diff --git a/docs/topics/downloader-middleware.rst b/docs/topics/downloader-middleware.rst
index 77f327b35..eec67ea66 100644
--- a/docs/topics/downloader-middleware.rst
+++ b/docs/topics/downloader-middleware.rst
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ single Python class that defines one or more of the following methods:
       callback, the response downloaded will be just passed to the original request
       callback.
 
-      If it returns an :exc:`~scrapy.core.exceptions.IgnoreRequest` exception, the
+      If it returns an :exc:`~scrapy.exceptions.IgnoreRequest` exception, the
       entire request will be dropped completely and its callback never called.
 
       :param request: the request being processed
@@ -96,13 +96,13 @@ single Python class that defines one or more of the following methods:
    .. method:: process_response(request, response, spider)
 
       :meth:`process_response` should return a :class:`~scrapy.http.Response`
-      object or raise a :exc:`~scrapy.core.exceptions.IgnoreRequest` exception. 
+      object or raise a :exc:`~scrapy.exceptions.IgnoreRequest` exception. 
 
       If it returns a :class:`~scrapy.http.Response` (it could be the same given
       response, or a brand-new one), that response will continue to be processed
       with the :meth:`process_response` of the next middleware in the pipeline.
 
-      If it returns an :exc:`~scrapy.core.exceptions.IgnoreRequest` exception, the
+      If it returns an :exc:`~scrapy.exceptions.IgnoreRequest` exception, the
       response will be dropped completely and its callback never called.
 
       :param request: the request that originated the response
diff --git a/docs/topics/exceptions.rst b/docs/topics/exceptions.rst
index eb7f7686b..d75f28fed 100644
--- a/docs/topics/exceptions.rst
+++ b/docs/topics/exceptions.rst
@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@
 Exceptions
 ==========
 
-.. module:: scrapy.core.exceptions
-   :synopsis: Core exceptions
+.. module:: scrapy.exceptions
+   :synopsis: Scrapy exceptions
 
 .. _topics-exceptions-ref:
 
diff --git a/docs/topics/extensions.rst b/docs/topics/extensions.rst
index 361f74a10..3b997bd1f 100644
--- a/docs/topics/extensions.rst
+++ b/docs/topics/extensions.rst
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ which doesn't need to implement any particular method.
 
 All extension initialization code must be performed in the class constructor
 (``__init__`` method). If that method raises the
-:exc:`~scrapy.core.exceptions.NotConfigured` exception, the extension will be
+:exc:`~scrapy.exceptions.NotConfigured` exception, the extension will be
 disabled. Otherwise, the extension will be enabled.
 
 Let's take a look at the following example extension which just logs a message
diff --git a/docs/topics/images.rst b/docs/topics/images.rst
index ca4117d47..12cf00950 100644
--- a/docs/topics/images.rst
+++ b/docs/topics/images.rst
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ Here are the methods that you should override in your custom Images Pipeline:
       store the downloaded image paths (passed in results) in the ``image_paths``
       item field, and we drop the item if it doesn't contain any images::
 
-          from scrapy.core.exceptions import DropItem
+          from scrapy.exceptions import DropItem
 
           def item_completed(self, results, item, info):
               image_paths = [info['path'] for success, info in results if success]
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ Here is a full example of the Images Pipeline whose methods are examplified
 above::
 
     from scrapy.contrib.pipeline.images import ImagesPipeline
-    from scrapy.core.exceptions import DropItem
+    from scrapy.exceptions import DropItem
     from scrapy.http import Request
 
     class MyImagesPipeline(ImagesPipeline):
diff --git a/docs/topics/item-pipeline.rst b/docs/topics/item-pipeline.rst
index a32250fd8..2318a627c 100644
--- a/docs/topics/item-pipeline.rst
+++ b/docs/topics/item-pipeline.rst
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ single Python class that must define the following method:
 
 This method is called for every item pipeline component and must either return
 a :class:`~scrapy.item.Item` (or any descendant class) object or raise a
-:exc:`~scrapy.core.exceptions.DropItem` exception. Dropped items are no longer
+:exc:`~scrapy.exceptions.DropItem` exception. Dropped items are no longer
 processed by further pipeline components.
 
