Teign Valley History Centre

The villages have an even mix of agricultural people, young families and retired people but the valley has a rich history of farming and mining. An understanding of the geology of the area will facilitate understanding on how this has encouraged industry in the past. It even has an impressive manor house at Christow which was the seat of the 1st Viscount Exmouth who was rewarded for his success in releasing lots of slaves from the Barbary Coast at the Battle of Algiers in the 19th century. There was also a railway up the valley between Newton Abbot and Exeter, which played a significant role in moving injured servicemen during the Second World War.

Teign Valley History Centre, the operational name of Teign Valley Museum & Archive Trust, is actively creating a collection of archives into a catalogue, which is also being digitised and is available online here for all to see.

The centre would dearly love to have more local information in the form of photographs, memories and solid artefacts to put into the archive even if they are only loaned or presented for copying and return.

The centre actively encourages our local schools to participate and can give help towards their local history curricula and the centre will provide a focus within the valley communities, giving rise to further cooperation between the villages and helping social cohesion.

Teign Valley History Centre has recently published a book: A Devon Village, Life in Victorian Christow and copies are available from chair@teignvalleyhistorygroup.org

Trustees:
Graham Thompson (chair), Jan Deane, Tony Cook, Tony Griffin, Kerry Hawkins & Nick Kirkland.

Contact us by emailing Tony Cook at tonyc@tvhistorycentre.org