Spring 2013 - Devon County Council

Official Opening of the
Devon Heritage Centre
Collect . Conserve . Inform . Inspire
Issue 2 . Spring 2013

Devon
Heritage
Services
Great Moor House
Bittern Road
Sowton
Exeter EX2 7NL
Email
devrec@devon.gov.uk
Web www.devon.gov.uk
/record_office
Tel 01392 384253
Fax 01392 384256
Editor
Brian Carpenter
Community and Education
Development Officer
Design
Corporate Communications
/Sally Skilton
Please see our website
for times of opening
Front Cover
Official Opening of the
Devon Heritage Centre,
22nd October 2012.
Editorial
Devon Heritage Centre Opens!
The Devon Heritage Centre at Great Moor House, Sowton, Exeter is bringing
together under one roof the rich and varied collections of local studies and
archive resources cared for by Devon County Council. The completion of the
first stage in this process was celebrated at our Official Opening by the
Chairman of the County Council, Councillor Jerry Brook, on 22 October 2012.
Before cutting the ribbon, Councillor Brook told the invited audience that
having such a wide range of records available in one place makes the
Heritage Centre “one of the most important facilities in the county today”.
Dr Phil Norrey, Chief Executive of Devon County Council, spoke of the significance of
bringing historical resources together and how they can also bring people together, adding
that “this is a service we can truly be proud of. In these times of financial constraints, it is
important to hold on to such a facility; some things, once you have lost them, you can never
get them back”.
I also took the opportunity to say a few words at the conclusion of the formal Opening
ceremony, and this is an edited version of my speech:
“I would like to remind you all that today’s event marks the completion of the first phase only
of our Heritage Centre project. The end result will be the complete integration of both
county archive and local studies collections but at present we only have space to take the
reading room stock from the former Westcountry Studies Library, together with the library of
the Devon & Cornwall Record Society (to which we are offering, with the kind agreement of
the Society, free public access for the first time). Additional storage areas elsewhere in this
building will be available to us next year and, in the meantime, the local studies collections
remaining at Exeter Central Library will continue to be publicly accessible. We will also be
taking in the historic registers of births, marriages and deaths from the county registration
service next year. These collections will be joining that of the National Meteorological Office
Archive, with whom we have been sharing accommodation since 2005, to create a really
comprehensive and publicly accessible resource under one roof.
Looking further ahead, for us this is only the start, the springboard for what we hope will be
a very different way of connecting with people, both our regular users and those who may
not even be terribly aware of what we do. If I had to choose one word to sum up what I
mean by that, it would be the word: ‘community’. Indeed, it is very fitting that we now come
under the County Council’s ‘Services for Communities’ umbrella. The past couple of years,
during which dire economic conditions have forced all of us to re-consider what we do and
how we can best achieve it, have very clearly demonstrated to us that we are connected in
a host of different ways to a huge community of individuals and organisations across the
world with an interest in the heritage of Devon. There is an enormous amount of really
valuable collecting, recording and researching work going on across this community but
there is a very obvious need for an overriding co-ordinating body to provide professional
assistance, avoid duplication of effort and to maximise outcomes. I see this Centre as the
natural provider of that supporting role through the mechanism of a new body we are calling
the Devon History Forum. We now have excellent facilities here for hosting meetings,
presentations and training events and we will be showcasing these at our next annual Open
Day on Saturday 16 March 2013. We can assist local history groups with all aspects of their
activities, from collecting to preservation, access and presentation, and we can involve
communities in our own projects, both through volunteering opportunities and by including
work with specific groups in our external funding bids, or by advising and supporting groups
who are submitting bids of their own. I want us to find ways to ensure that we are both
approachable and available to assist in whatever ways we can, and the History Forum is a
central element of that intent.
