Devon and Cornwall Record Society: events

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DCRS AGM CONFERENCE 2026

Scroll down to see the poster

DEVON AND CORNWALL RECORD SOCIETY
Charity Registration no. 1011931

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND CONFERENCE:
‘Canonsleigh, Crediton, and the Demise of Monasticism’

Saturday 9th May 2026
Boniface Centre, Church Lane, Crediton, Devon EX17 2AH

Programme for the day

10.15 – Arrival / welcome / coffee
10.45 – Des Atkinson, ‘Some reflections on Canonsleigh Abbey as a monastic lord’, following the publication by the society of his The Lands of a Medieval Devon Nunnery
11.30 – Paul Cockerham, ‘Crediton Church and its Monumental Heritage’
12.15 – Break
12.30 – Annual General Meeting of the Devon & Cornwall Record Society
13.00 – Lunch (not provided, but can be consumed on the premises), with time to visit the church, access the Governors’ Room, and see the exhibition in the Crediton Museum
14.15 – James Clark, ‘The Last Monks and Nuns of Medieval Devon’
15.00 – Jo Mattingly, ‘“The Spoils of Barlynch” or how some parish churches got to benefit from Monastic Dissolution’
15.45 – Closing remarks / tea / coffee available before departure

The Society’s AGM at 12.30pm is open to all DCRS members free of charge without registration. Non-members are very welcome at the Conference.

The fee for the Conference will be £10 per person for members and non-members. We welcome payment direct to our bank account (details below), or by cheque or cash on the day.

Account details:
Lloyds Bank plc
Sort code: 30-93-14
A/c number: 00155236
A/c name: Devon & Cornwall Record Society

To ensure that we cater for the correct numbers, please confirm attendance (and your means of payment) by email to:
membershipDCRS@btinternet.com

Or by post (to arrive no later than 2nd May 2026):
Devon and Cornwall Record Society
c/o Devon Heritage Centre, Great Moor House,
Bittern Rd, Sowton, Exeter, EX2 7NL.

James Davidson's Church Notes 1826-1844

An online talk given by Dr Jill Cobley

Presented by the Devon & Cornwall Record Society in conjunction with the DA's History Section.

Wednesday, 20 April 2022 at 14:00

For full details and to book see:

https://devonassoc.org.uk/event/james-davidsons-church-notes-1826-1844-history-section/

Exeter & Its Own Struggle for Freedom

A lecture in aid of Ukraine

Todd Gray is giving a lecture at Exeter Guildhall ('Exeter’s Struggle for Freedom') on 13 April to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees in Exeter. Anyone interested can book as below, those who would like to donate but cannot attend - please use the link for my crowdfunding page below.

Doors open at 13:15

Tickets £10.00

See:

https://www.exetercornexchange.co.uk/whats-on/exeter-its-own-struggle-for-freedom/

to book tickets

For those who cannot make the event but would like to donate to help those in the Ukraine please use this link:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/exeterukraine?utm_term=3zxrep33j

Devon & Cornwall Record Society 2022 Online Lectures

Online lectures, each starting at 14:00, free to members, £3.00 fee through Eventbrite for non-members.

Winter Series, 2022

Four diverse approaches in understanding place and the past.

29 January

Dr Todd Gray, 'Understanding Dartmouth, Crediton and Colyton through parish rates, 1500-1650'

Taxation records survive for three distinctly different Devon communities and these reveal how each emerged in different ways out of the Reformation.

Non-members may book through: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dr-todd-gray-understanding-dartmouth-crediton-and-colyton-1500-to-1650-tickets-229263231497

5 February

Professor Stephen Rippon, 'Exeter: A Place in Time – Roman and medieval Exeter in its hinterland'

This talk will outline the development of Exeter from its origins as a Roman legionary fortress and Roman town, through to a medieval city of flourishing fortunes. A series of plans will outline the changing layout of Exeter over time, while the use of scientific techniques has shed new light on its economy. Exeter will also be placed within its wider regional and international hinterland.

