Introduction

Devon Heritage Centre holds all types of historical archives relating to the county of Devon and the City of Exeter (excluding Plymouth.) They include records of churches and chapels, of county, district and parish councils and of many families, estates, schools and other organisations. The West Country Studies Library is also located here.

In this section you’ll find information about visiting the Devon Heritage Centre and how to access its research resources.

Opening Times

The Devon Heritage Centre is open for research visits. We recommend that you book your visit in advance.

o The opening days are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
o There are two bookable sessions each day. These are from 10.00 am to 2.00 pm and 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm. There is a limit of 10 people per session at each centre.

Readers’ Tickets

We issue South West Heritage Trust readers’ tickets which are valid for four years. If you have not visited us before, please bring some form of identification containing your name, current address and signature (for example a driving licence, utility bill and other ID with signature) so we can issue you with one of our readers’ tickets.

​South West Heritage Trust readers’ tickets are valid at Devon Heritage Centre, Somerset Heritage Centre, North Devon Record Office and the North Somerset archive service.

​Please be aware that we do not accept passports, tickets from The National Archives or library cards. We are not part of the CARN ticket scheme and do not accept CARN tickets.

If your card has expired please bring some identification with you when you visit, so we can issue you with a new readers’ ticket.