I have always been an advocate of the value of community heritage work and we are very
keen to support the huge range of such activity in practical ways. A couple of examples of
current initiatives we are working on: since 2006 I have been managing a community
2 Devon Heritage Services Newsletter

Editorial
archives project in north Devon called Explore North Devon
– this began life as an Archives 4 All project working with 5
communities to develop and digitise their collections and
present them on the Internet. Now the project has over 40
participating communities and we are currently in the
process of migrating the huge amount of data collected by
them to a more sustainable community archives website
offering enhanced geographical search facilities, social
media links and so on. We will be assisting other groups
across Devon to join this resulting community to create an
ever growing ‘Devon Heritage’ online resource. Alongside
this, we are submitting a substantial Heritage Lottery Fund
application called ‘Explore Devon’s Heritage’ to fund work
with up to 30 Devon communities over two years on local
research projects they want to explore, data from which will
be added to the website I have just mentioned.
Finally, I would like to say that the commitment shown by
our County Council in bringing together its historic
collections to create this Heritage Centre is not just a
means to streamline services and achieve economies of
scale; there is a genuine appreciation that what the Council
possesses in its unique heritage collections, built up over
many centuries and stretching back a millennia, is a
treasure house of resources that holds almost limitless
possibilities for connecting with many different agendas,
economic, social and educational as well as historical.
There is literally something for everyone in the collections
we hold in both our Exeter and Barnstaple centres; witness
the huge appeal that family history currently has, for
example. Exploring our heritage makes us feel more
connected to a family, a place, a community, or to society
in general, and as such I have always been convinced that
it has a wider social role. You may remember the
widespread rioting that took place in our cities in 2011; I
recall watching various TV commentators trying to explain
what was going on at the time and the morning after a
particularly bad night they were talking about it to Devon
author, Michael Morpurgo, who said a very insightful thing
that, for me, cut right through to the heart of the matter: he
felt that the main contributing factor was that people no
longer had any sense whatsoever of belonging to their
communities. I am convinced that heritage services have
an enormous potential to provide people with precisely that
sense of belonging, and, in such a context, a huge
responsibility to do just that. With no real end in sight to the
current economic decline, and things perhaps set to get a
great deal worse, increased social unrest may well be an
inevitable consequence and we therefore have a crucial
role to play in contributing whatever we can to combat
instability in our communities. Continued investment in our
‘cultural capital’ when seen in this light begins to look like
something of a future proofing social imperative from my
perspective and something that should be central to
government and local authority strategies.
Tim Wormleighton
Heritage Services Manager
A Christmas Carol
When sorting through a recent deposit of records from the
parish of Chulmleigh, Heritage Centre staff came across a
copy of a printed hymn sheet which had seen much better
days. The hymn was entitled a ‘Hymn for Christmas Day in
score Figured for the Organ & Piano Forte composed and
most respectfully Dedicated to the Choir of Chulmleigh by
William Howell’. William Howell apparently came from
Chulmleigh, and presumably lived there, but the score was
printed in London by Astor and Company, ‘Musical
Instrument Manufacturers’ at 79 Cornhill.
We suspect that the hymn was specially composed for the
parish choir, and, given the poor condition of the sheet, it
must have been well used in the early years following its
composition, although it is probably many years since the
music was performed or the hymn was sung.
Unfortunately the score was discovered too late to be
restored in time for Christmas 2012, but once our
conservation staff have worked their magic it should be
available to be sung again in Chulmleigh for many
Christmases to come.
Spring 2013 3

Devon Heritage Services
New Staff
Bob Bennett
Project Archivist
‘The Right to Remain Silent?’
I’m a new face in the Heritage
Service this year. Originally from
Cheshire, I’ve completed two
degrees in Medieval History at
Aberystwyth, in the process of
which I discovered the wonderful
world of archives. After completing
a training year at Special
Collections, Palace Green Library,
Durham, I went on to take an archival qualification at
Aberystwyth, completing in June 2011. Since August 2012 I’ve
been working as Project Archivist on the Devon Quarter
Sessions Records, a role I hugely enjoy. I have a lot of different
hobbies and interests, including hiking and hill walking,
photography, writing, history, and travel, and I’m also a big fan
of steam railways, so Devon is ideal, really! I’m looking forward
to getting out and about on Dartmoor this year and if I’m feeling
particularly bold I might even try the Ten Tors Challenge. You
can follow the progress of my project at
www.devonquartersessions.wordpress.com; feel free to leave
any comments and questions you may have.
