North Devon Athenaeum

North Devon Athenaeum Est. in 1888 the NDA is library & archive based in Barnstaple Library and Record Office.

Barnstaple’s May Queen presenting prizes in 1956
01/05/2026

Barnstaple’s May Queen presenting prizes in 1956

We collect and take care of the things that contain the memories and stories of people, places and events big and smal...
30/04/2026

We collect and take care of the things that contain the memories and stories of people, places and events big and small. We preserve them for the future so they won't be forgotten.

Having brought you our and earlier this month for we’re now looking to our which will see us go through the pr...
29/04/2026

Having brought you our and earlier this month for we’re now looking to our which will see us go through the process to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.

We’ll still be doing what we do, but we’re bringing the organisation into the modern era.

If you haven’t had a chance to visit our exhibition on Bruce William Oliver at the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon ...
28/04/2026

If you haven’t had a chance to visit our exhibition on Bruce William Oliver at the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon yet, you still have until the 16th May to see it!
We also have a smaller display on our library floor that features more of his watercolours and highlights how Barnstaple evolved during his lifetime.
You can also learn more about the man through our social media and blog!

The Harding Collection is the first archive collection deposited to be recorded in our minute books back when we were th...
27/04/2026

The Harding Collection is the first archive collection deposited to be recorded in our minute books back when we were the Barnstaple Literary and Scientific Institute marking the official beginning of our archive collections.
It is a wonderful collection of research notes and correspondence belonging to antiquarian Lt Col William Harding of Upcott, Pilton. He is probably most well known locally for his history of Tiverton and the triumphal arch in the fields overlooking the river Taw which can be seen from the Taw Bridge.

We just can’t resist these old cook books from our library collections…the only question is…what should we try to make f...
26/04/2026

We just can’t resist these old cook books from our library collections…the only question is…what should we try to make first?

We couldn’t do what we do without the help of volunteers. A few weeks back volunteer Kat documented her afternoon with u...
25/04/2026

We couldn’t do what we do without the help of volunteers.
A few weeks back volunteer Kat documented her afternoon with us…putting away items from the Oliver Collections which had been retrieved for the exhibition but didn’t quite make the final cut for display and beginning work on re-packing the items which weren’t already in archive quality packaging.

Did you know that we hold the original founding deed for the North Devon Journal in our archive collections as well as t...
24/04/2026

Did you know that we hold the original founding deed for the North Devon Journal in our archive collections as well as the North Devon Journal Archive?
Discover a little more about the collections on our blog

For the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death we’re taking another look back at blog posts past in a throwback Thur...
23/04/2026

For the anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death we’re taking another look back at blog posts past in a throwback Thursday to when we explored the Bard’s links to Barnstaple in Discover William Shakespeare…On Our Shelves! https://tinyurl.com/3p8pdn4c

We couldn’t resist re-introducing Bruce William Oliver for our archive people theme today!One of our major benefactors, ...
23/04/2026

We couldn’t resist re-introducing Bruce William Oliver for our archive people theme today!
One of our major benefactors, Bruce Oliver was a man of many talents which is why we co-curated a whole exhibition about him!
The exhibition at the The Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon is on until the 16th May 2026 but is you miss it you can discover more about him on our blog https://tinyurl.com/mr6pf298

Address

Barnstaple
EX311EL

Opening Hours

Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+441271342174

Website

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