Non-members may book through: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/prof-stephen-rippon-roman-and-medieval-exeter-in-its-hinterland-tickets-229306831907

12 February

Dr Catherine Lorigan, 'Boconnoc: it is the paradise of Cornwall'

This talk will discuss the development of the estate at Boconnoc, including the house and associated buildings. Over many centuries, it has been owned by a number of Cornish families. Their influence, both locally and nationally, will be considered.

Non-members may book through: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dr-catherine-lorigan-boconnoc-it-is-the-paradise-of-cornwall-tickets-229311134777

26 February

Dr N. W. Alcock & Dr Martin Cherry, ‘Medieval Cornish Buildings: New Discoveries’

The opportunity to apply tree-ring dating to three Cornish houses and one barn has transformed our knowledge of the county's medieval buildings. This talk will discuss their dating, architectural evidence and social context.

Non-members may book through: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dr-n-w-alcock-dr-martin-cherry-medieval-cornwall-new-discoveries-tickets-229316159807

Spring Series, 2022:

Church fittings

12 March

Michael Swift, 'Cornwall’s stained glass crown jewels'

A very personal selection of the best stained glass (sacred and secular) in Cornwall. The selection covers seven centuries and include some of the best in the country. Cornish windows are unique in England in the ways in which a distinctive Cornish identity is portrayed through the medium of stained glass.

Non-members may book through: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/michael-swift-cornwalls-stained-glass-crown-jewels-tickets-231793740317

26 March

Dr Jo Mattingly, 'Rood screens and lofts in the Diocese of Exeter'

Many rood screens survived the Reformation and Georgian 'opening-up' of churches in Devon. Cornish examples are less complete, though more varied in style. This talk will examine form, including painting, carving, alabaster in lofts and local versus Breton craftsmen. Function and impact of screens, lofts and early organs on Perpendicular architecture will also be considered.

Non-members may book through: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dr-jo-mattingly-rood-screens-and-lofts-in-the-diocese-of-exeter-tickets-231796147517

2 April

Nigel Browne, 'A Confounded box of whistles: church organs in Devon'

The organ is very often the largest object in a church, and in terms of replacement cost one of the most valuable. They are largely ignored by church historians, but their long and varied history epitomises the changes in liturgical, architectural and social practices over the last few centuries.

Non-members may book through: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nigel-browne-a-confounded-box-of-whistles-church-organs-in-devon-tickets-231807812407

23 April

David Cook, ‘Victorian stained glass in Devon’s churches’

For the past twelve years David has been researching the stained glass of Devon dating to between 1800 and 1939. The variety of documentary evidence has been different from what was expected, particularly in the case of the local firms. With about 4,000 windows in the date range Devon also has glass from nearly all of the national stained glass firms, with some superb examples.

Non-members may book through: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/david-cook-victorian-stained-glass-in-devons-churches-tickets-231809587717

Online lectures: The Use of Documents in Research

Online lectures: The Use of Documents in Research

Free to members of the Devon & Cornwall Record Society and guests.

Each lecture starts at 14:00 and is accessed via Zoom.

Saturday, 12 Dec 2020

Dr Todd Gray, `Devon’s cloth merchant travel journals, 1730-1800’

Saturday, 16 Jan 2020

Irene Andrews, ‘Devon maps’

Saturday, 30 Jan 2021

Prof. Catherine Rider, ‘Magic, Healing, and Popular Belief in Medieval

and Early Modern Documents’

Saturday, 6 Feb 2021

Tony Gale, `Reconstructing Tudor Crediton’

Saturday, 13 Feb 2021

Prof. Maryanne Kowaleski, ‘Sources for the Maritime Trade of Medieval

Devon and Cornwall’

Saturday, 6 Mar 2021

Dr Kate Osborne, ‘Pulling it Altogether - the gentle art of prosopography

and Elizabethan Exeter’