Lucy Browne
Heritage Assistant
Lucy Browne comes from a long
line of Anglican clergymen and
grew up in Topsham, where her
parents owned the Topsham
Bookshop. She spent seventeen
years in Wales, during which she
completed a history degree at St
David’s University College,
Lampeter and a PGCE, and taught
in various capacities while turning a ruined Pembrokeshire
church into a house with her husband, and producing three
children. The family returned to Devon in 2001, when Lucy
became an assistant in the Westcountry Studies Library. Lucy’s
specialism is Family History and she is working towards a
professional genealogical qualification with the Institute of
Heraldic and Genealogical Studies in Canterbury. Spare time is
scarce after course work is completed, the dog walked and the
fridge filled, but she occasionally sings in her church choir at St
Michael’s, Mount Dinham, and escapes outside on the pretext
of gardening which ensures the family makes itself scarce.
Other New Staff
As well as Bob and Lucy, we have also been joined by Tony
Rouse, who has joined the team of Heritage Assistants, along
with Mandy Caine, Mike Dowell, Josie Halloran, Eliza Newton,
James Ward and his former colleague Lucy Browne. Tony will
be a familiar face to many among the local history community
in Devon after more than twenty years working in the old
Westcountry Studies Library in central Exeter.
Earlier in 2012 we were joined by Stuart Tyler. Stuart is an
archivist and comes from south Devon. He has previously
worked at the Bury St.Edmunds branch of the Suffolk Record
Office, and at the Dorset History Centre.
Acquisitions of
Special Interest
Between the start of November 2011 and the end
of October 2012, the Devon Heritage Centre -
renamed after the amalgamation of the Devon Record
Office and the Westcountry Studies Library in the
autumn of 2012 - received a varied and interesting
range of accessions.
Parish records were deposited by Aylesbeare (8262,
8285), Cheldon (8233), Coffinswell (8208), Combpyne with
Rousdon (8401), Cullompton (8282, 8327, 8345),
Culmstock (8174), Dittisham (8260), Drewsteignton (8252),
Exeter Central (8364), Feniton, Buckerell and Escot
(8289), Halberton (8274, 8443), Hatherleigh (8382),
Highweek (8393, 8405), Holcombe Rogus (8273), Ide
(8172, 8418), Kingsteignton (8333), Milton Damerel (8207),
Moretonhampstead (8317), Newton St.Cyres (8353),
Okehampton (8155), Ottery St.Mary (8288), Paignton
St.John (8334), Stoke Fleming (8244), Templeton
(8412),Thornbury (8209) and Woodleigh (8173).
Collections of non-conformist and other church records
were also received from, among others, High Street
Plymouth Brethren Chapel, Crediton (8341), Crediton
Unitarian Church (8429), Cullompton Methodist Church
(8343), Cullompton Unitarian Church (8425), Exeter
Unitarian Fellowship (8426), Exeter Coast and Country
Methodist Circuit (8229), Exminster Methodist Church
(8304), Honiton Methodist Circuit (8347),
Moretonhampstead Unitarian Chapel (8428), Newton
Abbot Unitarian Church (8423), Plymouth Unitarian Church
(8424), Sidmouth Unitarian Chapel (8430), Sidmouth and
Bridport Methodist Circuit (8346), South Devon Unitarian
Ministry (8431), Tiverton Methodist Circuit (8344), Tiverton
United Reformed Church (8278, 8295, 8303, 8386) and
Torquay Unitarian Church (8427).
Parish council records were deposited by the councils of
Aylesbeare (8287), Bridford (8311), Culmstock (8255,
8449), Drewsteignton (8319), Ipplepen (8153), Kenton
(8286), Morchard Bishop (8422), St.Giles in the Heath
(8318), Sandford (8421) and Stoke Fleming (8238).
