Pictured here is the bar in the Valiant, left as it was in 1965.
The 2026 exhibition will cover the story of the importance of the wool industry in Buckfastleigh. The development of industries were based on local resources—water power, wool, and hides. The Hamlyn family played a leading role in shaping industries within the town and they controlled Town Mill, West Mill, and Higher Mill. These mills produced various materials over time, such as blankets, sea boot wool and camouflage nets, and more recently have produced yarn for Axminster carpets. After experiencing a long period of decline in the woollen industry, Hamlyn’s mill was sold to the Cooperative Wholesale Company in 1920. If you'd like to learn more come and see our exhibition that opens at the end of March. Contact us you would like more information: valiantsoldierbuckfastleigh@gmail.com.
Last Year's Exhibition featured Buckfastleigh 100 years ago
The 2025 exhibition was part of the Festival of Devon in the 1920s. The archive team researched aspects of life in Buckfastleigh in the 20s and put together stories of the people who lived here during the decade.
If you walked through the Town last year you will have seen posters in the windows of shops and houses saying who lived there 100 years ago, everyone found this fascinating.
