County’s new flagship ‘Heritage Centre’ to officially open
Devon County Council’s new ‘Heritage Centre’ will be officially opened next week by Council Chairman Jerry Brook.
The flagship centre was created as part of a drive to modernise the Council’s heritage service, and sees the Westcountry Studies Library and the Exeter branch of the Devon Record Office conveniently brought together under one roof for the first time.
Located at Great Moor House in Sowton, the facility houses historical resources from a variety of sources which relate to the County of Devon. These include original parish records on individuals, families, estates, businesses, societies, chapels and schools, as well as the County’s collection of local and family history studies material such as maps, newspapers, books and illustrations. The centre also holds the church records of the Diocese of Exeter and records held by the County’s Registrar’s office and the National Meteorological Archive.
The move is the result of last year’s major consultation exercise by the Council to find out how people would like to use their heritage services in the future. The results showed a huge demand for a united service, with 85% of people asked calling for the County’s heritage collections to be brought together.
Councillor Roger Croad, Devon County Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities who has responsibility for the County’s Heritage Services, said:
“Drawing together some of our historical services in one place will greatly improve access to the collections we hold.
“By modernising the service in this way we hope to encourage greater community involvement in the heritage work we do by engaging the public in archiving activities and collaborative projects, particularly with specialist interest organisations.
“This new Heritage Centre represents a major step forward for heritage provision in the county and a significant commitment by Devon County Council to the future of the county's written and pictorial heritage.
“We are now focusing on digitising a range of records and increasing access to online resources to help preserve original documents and greatly increase access via the internet. This is great news as almost 70% of users said they would rather use the internet if more records become available digitally.
“Working closely with volunteers and partners will help us to continue to ensure our archives are effectively catalogued, conserved and stored as efficiently as possible. This partnership will also help deliver a wide range of projects and provide professional support for community heritage activity across the county.”