We have also received school records relating to
Alphington Primary School (8394), All Saints Primary
School, Babbacombe, Torquay (8315), Blackawton Primary
School (8388), Chestnut Primary School, Brixham (8312),
Chudleigh Primary School (8332), Clyst Honiton Primary
School (8374), Cockington Primary School (8314), Queen
Elizabeth’s School, Crediton (8232), Dalwood Primary
School (8222), the old Rack Street Infants School in Exeter
(8440), St.Peter’s Church of England School, Exeter
(8225) and its forerunner Hele’s School (8370), Halberton
Primary School (8396), Lifton Infants School (8167), King’s
4 Devon Heritage Services Newsletter

School, Ottery St.Mary (8165), Paignton Community
College (8436), Stoke Fleming Primary School (8387),
Stokenham Primary School (8235), Priory Roman
Catholic Primary School, St.Marychurch, Torquay (8313)
and Homelands Primary School, Torquay (8316), while
other educational records came in which relate to
St.Luke’s College, Exeter (8164).
Deposits of business records are rarely very numerous,
but, as is often the case, the most significant collections
of this type comprise collections of deeds and other legal
documents deposited by firms of solicitors. For example,
the Sidmouth office of solicitors Gilbert Stephens, gave
us a large collection of documents relating to properties,
mostly in east Devon, dating from the eighteenth century
to the twentieth (8171), and Peter, Peter and Wright, of
Okehampton, a similar collection relating to west Devon
(8251), the earliest item of which dates from 1574.
From the political world, we have received some minutes
and other records from the Torridge and West Devon
Conservative Association (8265) and we purchased a
minute book covering 1816-1833 of the ‘Devon County
Club’, a club of Whig supporters among the local
gentry (8410).
Other interesting collections received during the period
under review included material produced during the ‘The
School Looks Around’ art project at two Devon schools in
2010 and 2011 (8146, 8147); a collection of material
relating to an Exeter-born actor called Peter Clapham
who appeared in various popular television series and
films between the 1970s and 2001 (8335); a photograph
and magazine relating to a temporary hospital located in
central Exeter during World War One (8358); oral history
material relating to Devon’s hedges (8391) and two
photocopied letters from Admiral Horatio Nelson (8446).
Not all these records are yet available for consultation.
We shall endeavour to make them accessible as soon as
possible, and staff will be happy to advise about the
accessibility of a particular collection. Full details of these
collections can be found on our online catalogue:
http://app-calmview.devon.gov.uk/CalmView/
North Devon Record Office Acquisitions
November 2011 to October 2012
Since the previous edition of this newsletter, the North
Devon Record Office in Barnstaple has received several
additional deposits from the following north Devon
parishes: Bratton Fleming (1506A); Challacombe
(3399A); West Worlington (336A); West
Woolfardisworthy (922A); Berrynarbor (3921A) and
Bishops Tawton (1469A). Records were also received
from Ilfracombe Methodist Circuit (2334), Barnstaple
Methodist Circuit (2347), Bude Methodist Circuit (2926),
Bideford Methodist Circuit (2237), Milton Dameral
Methodist Chapel (B1085), Braunton Evangelical Church
(B1095) and Barnstaple Baptist Church (B419).
Other deposits of note include school log books, 1875-1990
for Bideford church schools (3238C); Berrynarbor school
admission registers, 1874-1954 (B1106); records collected
by Harold Jester - a former school headmaster at Lynton -
that include Lynton and Barbrook school log books, 1930-
1975; manager’s minutes, 1902-1932; an admission
register, 1873-1902 and punishment books, 1900-1945, as
well as a copy of the Lynton tithe apportionment, 1839
(B1112). North Devon District Council transferred some of
its old leases, agreements and local government orders,
1898-1972 (3760) to the custody of the Record Office and
Lynton and Lynmouth Town Council transferred an
inclosure map and award for Lyn Cleeve and Lyn Down,
1860; water works plans, 1902 and some undated tithe
map copies (B1114).