Saturday, 17 Apr 2021

Dr Oliver Padel, `The 1327 Lay Subsidy for Cornwall’

To book email todd@toddgray.co.uk A link will be sent on the day of the

lecture. Zoom opened from 13:30

Desert Island Documents - Dr Todd Gray MBE - 7 Nov 2019

Desert Island Documents - Dr Oliver Padel - 19 Oct 2019

Advance Notice - Desert Island Documents 2019

Exeter Day

The South West and Parliament

Desert Island Documents - Carole Vivian - 21 Oct 2018

Desert Island Documents - Prof Mark Stoyle - 27 Oct 2018

Exeter Buildings - twenty minute histories

Dr Stuart Blaylock, 'Exeter Guildhall: documents and craftsmen'

Exeter Guildhall is an extremely well documented building, and building work can be followed week by week in some periods when work as in progress. The talk will discuss the main periods of new building and repairs, as testified by the Exeter City archives, with particular emphases on the relationship between the documents and the standing fabric and on the numerous named craftsmen involved in the rebuilding of the front block in the 1590s.

Dr Paul Cleave, `Deller’s Café’

Deller’s is still an evocative name, and the loss of the Café in the 1942 Blitz made Exeter a duller place wrote W. G Hoskins. Its architecture, innovative management, ambience, service, and food were among the sophisticated features enjoyed, and remembered by patrons, that made Deller’s Bedford Street premises unique as a provincial cafe. Utilising contemporary resources (photographs, menus, and marketing material) this presentation will show how the café became a landmark, a social centre, and rendezvous for citizens and visitors.

Stewart Brown, ‘The Medieval Exe Bridge’

The bridge dates from c.1200 and was one of the earliest major bridges built in England. It had buildings erected on it and stood for almost 600 years before it was replaced. Nine of the seventeen or eighteen medieval arches survive today as ruins which have been conserved and are open to the public.

Martin Watts, `A best and most commodious mill’

The story of Cricklepit Mill, on Exeter's higher leat, can be traced through a variety of documentary sources from the time of its building in the early 13th century to the present. These records enable a comprehensive time line of the mill's history and development to be constructed. Fortunately a detailed building and archaeological survey was carried out before a serious fire in 1999 which damaged the upper floors and destroyed the roof of the building. The subsequent re-use of the mill as the headquarters of the Devon Wildlife Trust has seen the conservation of the building and the repair of its surviving waterwheel and machinery. Cricklepit Mill is a remarkable survival of a working watermill in an urban setting.

Dr Jo Cox, ‘St Andrew’s Church, Exwick’

Described in a contemporary source as ‘The best specimen of a modern church we have yet seen’, St Andrew’s church was built in 1841-2 as a chapel of ease to St Thomas church, Cowick Street. The project was a a partnership between two of the leading lights in the Gothic Revival in the diocese of Exeter: the architect John Hayward and the Reverend John Medley. Jo Cox will talk about some of the sources for understanding this building.

Diane Walker, `A Medieval vision of heaven’

A review of attempts to identify the figures on Exeter Cathedral’s West Front Image Screen. The paper will trace the history of these attempts and will include Diane’s most recent re-interpretation of the evidence about one group of figures.

Dr Julia Neville, `Fowler’s Lower Market, Fore Street, and the start of modern shopping in Exeter’

Charles Fowler, the Cullompton-born architect who designed Exeter’s Lower Market, was one of the forefathers of Victorian market hall design. His design for the Lower Market set out a high, light covered shopping space with a technically innovative roof design, a complete contrast to the street markets that it replaced, providing a cleaner, safer, easier-to-regulate shopping environment. It changed the practice of shopping in Exeter for producers and customers alike.

Dr Todd Gray, `53 High Street’

Victoria House was transformed in 1907 by a national chain store but with the use of Exeter’s leading firm of carvers. The building has shared an unsuspected history with others across Britain.

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