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Let's take a look at following hypothetic pipeline that adjusts the ``price``
 attribute for those items that do not include VAT (``price_excludes_vat``
 attribute), and drops those items which don't contain a price::
 
-    from scrapy.core.exceptions import DropItem
+    from scrapy.exceptions import DropItem
 
     class PricePipeline(object):
 
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ spider returns multiples items with the same id::
 
     from scrapy.xlib.pydispatch import dispatcher
     from scrapy.core import signals
-    from scrapy.core.exceptions import DropItem
+    from scrapy.exceptions import DropItem
 
     class DuplicatesPipeline(object):
         def __init__(self):
diff --git a/docs/topics/signals.rst b/docs/topics/signals.rst
index 75277b203..cf6a864ac 100644
--- a/docs/topics/signals.rst
+++ b/docs/topics/signals.rst
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ item_dropped
 .. function:: item_dropped(item, spider, exception)
 
     Sent after an item has been dropped from the :ref:`topics-item-pipeline`
-    when some stage raised a :exc:`~scrapy.core.exceptions.DropItem` exception.
+    when some stage raised a :exc:`~scrapy.exceptions.DropItem` exception.
 
     :param item: the item dropped from the :ref:`topics-item-pipeline`
     :type item: :class:`~scrapy.item.Item` object
@@ -100,9 +100,9 @@ item_dropped
     :type spider: :class:`~scrapy.spider.BaseSpider` object
 
     :param exception: the exception (which must be a
-        :exc:`~scrapy.core.exceptions.DropItem` subclass) which caused the item
+        :exc:`~scrapy.exceptions.DropItem` subclass) which caused the item
         to be dropped
-    :type exception: :exc:`~scrapy.core.exceptions.DropItem` exception
+    :type exception: :exc:`~scrapy.exceptions.DropItem` exception
 
 spider_closed
 -------------
diff --git a/examples/experimental/googledir/googledir/pipelines.py b/examples/experimental/googledir/googledir/pipelines.py
index f775b254c..77472bcee 100644
--- a/examples/experimental/googledir/googledir/pipelines.py
+++ b/examples/experimental/googledir/googledir/pipelines.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 # Don't forget to add your pipeline to the ITEM_PIPELINES setting
 # See: http://doc.scrapy.org/topics/item-pipeline.html
 
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import DropItem
+from scrapy.exceptions import DropItem
 
 class FilterWordsPipeline(object):
     """
diff --git a/examples/googledir/googledir/pipelines.py b/examples/googledir/googledir/pipelines.py
index 4fb10626e..7131144a4 100644
--- a/examples/googledir/googledir/pipelines.py
+++ b/examples/googledir/googledir/pipelines.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import DropItem
+from scrapy.exceptions import DropItem
 
 class FilterWordsPipeline(object):
     """A pipeline for filtering out items which contain certain words in their
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/httpcache.py b/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/httpcache.py
index d1af33d7a..1f27e9907 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/httpcache.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/httpcache.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ import cPickle as pickle
 from scrapy.xlib.pydispatch import dispatcher
 from scrapy.core import signals
 from scrapy.http import Headers
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured, IgnoreRequest
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured, IgnoreRequest
 from scrapy.core.downloader.responsetypes import responsetypes
 from scrapy.utils.request import request_fingerprint
 from scrapy.utils.http import headers_dict_to_raw, headers_raw_to_dict
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/httpproxy.py b/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/httpproxy.py
index f2b531d28..6a6a049bf 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/httpproxy.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/httpproxy.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from urllib2 import _parse_proxy
 from urlparse import urlunparse
 
 from scrapy.utils.httpobj import urlparse_cached
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 
 
 class HttpProxyMiddleware(object):
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/redirect.py b/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/redirect.py
index 8bd3887db..1e3e390ff 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/redirect.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/redirect.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ from scrapy import log
 from scrapy.http import HtmlResponse
 from scrapy.utils.url import urljoin_rfc
 from scrapy.utils.response import get_meta_refresh
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
+from scrapy.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 
 
