The Devon Rural Archive is looking for volunteers to help them preserve history of the county.

If you’re passionate about history and have some time to spare, the DRA at Shilstone, near Modbury, the county’s unique resource dedicated to rediscovering and preserving the remains of Devon’s buildings and landscapes, is looking for enthusiastic volunteers to join the team.

April is a busy month at the DRA with events including the evening lecture ‘Decorative Plasterwork in the South West 1540-1640’ to be given by building conservation specialist Nigel Pratt on Thursday, April 5, at 7pm, Picture Day on Monday, April 9, and this year’s second guided tour of Shilstone house and grounds on Tuesday, April 17, at 2pm.

A new exhibition ‘For King and Country – How South Devon farmers rose to the challenges of World War 1’ will also be open for viewing.

Volunteers are needed to help steward the public rooms, to welcome visitors, and to help out with local history research, as well as look after the DRA’s rapidly growing collection of historic documents, maps, images and books, amongst other tasks and projects.

“I’m delighted to report that visitor numbers have increased significantly in recent years and were up last year by 18 per cent,” said Abi Gray, Resident Archaeologist at the DRA. “Volunteers are an essential part of the visitor experience here and we really value and appreciate all the work they do, which helps us run the DRA.

“With increasing visitor numbers and lots of events on the horizon, we would love to hear from anyone who has a few hours to spare and would like to help us in our mission of preserving Devon’s wonderful heritage.”

Abi is particularly keen to hear from people interested in helping develop the Image Bank, in transcribing historic documents or who are able to help with maintaining 17th and 18th century garden features in Shilstone’s grounds.

Among the events coming up, Nigel Pratt will talk about South West England’s rich legacy of decorative plasterwork from the 16th and 17th centuries in his illustrated lecture on April 5. He will focus particularly on ceilings, over-mantels and friezes, many of which survive today, especially in the towns of Barnstaple, Dartmouth, Totnes and Exeter. Tickets for the talk are £5 each.

On Picture Day on Monday, April 9, people are invited to bring their old photos and postcards of Devon to the DRA for scanning and preserving for future generations. This event is free of charge and you are welcome to spend time looking round the Archive at the same time.

For those who’d like to explore Shilstone house and grounds, there is a guided tour on April 17, which includes at cream tea at the DRA afterwards. Tickets are £15 each. Tours are scheduled each month throughout the spring and summer.

Other tour dates can be found through the historic properties Invitation To View scheme – please visit the website www.invitationtoview.co.uk for further information.

If you think you might be interested in helping out at the DRA, or would like to book tickets for the evening lecture or the Shilstone tour then please contact Abi on 01548 830832 or email her on [email protected].

The DRA is open to the public on Mondays (except bank holidays), Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11.00am to 3pm. For further information, please see the website: www.devonruralarchive.com.