Provides access to the Devon Archives and Local Studies Collection. For more information visit: https://swheritage.org.uk/devon-archives/
Provides access to the Devon Archives and Local Studies Collection via the Devon Heritage Centre in Exeter and the North Devon Record Office in Barnstaple. It is part of The South West Heritage Trust, an independent charity committed to protecting and celebrating Somerset and Devon’s rich heritage.
09/06/2026
As part of our next 'Discovery Saturday' on 20th June, experts from the Devon Family History Society will be available to answer all your family history queries.
Devon Discovery Saturday: Family History Day Start a fascinating journey into your family's past. Meet the researchers of the Devon Family History Society and get expert advice on family history.
Owing to circumstances beyond our control - extensive external work on the electricity supply to Great Moor House - the Devon Heritage Centre will be closed to the public on Tuesday 21st April.
We apologise for any inconvenience.
31/03/2026
Young Historian of the Year | Exeter Cathedral We are looking for people aged 11-18 living in Devon and Cornwall to join our Young Historian of the Year competition and show off their love for history.
23/03/2026
Some people may have seen this film, made as part of the Isca Photographic Collection Project, when it was on show during the exhibition at the Custom House in late February and early March. But for those that haven't, it represents the full breadth of the project, encompassing digital preservation and community engagement.
Thanks are due to the excellent Torbay-based film-maker John Tomkins, who once again helped us encapsulate one of our projects on film.
The Isca Photographic Collection A unique and irreplaceable visual record of twentieth century Exeter has been saved from destruction thanks to a major preservation project by the South West...
12/02/2026
Details of two events coming up, one online and one at the Devon Heritage Centre, over the next month or so.
https://swheritage.org.uk/events/coffee-time-talk-north-devon-tales-traditions-and-titbits/
https://swheritage.org.uk/events/discovery-saturday-finds-surgery/
Discovery Saturday: Finds Surgery Bring along your archaeological finds to be identified.
05/02/2026
Two exhibitions of photographs from the Isca Collection are now on at the Custom House on Exeter Quay until Sunday 8th March.
✨ A Tudor treasure has arrived in Devon! ✨
A 1586 map of Kingsbridge has been acquired by the South West Heritage Trust and is now accessible at the Devon Heritage Centre in Exeter. 🗺️
This extraordinary map shows:
• The parish church
• The town pillory
• The old ‘Cheape House’, where the manor court met until 1796
• Land belonging to Sir John Petre, of one of Devon’s oldest families
Maps of provincial towns from this period are incredibly rare, making this a nationally significant find.
Huge thanks to the Friends of the National Libraries and the Friends of Devon Archives for making this acquisition possible.
05/01/2026
At 10.30 am on Friday 16th January, the Isca Collection Project Officer, Kitty Vega, will be talking about the treasures in the collection and our project to preserve, digitise and catalogue them. The talk is part of the South West Heritage Trust's regular series of 'Coffee Time Talks' and is free to all.
https://swheritage.org.uk/events/coffee-time-talk-isca/
29/10/2025
More classic photographs of bygone Exeter which have been digitised as part of our ongoing project to preserve and make available Peter Thomas's Isca Collection.
In connection with this, the Project Officer, Kitty Vega, will be giving an online talk on Friday 16th January:
https://swheritage.org.uk/events/coffee-time-talk-isca/
There will also be an exhibition of photographs from the collection at Exeter Custom House during February and March 2026. Further details will be circulated in due course.
27/10/2025
As mentioned among our events, between 10 and 12.30 on Saturday 15th November, as part of our latest 'Discovery Saturday', we will be holding an exhibition of maps in the Heritage Centre searchroom. The exhibition is free and all are welcome.
https://swheritage.org.uk/events/pathways-from-devons-past/