Hartland Archives Project: Introduction

Readers of the Hartland Times will be aware of the success by members of the Hartland Society in gaining a Lottery grant to purchase a multimedia projector.

Stephen Hobbs has been successful in an application to the Tarka Country Millennium Awards for funds to allow the digital recording of archive materials relevant to Hartland.

The application came after discussion by members when the true cost of transferring all the picture and documents of the Hartland Society into computer format for use with the new projector became clear.

Work has been underway for a while and a variety of archive materials has already been recorded amounting to nearly 10,000 pictures and an even greater number of document pages, including parchments going back to the 1570s. Hartland Parish Council are having their document collection recorded as they are well aware of the fragile nature of some articles and their wish to preserve the records for the future.

Once materials are copied the new digital recording is returned to the material owners and further copies are retained in safe storage for back-up purposes.

Stephen is particularly keen to include as wide a representation as possible of the life of the Parish and its neighbourhood both past and present. He is able to copy onto CD & DVD your collection of photographs, negatives, glass negatives, slides transparencies, record books, documents and in certain circumstances film, video, music or speech recordings. Now is the time to look through the cupboards and get out you photos or books and get them recorded.

The funding by the Tarka Country Millennium Awards is extremely important in enabling the recording of archive material. Anyone who has undertaken research into their family or house will soon be aware that Devon lost a large collection of documents when Exeter was bombed in World War II. Had the technology now available been so then, it would have meant that a facsimile at least would have still been able to be studied. A lot of archive materials are extremely fragile and are often not available for study. By copying into computer format, the materials can then be studied without out further risk of wear and tear to the original.

Hartland is unique in the extent and the quality of the records that have survived. With the enthusiasm being expressed by a wide range of people and organisations, the Hartland Archive Project will ensure the survival of Hartland's history that much further.
Please support Stephen in this project and help ensure it is an even greater success than it already is proving to be. He is happy to come along to give a talk on the project to any organisation who may consider they have materials that could be included.

An exhibition of the Hartland Archive Project is scheduled for 15th January 2004 at the Hartland Methodist Church Hall between 2 pm and 5 pm, then at 7:30 pm Stephen will give a talk and presentation as part of a Hartland Society meeting - more details nearer the date.