South Brent Storytellers and Archive are a not-for-profit volunteer-led community group who rely on funding to maintain our collections and create new opportunities for the public to view them.
DONATIONS are very welcome, to enable us to keep our annual software licences up-to-date, for the on-going purchase of archival quality materials in which to store our collections safely, and to go towards our fund to create a searchable database of all our images on a purpose-built website.
We donate a proportion of all donations to the Old School Community Centre’s Raise the Roof Fund.
BACS payments can be made to:
South Brent Storytellers and Archive, Lloyds Bank
Sort code: 30-98-69
Account No: 44397468
Please use your surname and first initial, if not obvious, GIFT, and where you heard about us, as the reference so that we can acknowledge your donation, e.g. FBpage, Old School Community Centre website, etc.
Up and Coming Archive Events:
Exhibition
Saturday 18th November 10-12noon – An exhibition of Local Farming: Stories and Images – In Conjunction with RABI -Rattery Village Hall – Free
Talks (Tickets available from Artworks – Suggested Donation £5)
Saturday 28th October at 7pm – Talk by Greg Wall ‘Growing up in S Brent’, Old School Hall
Saturday 25th November at 7pm – Talk by Peter Taylor ‘St Petroc’s as you have never seen it’, Old School Hall
Date TBA – 100 Years of Farming – An illustrated talk, Old School Hall
Members’ Only Event
Saturday 16th December 2-4pm Christmas Get Together – Mince pies and mulled juice – as a thank you to all those who have donated collections &/or funds to the Archive this year. Emails will be sent out to remind members.
Open Days
Archive open afternoons will recommence in 2024 – with the Archive team and Greg Wall. Dates to be arranged.
Volunteering with us
We are currently seeking more volunteers, so that we can open very week, so if you love local history and like talking to people, we’d love to hear from you!
We’d also like to hear from people who might like to get involved with the on-going work of helping us to catalogue existing and new collections, as well as someone who could help us to create an online database so that our collections can also be viewed from the comfort of home.
If you are interested, simply come along to one of our open sessions and let us know.
Recent Acquisitions
Local author Lily Style, ancestor of Lord Nelson, has donated a signed copy of her new book “Horatia’s secret” to the Archive. The family story documents the life of Horatia Nelson, Lord Nelson’s daughter by Lady Emma Hamilton, and her descendants … some of whom are buried in South Brent cemetery!
It’s an enchanting story by a dedicated researcher, full of detail, including about life in South Brent in the 19th Century. The book will be available to see at the Archive and orders can be taken from anyone who would like their own copy.
Lily will be giving a talk for the Archive about the Nelson ancestors of South Brent, once Covid restrictions allow. You can watch Lily handing over the signed copy of her book to the Archive in South Brent cemetery here
Donations
Whilst we are open to receiving new items for the Archive, in fact, we love receiving new items and collections, and spend many happy hours perusing them, we would ask that they have a connection to South Brent parish and its outlying villages and farms, including our side of Dartmoor, as we are very much a local archive and do not have the space to house items relating to further away places.
If you have items of wider Devon interest, the place to take your memorabilia is:
Devon Rural Archive http://www.devonruralarchive.com/
The Devon Heritage Centre, https://swheritage.org.uk/devon-archives/visit/devon-heritage-centre/ or, if they are photographs, to Totnes Image Bank.
Items of regional or national interest can be offered to the new archive and museum in Plymouth, The Box, https://www.theboxplymouth.com/contact-us
Please note that there is also an Archive in Modbury: contact: monicayunnie@btinternet.com
South Brent Archive Blog
Of The New Bridge, Dr Style, and Archive News
Our latest blog post has been sent in by local author and descendant of Lord Nelson; Lily Style. (Lily’s well-researched novel about her ancestors and their connection with South Brent, can be viewed at the Archive, and signed copies ordered from the author herself).
An avid researcher of all things local, Lily has found out a great deal about the bridge at Brent Mill, with the addition of lots of little stories gleaned from local newspapers.
Readers interested in knowing more about the local doctor at the turn of the last century, Dr Style, mentioned in the article, and ancestor of Lily, might also be interested in a recent acquisition of the Archive, donated by Sue Currant; the memoirs of Auna Margaret Kent-Lemon, (named for the river Aune) which contains several pages dedicated to South Brent from the time her family were neighbours of Dr Style at Lutton.
The Archive has recently applied for funding from the Devon County Council Reconnect, Rebuild, Recover Fund to begin to digitise our collections and we hope that the coming months may see some of our images and documents available to view online. For now, please enjoy Lily’s article and accompanying photographs.
The story behind South Brent’s forgotten “new” bridge – Lily Style October 2021
Useful Sources of Information For Local History. Part 2 – Aug 2021
Sources For Local and Family History Research Projects – Jan 2022