing; 9th of November. 
Unable to make it? Check out our online exhibition and audio guide. #TellingTales

Woodcut illustration of the Danse Macabre, showing skeletal figures dancing.  

💀Happy Halloween!💀 This Danse Macabre woodcut by Michael Wolgemut reflects 15th-century Europe's obsession with death and the afterlife. Found in the 1493 Nuremberg Chronicle. 📖 Ref: SA 0166 #DanseMacabre #NurembergChronicle #RareBooks #MedievalArt

A Conservator cleaning the books and historic interior in Cosin’s Library using a soft, dry brush and a museum backpack vacuum on a low suction to remove the surface dirt.  

Friday 7 November our Conservation team will be running an annual takeover of our social media for #AskAConservator day! Conservators around the world will be discussing their work and sharing how they care for collections. Ask us questions and follow the hashtag to see who else is participating.

The cauld lad, a boar and the Lambton worm as shadows hovering over the shadow of a soldier with a sword. The shadow is attached to a small boy standing in a doorway.  

Only one week left to see ‘Beasts and Legends: Adventures through North East Folklore’ - a great way to get ready for the spooky season! #BeastsandLegends #DUCollections

An artistic photo of a brown tabby named Tinkerbelle lounging on a concrete sidewalk, looking off into distance from 2007.

A brown tabby named Tinkerbelle rolled over onto her back on a concrete sidewalk with a pen written label of July 2013,

A nun, holding a brown tabby named Tinkerbelle up to a camera and waving the cats right paw from 2007.

Artistic photo of a brown tabby named Tinkerbelle laying sideways on a concrete sidewalk. 

#NationalCatDay - and we’re remembering one very special feline: Tinkerbelle who lived with the Poor Clares Darlington from 2007-2013. 
More than a pet — a quiet companion in the cloister, a curious presence, and a gentle soul who made her mark in quiet ways. 
#DUCollections

Open book displaying the beginning of a story alongside an illustration of a man walking away from a well. 

👻 Ainsley’s Durham Almanac (1887) tells of Flass Well, haunted by Janet Ramshaw’s ghost. Since 1789, locals have spotted her eerie form and heard strange shrieks, keeping people away at night. Would you dare visit? 📖 Ref: XL 059.4281 AIN/15 #DurhamGhosts #DUCollections

Dinah installing jewellery

Artist Dinah Kelly has created a unique jewellery series inspired by the heritage of the indigenous Berber (Amazigh) people of North Africa.
They are on display in Enchanted Objects – Adornment and Personal Protection from Amulets to the Mobile Phone at the Oriental Museum until 9th November.

Bookplate featuring religious imagery depicting a resurrection scene. 

Bookplate featuring religious imagery depicting a resurrection scene. 

Can you spot the skeleton? 💀 Skeletons appear in resurrection imagery, like in Elementa Philosophica de Cive (1647). This volume has pencil marks in the religious section, possibly by Bishop John Cosin! 📚 Ref: Cosin T.5.57 #HiddenSkeletons #RareBooks

A side profile of a nun playing with a brindle boxer, standing on hind legs and grabbing a ball with his mouth.

Nun playing ball with brindle boxer wearing a white cape, dog standing on all fours waiting.

Happy #NationalFetchDay! 

Even in the peaceful world of the Poor Clares, Darlington, dogs brought joy and companionship. 

These archival photos show nuns sharing quiet moments with a furry friend—perhaps after a game of fetch? 

Poor Clares, Darlington Collection, MISC.2024/25:34 
#DUCollections

Book cover illustration featuring ghosts, ghouls, and spooky imagery.

Step into the spooky past with The Haunted Library (1880)! 👻 John F. Layson shares ghostly tales from a Newcastle library. Have you ever seen a ghost in ours? 👀📚 Explore the mystery! 📖 Ref: SC 10874 #HauntedLibrary #GhostStories #NewcastleHistory #DUCollections

Printed illustration of a skeleton operating a printing press. 

💀 Discover a skeleton working a printing press in the Peter Isaac Collection! Peter Isaac, an engineer turned printing enthusiast, focused on the English provincial book trade. The collection is being catalogued — more surprises to come! #RareBooks #PrintingHistory #Archives

Open book showing a page with Bram Stoker’s handwritten signature. 

Bram Stoker’s handwritten signature. 

We’re kicking off the spooky season with an unexpected discovery - Bram Stoker’s signature in Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving (Vol. 1), part of the Virginia Surtees Collection. Not Dracula — but a glimpse into the world that helped inspire it. 🖋️📖 #BramStoker #ArchivesUncovered #Dracula

"A pleasant change from your ordinary drink"...we are not sure we believe them...🤔

Bundles of papers bound in pink tape.

A person talking while walking down a garden path with other following.

Two people standing in front of a redcurrant plant.

On Day 2 we went to Raby Castle and looked at more recipe books and did more transcription. We also look at material from the Raby Castle Estate at the time the redcurrant was first grown there. We also enjoyed a tour of the gardens and getting to sample the famous redcurrant itself!
#gardenhistory

A group of people sat around a table that is covered in papers.

A group of people in a historic room sat around a table with books supported on cushions.

The two-day event started at Palace Green Library and involved learning about garden history, learning how to transcribe recipes and trying out some interpretations of eighteenth century recipes.

iiif.durham.ac.uk/index.html?m...

#DUCollections

Several books on a table supported by cushions.

Several people looking at a phone

Back to school or uni (or very nearly!) The change in the weather has got us thinking about what we did on our summer holidays!

In partnership with @rabycastleofficial we introduced local garden enthusiasts to gardening history resources and celebrated the famous ‘Raby Redcurrant’.

#RabyCastle