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/robotstxt.py b/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/robotstxt.py
index 1f877708c..1dfff759f 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/robotstxt.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/robotstxt.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from scrapy.xlib.pydispatch import dispatcher
 
 from scrapy.core import signals
 from scrapy.core.manager import scrapymanager
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured, IgnoreRequest
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured, IgnoreRequest
 from scrapy.http import Request
 from scrapy.utils.httpobj import urlparse_cached
 from scrapy.conf import settings
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/stats.py b/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/stats.py
index 64d9e92fc..2f9c61336 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/stats.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/downloadermiddleware/stats.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.utils.request import request_httprepr
 from scrapy.utils.response import response_httprepr
 from scrapy.stats import stats
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/itemsampler.py b/scrapy/contrib/itemsampler.py
index 9098f09e1..b3ab0d799 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/itemsampler.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/itemsampler.py
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import cPickle as pickle
 from scrapy.xlib.pydispatch import dispatcher
 
 from scrapy.core.manager import scrapymanager
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.core import signals
 from scrapy.utils.response import response_httprepr
 from scrapy.stats import stats
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/memdebug.py b/scrapy/contrib/memdebug.py
index b9f56f01d..587239279 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/memdebug.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/memdebug.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import libxml2
 from scrapy.xlib.pydispatch import dispatcher
 
 from scrapy.core import signals
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.mail import MailSender
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 from scrapy import log
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/memusage.py b/scrapy/contrib/memusage.py
index a2e2ee567..9fee33238 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/memusage.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/memusage.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ from scrapy.xlib.pydispatch import dispatcher
 from scrapy.core import signals
 from scrapy import log
 from scrapy.core.manager import scrapymanager
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.mail import MailSender
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 from scrapy.stats import stats
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/pipeline/__init__.py b/scrapy/contrib/pipeline/__init__.py
index 5801e86fc..9e839beec 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/pipeline/__init__.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/pipeline/__init__.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ See documentation in docs/item-pipeline.rst
 """
 
 from scrapy import log
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.item import BaseItem
 from scrapy.utils.misc import load_object
 from scrapy.utils.defer import defer_succeed, mustbe_deferred
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/pipeline/fileexport.py b/scrapy/contrib/pipeline/fileexport.py
index dcbbcf994..a101ab9fd 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/pipeline/fileexport.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/pipeline/fileexport.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ See documentation in docs/topics/item-pipeline.rst
 
 from scrapy.xlib.pydispatch import dispatcher
 from scrapy.core import signals
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.contrib import exporter
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/pipeline/images.py b/scrapy/contrib/pipeline/images.py
index af60b1ff1..a878e3a9f 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/pipeline/images.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/pipeline/images.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ from scrapy import log
 from scrapy.stats import stats
 from scrapy.utils.misc import md5sum
 from scrapy.core import signals
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import DropItem, NotConfigured, IgnoreRequest
+from scrapy.exceptions import DropItem, NotConfigured, IgnoreRequest
 from scrapy.contrib.pipeline.media import MediaPipeline
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/schedulermiddleware/duplicatesfilter.py b/scrapy/contrib/schedulermiddleware/duplicatesfilter.py
index b610d41d6..2ba329146 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/schedulermiddleware/duplicatesfilter.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/schedulermiddleware/duplicatesfilter.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ DuplicatesFilterMiddleware: Filter out already visited urls
 See documentation in docs/topics/scheduler-middleware.rst
 """
 
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import IgnoreRequest, NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import IgnoreRequest, NotConfigured
 from scrapy.utils.misc import load_object
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/spiderclosedelay.py b/scrapy/contrib/spiderclosedelay.py
index f8e92cfee..4e4bb6921 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/spiderclosedelay.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/spiderclosedelay.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from collections import defaultdict
 
 from scrapy.core import signals
 from scrapy.core.manager import scrapymanager
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured, DontCloseSpider
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured, DontCloseSpider
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 
 
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/spidermiddleware/httperror.py b/scrapy/contrib/spidermiddleware/httperror.py
index b76b7494b..86913c02d 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/spidermiddleware/httperror.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/spidermiddleware/httperror.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ HttpError Spider Middleware
 
