The South West Heritage Trust is a charity which was formed in 2014. It is involved in the preservation and management of the heritage of Somerset and Devon. [1]
Somerset is a county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the south-west. It is bounded to the north and west by the Severn Estuary and the Bristol Channel, its coastline facing southeastern Wales. Its traditional border with Gloucestershire is the River Avon. Somerset's county town is Taunton.
Devon, also known as Devonshire, which was formerly its common and official name, is a county of England, reaching from the Bristol Channel in the north to the English Channel in the south. It is part of South West England, bounded by Cornwall to the west, Somerset to the north east, and Dorset to the east. The city of Exeter is the county town. The county includes the districts of East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, and West Devon. Plymouth and Torbay are each geographically part of Devon, but are administered as unitary authorities. Combined as a ceremonial county, Devon's area is 6,707 km2 and its population is about 1.1 million.
In 2014 the trust took over the management of local archives for the Devon Record Offices and Somerset Archives and Local Studies. [2] [3] [4] [5]
In the United Kingdom the term county record office usually refers to a local authority repository, also called a county archives.
There are three local archives covering the historic county of Devon, England. The Devon Heritage Centre in Exeter is the main archive. It has a branch office, the North Devon Record Office in Barnstaple, which is the repository for records broadly relating to North Devon. Since 2014 the joint service has been run by the South West Heritage Trust under the name of the Devon Archives and Local Studies Service.
The Somerset Archives and Local Studies holds the archives for the county of Somerset. The archives are held at Brunel Way, Langford Mead, Norton Fitzwarren, Taunton, and run by Somerset County Council.
The trust is also responsible for three local museums: The Rural Life Museum in Glastonbury, [6] the Museum of Somerset in Taunton [7] and The Brick and Tile Museum in Bridgwater. [8] Workshops and resources are also available to local schools. [9]
The Somerset Rural Life Museum is situated in Glastonbury, Somerset, UK. It is a museum of the social and agricultural history of Somerset, housed in buildings surrounding a 14th-century barn once belonging to Glastonbury Abbey.
Glastonbury is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, 23 miles (37 km) south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than 1 mile (2 km) across the River Brue from Street, which is now larger than Glastonbury.
The Museum of Somerset is located in the 12th century great hall of Taunton Castle, in Taunton in the county of Somerset, England. The museum is run by South West Heritage Trust, an independent charity and includes objects initially collected by the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society who own the castle.
Courses are provided which include those on searching family history and reading old handwriting. [10] Archaeological advice on planning applications are provided for local county and district councils. [11]
