House Scouts/ North Devon on Disks

Below you can download a detailed case-study of this community archive. The case-study describes the origins, activities and achievements of the archive, and assesses its impact on the local community.

The first two sections of the case-study are reproduced below.

Project summary

Originally set up in this rural village, to encourage and educate people to look after their listed buildings in the village and 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. They have been supported strongly by Barnstaple and North Devon Museum and the North Devon records Office, who have set up their community kiosk – the access point for the archive and a display case for their objects. The emphasis is on awareness and education of the heritage, in a local area.

For further background, download the case-study or see the directory entry for North Devon on Disk.

What does this project exemplify?

• A small scale project, but subtly educating people in a cut off and rural area about the heritage of their surroundings. Could be replicated across the country in any number of historical neighbourhoods. Making sure the heritage isn’t lost through lack of awareness
• Originated from community itself and once set up was partnered by the local Museum and expanded
• Through the Museum the archive has become part of a small sub-regional network of archives
• Its aims are very much focused on the heritage, finding out about it in the village, increasing awareness and empowering people to care for it, as well as providing access to material collected. But there are few ‘community’ or social aims.
• Researching heritage, and empowering to care for it has led to local campaigns, in particular putting together a business plan to save the community centre and expand its facility to house the archive.

Download the full case study