Buckfastleigh in the 1920s

Buckfastleigh Archive

The Archive Department at the Valiant Soldier collects, preserves and indexes materials relating to Buckfastleigh history.

These include:
•Photographs
•Books
•Pamphlets
•Newspapers and magazines
•Maps
•Unpublished local materials e.g. personal memories, written and spoken
•Audiovisual materials
•Facsimiles of materials held elsewhere.such as census data, gazeteers.
•Lists of useful websites

Can we help?
We are also happy to assist people who wish to research family and town history by arranging access to the archives. There is no charge for research and copying done by our volunteers on the behalf of the enquirer. However, donations to the Valiant Soldier would be welcomed.

Can you help?
We are always glad to hear from people who have information or materials to add to the history of the town and its inhabitants, either to be donated or loaned to be digitally recorded.

We are keen to hear from people who might like to volunteer to help the work of the Archive Department.

Email enquiries: valiantsoldierbuckfastleigh@gmail.com

Dartmoor Archive Project
We are currently creating a database of images and documents which will be uploaded onto the Dartmoor Archive website to provide better public access to our records.

Photographic Archive
The Valiant Soldier Photographic Archive is currently viewable on the Dartmoor Trust Archive website.
dartmoortrust.org/archive  –  click on Valiant Soldier in list of collections in alphabetical order.

Research
Linked to the ongoing Devon History Society project “Devon  in the 1920’s” we have produced a document entitled “Buckfastleigh in the 1920’s : Health and welfare in a small industrial town”. You can access this by clicking on the link below. Copyright Valiant Soldier, Buckfastleigh.

For Family History enquiries to the Valiant Soldier please use this email address: familyhistoryvs@gmail.com

The Holy Trinity Church Graveyard Project Amateur historians have taken it upon themselves to map and document the locations of the graves in The Holy Trinity Church Graveyard, Buckfastleigh. The church burnt down in 1992, taking parish records with it. The group decided they wanted to re-record where people were buried so families and genealogists could find them. Group member Jac Denley-Jones said: "There's hundreds of graves up there and people often come here from Australia, Canada, looking for graves... so that's what we want to do, for the community and for visitors." Once all the information has been collated and published it will be available at the town library and Valiant Solider Museum. It all started with a member of the group sketching the graves and, since then, they have recorded names, dates and locations of more than 350 people buried in the graveyard. The group have also used aerial photographs to get a view from above, and divided the area into zones, giving each gravestone a letter and number. One of the eight members identifying, clearing, recording and photographing is Geri Weedon. She said: "I've noticed that there are some that you can barely read and it's not going to get any easier as time goes on. "So the fact that we've taken pictures, even if they aren't legible, we will know where a family grave is." If you would like to find out more about the Holy Trinity Graveyard Project, they are mounting an exhibition of their work in the Sandra Coleman room at the Valiant Soldier starting on Tuesday 28 July 2026.