 See documentation in docs/topics/spider-middleware.rst
 """
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
+from scrapy.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
 
 
 class HttpError(IgnoreRequest):
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/spidermiddleware/requestlimit.py b/scrapy/contrib/spidermiddleware/requestlimit.py
index 04138588d..4c43cc2ad 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/spidermiddleware/requestlimit.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/spidermiddleware/requestlimit.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from scrapy.xlib.pydispatch import dispatcher
 
 from scrapy.core import signals
 from scrapy.core.manager import scrapymanager
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 from scrapy.http import Request
 from scrapy import log
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/spidermiddleware/urllength.py b/scrapy/contrib/spidermiddleware/urllength.py
index 98e1924cf..aa342a28d 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/spidermiddleware/urllength.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/spidermiddleware/urllength.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ See documentation in docs/topics/spider-middleware.rst
 
 from scrapy import log
 from scrapy.http import Request
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 
 class UrlLengthMiddleware(object):
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/spiders/feed.py b/scrapy/contrib/spiders/feed.py
index a80108c5c..b449be977 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/spiders/feed.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/spiders/feed.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from scrapy.item import BaseItem
 from scrapy.http import Request
 from scrapy.utils.iterators import xmliter, csviter
 from scrapy.selector import XmlXPathSelector, HtmlXPathSelector
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured, NotSupported
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured, NotSupported
 
 class XMLFeedSpider(InitSpider):
     """
diff --git a/scrapy/contrib/statsmailer.py b/scrapy/contrib/statsmailer.py
index fc76ccfbf..2398ad287 100644
--- a/scrapy/contrib/statsmailer.py
+++ b/scrapy/contrib/statsmailer.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from scrapy.xlib.pydispatch import dispatcher
 from scrapy.stats import stats, signals
 from scrapy.mail import MailSender
 from scrapy.conf import settings
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 
 class StatsMailer(object):
 
diff --git a/scrapy/core/downloader/handlers/__init__.py b/scrapy/core/downloader/handlers/__init__.py
index 94d619202..6a1556768 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/downloader/handlers/__init__.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/downloader/handlers/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 """Download handlers for different schemes"""
 
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotSupported
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotSupported
 from scrapy.utils.httpobj import urlparse_cached
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 from scrapy.utils.misc import load_object
diff --git a/scrapy/core/downloader/handlers/http.py b/scrapy/core/downloader/handlers/http.py
index 3a3b17af5..af18ba9c6 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/downloader/handlers/http.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/downloader/handlers/http.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 from twisted.internet import reactor
 
 from scrapy.core import signals
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotSupported
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotSupported
 from scrapy.utils.signal import send_catch_log
 from scrapy.utils.misc import load_object
 from scrapy.conf import settings
diff --git a/scrapy/core/downloader/manager.py b/scrapy/core/downloader/manager.py
index 15a02b426..3f754597d 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/downloader/manager.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/downloader/manager.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from time import time
 from twisted.internet import reactor, defer
 from twisted.python.failure import Failure
 
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
+from scrapy.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 from scrapy.utils.defer import mustbe_deferred
 from scrapy import log
diff --git a/scrapy/core/downloader/middleware.py b/scrapy/core/downloader/middleware.py
index fd09b8cc2..b46395f59 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/downloader/middleware.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/downloader/middleware.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ from scrapy.core import signals
 from scrapy.utils.signal import send_catch_log
 from scrapy import log
 from scrapy.http import Request, Response
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.utils.misc import load_object
 from scrapy.utils.defer import mustbe_deferred
 from scrapy.utils.conf import build_component_list
diff --git a/scrapy/core/engine.py b/scrapy/core/engine.py
index 912ea71f5..dc49b01c3 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/engine.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/engine.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ from scrapy.conf import settings
 from scrapy.core import signals
 from scrapy.core.downloader import Downloader
 from scrapy.core.scraper import Scraper
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import IgnoreRequest, DontCloseSpider
+from scrapy.exceptions import IgnoreRequest, DontCloseSpider
 from scrapy.http import Response, Request
 from scrapy.spider import spiders
 from scrapy.utils.misc import load_object
diff --git a/scrapy/core/exceptions.py b/scrapy/core/exceptions.py
index 48204f148..9901069d6 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/exceptions.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/exceptions.py
@@ -1,40 +1,5 @@
-"""
-Scrapy core exceptions
+from scrapy.exceptions import *
 