Wages books, purchase and sales ledgers and various
other documents, 1926-1982 of James Tapscott & Sons,
glove makers, Great Torrington (B1084) were deposited as
were articles of association, prospectuses, share
certificates, accounts, correspondence and machinery
plans, 1879 -1980 from the North Devon Clay Company
(B1087). Also acquired by the Record Office were plans of
the Barnstaple to Ilfracombe railway, 1971 & 1974 (B1119);
Stevens family of Cross and Winscott title deeds etc.
(1648) -1842 (B1107); Tawstock and South Molton title
deeds and agreements, 1503-1664 with a large bundle of
Tawstock apprenticeship indentures, 1700-1843 (B1115);
films and photographs of sailing events and shows etc. in
and around Instow, 1930s-2006 (B1083); title deeds and
associated documents of the old Mortehoe Hotel, 1882-
1977 (B1090) and a 1748 attested copy of a bond of
obligation for £1,000 between William Nichols and William
Elliss, both of Appledore (B1118). The Inner Wheel Club of
Barnstaple deposited records dating from their formation in
1945 (B1116) and Barnstaple Longbridge Townswomen’s
Guild also deposited their records, 1940-2010 (B1105).
Finally, the following Women’s Institutes have deposited
records and/or photographs at the Barnstaple Office over
the last year: Goodleigh, 1995-2007 (B680); Frithelstock,
1938-2005 (B1103) and Bishops Tawton, 1938-2000
(B1109).
Please note that some of these deposits, in particular the
larger collections such as B1084 and B1087, have not yet
been catalogued and, therefore, may not be available for
consultation. Enquiries about the availability of the
acquisitions referred to in this article should be made to
staff at the North Devon Record Office.
Our thanks go to the
Devon Family History
Society for providing
a grant which allowed
us to purchase some
of the items
mentioned above.
Instow (NDRO B1083)
Spring 2013 5

Telling our Stories, Finding our Roots
Telling our Stories, Finding our Roots: Exeter’s
Multi-coloured History, is a Heritage Lottery
Fund-supported project which seeks to trace
the lives and journeys of immigrants to Exeter
over many centuries.
At the core of the project is a team of volunteers which has
been recruited from the ethnically diverse population of
modern Exeter. On Monday 19th November 2012, many of
these volunteers, together with the project co-ordinator,
Ghee Bowman, visited the Devon Heritage Centre for a
training day designed to introduce them to the resources -
here, online, and in other archives - which can be used to
Open Day
Following the success of the first Devon
Heritage Services Open Day last March, we
will be staging another on Saturday 16th
March 2013.
The theme of the day will be Partnerships and Projects,
and it will feature speakers including Tim Wormleighton,
Heritage Services Manager, who will be talking, among
other things, about the new Devon History Forum, Bob
Bennett, the Devon Quarter Sessions Project Archivist,
Matt Greenhall from The National Archives and Emma
Waldron, who will be talking about the Mapping the
County project. There will also be stands displaying
information relating to local groups and a repeat of the
behind-the scenes tours of strongrooms which proved so
popular last year.
Keep an eye on our website - http://www.devon.gov.uk/
record_office.htm - for further details.
trace the lives and origins of people who have come from
abroad to make their homes in Exeter.
The group included people with origins in Uganda, Egypt,
Slovakia and the United States of America, among other
countries, and, as such, was almost certainly the most
ethnically diverse group ever to visit any of Devon’s
archives.
It was a pleasure to welcome the volunteers to the
Heritage Centre and it was gratifying to see how interested
they were in the range of material on display. We look
forward to meeting some of them again as their research
progresses.
Three new publications on
sale at the Heritage Centre
Taking pride of place is the first published work by
Tim Wormleighton, our Heritage Services Manager.
Entitled Title Deeds for Family Historians, and
published by The Family History Partnership (£4.95), the
book covers the different types of title deed which family
historians are likely to come across in the course of their
research. Tim describes how the documents came to have
their names, how they originated - usually among the
darkest recesses of medieval land law - the language
used, and the reasons why certain documents fell out of
use and were replaced by others. The book also includes
photographs of the major types of deed.
The second recent publication has been described
as ‘the first in-depth study’ of its subject. Devon’s
Ancient Bench Ends, by Todd Gray (Mint Press, £17.99).
