Devon Record Offices

There are three Record Offices in the county of Devon, England. The Devon Record Office (DRO) in Exeter is the main County record office. It has a subsidiary office, the North Devon Record Office, in Barnstaple which is the repository for records broadly relating to North Devon.[1] There is also the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office in Plymouth which stores the documents relevant to the area indicated by its name.[2]

The DRO was founded in 1952 and incorporated the Exeter City Record Office that had collected Devon's records since 1946, when it took over from the Exeter City Library, which had collected documents since the early 20th century.[3] Since 2005 the DRO has been located in a specially-constructed building at Great Moor House, Sowton Business Park, Exeter.[4] In March 2012 it became part a restructured Devon Heritage Service,[5] and the Westcountry Studies Library, previously housed in Exeter city centre, moved into Great Moor House – now named the Devon Heritage Centre – from Autumn 2012.[6]

Among the highlights of the DRO are the complete records of the Devon Quarter Sessions courts from 1592 until their abolition in 1971—this is the earliest uninterrupted series of such records in the country.[7] Other holdings include the records of the city of Exeter from c.1100; the records of the Diocese of Exeter (which included Cornwall until 1875) from the 13th century; Anglican church records for the whole of Devon from the 16th century; and the records of many of the major Devon families.[8] The National Meteorological Archive which includes daily weather reports for the United Kingdom from 1869 and many earlier documents is also part of the DRO.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "North Devon Record Office". Devon County Council. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  2. ↑ "Archives and records". Plymouth City Council. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  3. ↑ "Devon Record Office, England". BSHS Travel Guide. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  4. ↑ "The new Records Office for the 21st century". BBC Devon. March 2005. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  5. ↑ "Open Day". Devon County Council. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  6. ↑ "A New Future for Devon's Heritage". Devon County Council. Retrieved 2013-06-12.
  7. ↑ "The Right to Remain Silent". Devon County Council. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  8. ↑ "What records do we hold?". Devon County Council. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
  9. ↑ "National Meteorological Archive". Met Office. Retrieved 2012-01-04.

External links

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