-These exceptions are documented in docs/topics/exceptions.rst. Please don't add
-new exceptions here without documenting them there.
-"""
-
-from scrapy import log
-
-# Internal
-
-class NotConfigured(Exception):
-    """Indicates a missing configuration situation"""
-    pass
-
-# HTTP and crawling
-
-class IgnoreRequest(Exception):
-    """Indicates a decision was made not to process a request"""
-
-    def __init__(self, msg='', level=log.ERROR):
-        self.msg = msg
-        self.level = level
-
-    def __str__(self):
-        return self.msg
-
-class DontCloseSpider(Exception):
-    """Request the spider not to be closed yet"""
-    pass
-
-# Items
-
-class DropItem(Exception):
-    """Drop item from the item pipeline"""
-    pass
-
-class NotSupported(Exception):
-    """Indicates a feature or method is not supported"""
-    pass
+import warnings
+warnings.warn("scrapy.core.exceptions is deprecated, use scrapy.exceptions instead", \
+    DeprecationWarning, stacklevel=2)
diff --git a/scrapy/core/scheduler.py b/scrapy/core/scheduler.py
index 290ebefc1..2da44cbdd 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/scheduler.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/scheduler.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ from twisted.python.failure import Failure
 
 from scrapy.utils.datatypes import PriorityQueue, PriorityStack
 from scrapy.core.schedulermw import SchedulerMiddlewareManager
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
+from scrapy.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 
 class Scheduler(object):
diff --git a/scrapy/core/schedulermw.py b/scrapy/core/schedulermw.py
index fec9bb2d1..9f27c1e5d 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/schedulermw.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/schedulermw.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from collections import defaultdict
 from twisted.internet.defer import Deferred
 
 from scrapy import log
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.utils.misc import load_object
 from scrapy.utils.defer import mustbe_deferred
 from scrapy.utils.conf import build_component_list
diff --git a/scrapy/core/scraper.py b/scrapy/core/scraper.py
index 8825ec540..c1e88a18a 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/scraper.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/scraper.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ from scrapy.utils.defer import defer_result, defer_succeed, parallel
 from scrapy.utils.spider import iterate_spider_output
 from scrapy.utils.misc import load_object
 from scrapy.utils.signal import send_catch_log
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import IgnoreRequest, DropItem
+from scrapy.exceptions import IgnoreRequest, DropItem
 from scrapy.core import signals
 from scrapy.http import Request, Response
 from scrapy.item import BaseItem
diff --git a/scrapy/core/spidermw.py b/scrapy/core/spidermw.py
index 4a8342c0a..38f947045 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/spidermw.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/spidermw.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ docs/topics/spider-middleware.rst
 
 from scrapy import log
 from twisted.python.failure import Failure
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.utils.misc import load_object
 from scrapy.utils.conf import build_component_list
 from scrapy.utils.defer import mustbe_deferred
diff --git a/scrapy/exceptions.py b/scrapy/exceptions.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..48204f148
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scrapy/exceptions.py
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+"""
+Scrapy core exceptions
+
+These exceptions are documented in docs/topics/exceptions.rst. Please don't add
+new exceptions here without documenting them there.
+"""
+
+from scrapy import log
+
+# Internal
+
+class NotConfigured(Exception):
+    """Indicates a missing configuration situation"""
+    pass
+
+# HTTP and crawling
+
+class IgnoreRequest(Exception):
+    """Indicates a decision was made not to process a request"""
+
+    def __init__(self, msg='', level=log.ERROR):
+        self.msg = msg
+        self.level = level
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return self.msg
+
+class DontCloseSpider(Exception):
+    """Request the spider not to be closed yet"""
+    pass
+
+# Items
+
+class DropItem(Exception):
+    """Drop item from the item pipeline"""
+    pass
+
+class NotSupported(Exception):
+    """Indicates a feature or method is not supported"""
+    pass
diff --git a/scrapy/extension.py b/scrapy/extension.py
index 4f3ed8da7..ede22447f 100644
--- a/scrapy/extension.py
+++ b/scrapy/extension.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ This module contains the ExtensionManager  which takes care of loading and
 keeping track of all enabled extensions. It also contains an instantiated
 ExtensionManager (extensions) to be used as singleton.
 """
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.utils.misc import load_object
 from scrapy.utils.conf import build_component_list
 from scrapy import log
diff --git a/scrapy/mail.py b/scrapy/mail.py
index 8ce7b1798..17973e584 100644
--- a/scrapy/mail.py
+++ b/scrapy/mail.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ from twisted.internet import defer, reactor
 from twisted.mail.smtp import ESMTPSenderFactory
 