Finally, we have Marriage Law for Genealogists,
by Professor Rebecca Probert (Takeaway
Publishing, £9.99).
6 Devon Heritage Services Newsletter

The Right to
Remain Silent?
The Right to Remain Silent?, the Devon Quarter Sessions
cataloguing project, began in August and has continued apace
over recent months. In October, 1912 documents were
catalogued and a whole host of crimes described, from a
‘Skimmington Ride’ in Aveton Giffard to bull-baiting in Totnes.
Over 5,000 documents have been catalogued since August and we
are now progressing into the 1740s, with evidence emerging of the
impact of terrible weather conditions throughout 1740 leading to a
spate of subsistence-related crimes. These crimes mainly involve
theft of food and fuel, as the inhabitants of Devon battled to get to
grips with the unseasonable weather, which affected all of Europe
and is known to have caused enormous hardship in Ireland at the
same time. The uncompromising Justices of the Peace clamped
down hard on those unlucky enough to be caught stealing to
survive, with a spate of transportations taking place at the
Midsummer sessions that year.
The launch of the new Heritage Service in October 2012 provided
an opportunity to deliver a talk on the project to a wide range of
interested parties from the council and the community, and it is
hoped that further talks will be given later in the year.
Several volunteers have settled into the project so far, and are
taking part in a range of tasks, including sorting documents and
background research.
Our conservators are tirelessly plugging away to repackage the
bundles as the cataloguing continues, and plenty of interesting
material is being discovered and placed on the project blog. If you’d
like to find out more about the project as we enter this exciting new
historical decade or would like to find out more about how to
volunteer, please feel free to send an email to me at
robert.bennett@devon.gov.uk, or pop into the searchroom and ask
for the Quarter Sessions project archivist. I’ll be glad to answer any
questions you may have. Finally, weekly updates on items of
interest that have been found in the records can be seen at the
project blog at: www.devonquartersessions.wordpress.com.
Bob Bennett
Project Archivist, The Right to Remain Silent?
Hudibras Encounters the Skimmington, Hogarth, 1822.
Palaeography Course
In the autumn of 2012 the Devon Heritage
Centre staged a series of workshops
aimed at people wishing to develop their
skills in reading historical documents. The
six week course was taught by Dr. John
Booker, one of the centre’s regular
volunteers, who is both a retired archivist
and a very experienced palaeography
tutor.
Fifteen students participated in the course,
which concentrated on the types of document
and styles of handwriting commonly used in
Britain between the mid-seventeenth and the
early nineteenth centuries. As well as
assisting the students with reading the
handwriting, John Booker explained the
structure and purposes of the documents
themselves.
Feedback from the course participants has
been very positive, and we will be running a
similar course in April and May 2013. At this
stage we have not made a definite decision
about whether to tailor the course to the
requirements of beginners or more
experienced students, so if you have any
views about which would be preferable for
you, please e-mail our Community and
Education Development Officer, Brian
Carpenter, at brian.carpenter@devon.gov.uk.
Full details of the course will appear on our
website soon.
Devon History Forum
Devon Heritage Services is delighted to
announce the launch of the Devon History
Forum, which will act as a co-ordinating forum
providing mutual support, advice, information,
training opportunities, events and online
networking for all groups, organisations and
bodies interested in exploring, collecting and
promoting all aspects of the unique history
and heritage of the county of Devon. We now
have a ‘Devon History Forum’ page on
Facebook to act as a channel for discussion,
posting news, advertising coming events and
generally encouraging the development of an
online Devon History community that is open
to all, amateur and professional alike, with
similar interests and concerns. So, if you are
involved with a local history group in Devon,
please check out our Facebook page, spread
the news or contact us to discover more about
joining the Forum.
Spring 2013 7

Friends of
Devon’s
Archives
In 2012 the Friends of Devon’s Archives
continued to act as a valuable partner and
associate to the Devon Heritage Centre and the
county’s other archive repositories.
