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Historical Records
North Devon Record Office
From an exemplification of proceedings by Prior John Roger to recover possession of Tywardre(a)th Priory, Cornwall, from Sir John and Elizabeth Cornwall, 1445 [B1/4932] | CHANGES AT THE NORTH DEVON RECORD OFFICE The North Devon Record Office is currently undergoing a period of modernisation and change. It will continue to operate as part of the joint Local Studies Centre in Barnstaple Library, but it is also now part of a new Devon Heritage Service. A key part of this strategy is the formation of a Devon Heritage Centre to bring together the historical resources of the Devon Record Office with those of other heritage partners at the Record Office headquarters at Great Moor House, Sowton Business Park, Exeter. Various aspects of our service, including opening times, are under review, so please check our website or Facebook page regularly for details of planned changes. The North Devon Record Office was founded in 1988 and is a branch of the Devon Record Office, Exeter. We are one of three partners in the North Devon Local Studies Centre, Tuly Street, Barnstaple. The other partners are the North Devon Local Studies Library and the North Devon Athenaeum. Together, we are able to offer a comprehensive range of local source material for anyone interested in North Devon, from family and house historians to students of the area's industry, architecture, folklore, geology, natural history, etc. |
![From an exemplification of proceedings by Prior John Roger to recover possession of Tywardre(a)th Priory, Cornwall, from Sir John and Elizabeth Cornwall, 1445 [B1/4932]](image3.jpg)
The North Devon Record Office itself houses archives (original documents) relating broadly to the North Devon area. These include the records of North Devon and Torridge District Councils, the boroughs of Barnstaple, Bideford, South Molton and Great Torrington, and most Anglican parishes. We also hold the records of many individuals, families, businesses, societies, chapels and schools.
The North Devon Local Studies Library holds a large collection of books, magazines and pamphlets on a variety of local subjects as well as by local authors. It also houses Ordnance Survey maps, local newspapers, census returns, and the International Genealogical Index of parish register entries for the whole of the UK.
The North Devon Athenaeum is a privately-funded library with a large stock of both local and general books, local newspapers, maps, pamphlets, parish register transcripts, census returns, and a selection of archive material. It also holds the index to civil registers of births, deaths and marriages for England and Wales.
The Local Studies Centre has stored many of its most widely used sources on microform, including census returns and parish registers of baptisms, marriages and burials. It has 4 microfilm readers, 10 microfiche readers, 2 microform reader printers, a photocopier and 2 public access computers.