 from scrapy import log
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.conf import settings
 from scrapy.utils.signal import send_catch_log
 
diff --git a/scrapy/telnet.py b/scrapy/telnet.py
index 49deed463..fa46becfa 100644
--- a/scrapy/telnet.py
+++ b/scrapy/telnet.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from twisted.conch.insults import insults
 from twisted.internet import reactor, protocol
 
 from scrapy.extension import extensions
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.core.manager import scrapymanager
 from scrapy.spider import spiders
 from scrapy.stats import stats
diff --git a/scrapy/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_httpcache.py b/scrapy/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_httpcache.py
index 230352804..29782674a 100644
--- a/scrapy/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_httpcache.py
+++ b/scrapy/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_httpcache.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from scrapy.http import Response, HtmlResponse, Request
 from scrapy.spider import BaseSpider
 from scrapy.contrib.downloadermiddleware.httpcache import FilesystemCacheStorage, HttpCacheMiddleware
 from scrapy.conf import Settings
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
+from scrapy.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
 
 
 class HttpCacheMiddlewareTest(unittest.TestCase):
diff --git a/scrapy/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_httpproxy.py b/scrapy/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_httpproxy.py
index 7f6f7ee4e..ef6753b5a 100644
--- a/scrapy/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_httpproxy.py
+++ b/scrapy/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_httpproxy.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import sys
 from twisted.trial.unittest import TestCase, SkipTest
 
 from scrapy.contrib.downloadermiddleware.httpproxy import HttpProxyMiddleware
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.http import Response, Request
 from scrapy.spider import BaseSpider
 from scrapy.conf import settings
diff --git a/scrapy/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_redirect.py b/scrapy/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_redirect.py
index be705b958..d07e86b9c 100644
--- a/scrapy/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_redirect.py
+++ b/scrapy/tests/test_downloadermiddleware_redirect.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import unittest
 
 from scrapy.contrib.downloadermiddleware.redirect import RedirectMiddleware
 from scrapy.spider import BaseSpider
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
+from scrapy.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
 from scrapy.http import Request, Response, HtmlResponse, Headers
 
 class RedirectMiddlewareTest(unittest.TestCase):
diff --git a/scrapy/tests/test_schedulermiddleware_duplicatesfilter.py b/scrapy/tests/test_schedulermiddleware_duplicatesfilter.py
index 1384c2237..524b80167 100644
--- a/scrapy/tests/test_schedulermiddleware_duplicatesfilter.py
+++ b/scrapy/tests/test_schedulermiddleware_duplicatesfilter.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import unittest
 
 from scrapy.http import Request
 from scrapy.spider import BaseSpider
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
+from scrapy.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
 from scrapy.contrib.schedulermiddleware.duplicatesfilter import DuplicatesFilterMiddleware
 
 
diff --git a/scrapy/utils/defer.py b/scrapy/utils/defer.py
index bf9014bbd..7fb34efd5 100644
--- a/scrapy/utils/defer.py
+++ b/scrapy/utils/defer.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ Helper functions for dealing with Twisted deferreds
 from twisted.internet import defer, reactor, task
 from twisted.python import failure
 
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
+from scrapy.exceptions import IgnoreRequest
 
 def defer_fail(_failure):
     """Same as twisted.internet.defer.fail, but delay calling errback until
diff --git a/scrapy/webservice.py b/scrapy/webservice.py
index ddfe97369..44f804fea 100644
--- a/scrapy/webservice.py
+++ b/scrapy/webservice.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ See docs/topics/ws.rst
 from twisted.internet import reactor
 from twisted.web import server, resource, error
 
-from scrapy.core.exceptions import NotConfigured
+from scrapy.exceptions import NotConfigured
 from scrapy.utils.jsonrpc import jsonrpc_server_call
 from scrapy.utils.serialize import ScrapyJSONEncoder, ScrapyJSONDecoder
 from scrapy.utils.misc import load_object