House Scouts / North Devon on Disk

About the archive

This project was originally set up in 2004 in the rural village of Winkleigh , to encourage and educate people to look after their listed buildings in the village and to survey and record them.

It expanded into having a general digital archive of photos, documents and maps and became part of a larger digital community archive project, North Devon on Disk. They also have objects and archaeology which have been collected along the way.

The archive is kept as a digital format on a computer hard drive and brought in for public access on Wednesdays and Tuesdays to the community centre. The physical archive is in boxes, cupboards and a specially constructed storage and display unit in the community centre. Everyone who works on the project is a volunteer and they receive strong support from Barnstaple and North Devon Museum and the North Devon records Office.

Aims and objectives

  • To raise the awareness of heritage in the parish and enable folk to look after it
  • Provide education on how listed building should be kept
  • Act as a middle man between planning authorities and people with listed buildings
  • Take copies for the digital archive
  • Train people to look at, survey and treat their surroundings and own houses with a more informed view

Value/ impact

From origins within the community and through partnership with the local museum, the archive has become part of a small sub-regional network of archives. By educating people about the heritage of their surroundings, they have made sure that their heritage isn’t lost through lack of awareness.

Digitised material and much of physical material is significant in a local context. They depict and record events, people, places that are significant for people in the village and in a North Devon context. They are good quality records and span a long time period.

Although it’s aims are very much focused on the heritage of the village, there have been ‘community’ or social outcomes. In particular putting together a business plan to save the community centre and expand its facility to house the archive.

This archive entry was last updated on 08/07/2019. Information incorrect or out-of-date?
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