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Degrees of Separation, Barnstaple

Degrees of Separation, Barnstaple

Students attending a project workshop
Students attending a project workshop

Your Heritage

Barnstaple Central
North Devon
North Devon Theatres Trust
£7700
“The best thing about the project is that it got people looking at history in a proactive and creative way. They walked in the door with a set of preconceptions but they often left with something they had not been aware of before.”
Julie Gavin, White Moose Gallery
Primary and secondary school children engaged with the stories of local soldiers during the First World War through workshops with local museums and an artist, culminating in an exhibition and open day event for the wider community.

North Devon Theatre Trust worked in collaboration with the Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon, White Moose Gallery and artist, Jane Churchill on this project.

Using the regimental archives of the Yeomanry and the Devon and Dorset regiments, school children and members of the local community engaged with the stories of the men commemorated on the war memorial in the local park. Local historians also fed in their research, and the local community was invited to bring in their letters, diaries and family archives, helping to build up a picture of the area’s social history.

An exhibition and art installation were created, and an open day welcomed local people into the museum and the White Moose gallery, sometimes for the first time. The aim of the project was to encourage people to think about the relationship that the population has with its military heritage.