In March the Friends - having been closely involved
with the event’s conception and planning - were
among the many societies represented at the first
Open Day at Great Moor House, which was designed
to enable a range of local societies to display
information relating to their projects and research.
There was also a programme of strongroom tours,
conservation advice and speakers, chaired by Peter
Towey of the FoDA committee. The day was a great
success, attracting some 500 people.
In April, the Friends’ spring conference, Plymouth
People Through the Ages, took place at Plymouth
University, with a range of speakers addressing
aspects of the city’s history, including the Plymouth
academics Alston Kennerley and Mark Brayshay and
the former FoDA committee member Jill Drysdale.
In June the Friends collaborated with the Devon and
Cornwall Record Society on a conference, Medieval
Exeter, which was held at Exeter Guildhall.
In July, and once again in Plymouth, the Friends,
together with the Devon Heritage Centre and the
Plymouth and West Devon Record Office, were
represented at Hands on Plymouth’s History, at the
city’s Guildhall, a day which showcased the work of
many of the groups, institutions and individuals
engaged in safeguarding and representing
Plymouth’s rich heritage.
In October the Friends AGM and Conference, entitled
The Applied Arts in Devon, was held at County Hall in
Exeter, with speakers which included the FoDA
President, John Allan, and Chairman, Todd Gray, and
Clive Easter, of the Church Monuments Society.
As well as staging events, the Friends have assisted
the county’s archives by continuing to exert pressure
on Plymouth City Council to find alternative premises
for the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office, and
have also contributed financially to the purchase of
documents for the Devon Heritage Centre, the North
Devon Record Office and the Plymouth and West
Devon Record Office.
Outreach
One of the principal aims of the heritage service over
the past year has been to get out into the community
and enhance people’s knowledge of what we do and
the services we provide. Since the last edition of this
newsletter in early 2012, members of staff have been
involved with a wide range of events, both at the
Heritage Centre and elsewhere.
In late May 2012, Brian Carpenter, Community and
Education Development Officer, spoke at a seminar for
local history societies from throughout the Dartmoor region,
hosted by the Dartmoor National Park Authority at their
headquarters in Bovey Tracey. This was an excellent event
which showcased the extent of interest in local history in
that part of Devon and gave us the opportunity to tell the
assembled society representatives about our plans for the
future.
Last June members of staff attended the Devon Family
History Society’s ‘Summer Special’ in Exeter and an event
at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum organised by the
BBC to tie in with their television series ‘The Great British
Story’, presented by Michael Wood. In July the centre was
represented at the annual ‘Hands on Plymouth’s History’
event at Plymouth Guildhall, which gave us the chance to
liaise with members of the local history community in
Plymouth, something we are rarely able to do.
As usual in September we gave behind-the-scenes tours of
the office as part of the nationwide Heritage Open Days
programme, and, later in the month, we assisted Devon
Family History volunteers to staff the Federation of Family
History Societies’ stand at the annual Creative Stitches and
Hobbycrafts show at Westpoint, near Exeter. Brian
Carpenter also attended the first Blackdown Hills Heritage
Day at Dunkeswell, a very well-attended event which acted
as a focus for representatives of historical, cultural and
artistic groups from the Blackdown Hills region of Devon
and Somerset.
In the latter months of the year we have been present at the
Annual General Meetings and Conferences of the Devon
Family History Society and the Friends of Devon’s Archives.
Within the centre we have provided training in the use of
the centre’s resources for a group of volunteers from the
‘Telling our Stories, Finding our Roots’ project, which seeks
to trace the backgrounds and journeys of immigrants to
Exeter, and Irene Andrews, Access and Service
Development Manager, spoke to a group of second year
undergraduates at Exeter University on sources for use in
connection with their dissertations. In November we
welcomed a group of around thirty GCSE students from
Chulmleigh Community College, who are studying ‘The Art
of the Historian’. Irene Andrews and Brian Carpenter gave a
thematic presentation which used original and facsimile
documents to touch upon such topics as attitudes to crime,
illegitimacy and poverty, and travel.
8 Devon Heritage Services Newsletter