The South West Heritage Trust has launched a new Exmoor Oral History Archive website. For the first time, the full audio recordings, recorded mostly between 2000 and 2002, are available to listen to online, offering easy access to a unique and personal collection of voice recordings from Exmoor.
This rich archive was originally recorded as part of a Dulverton and District Civic Society project to capture for posterity life on Exmoor at the turn of the century. It features 78 interviews, totalling over 200 hours, and covers both the North Devon and West Somerset sides of the national park. 
Included in the recordings are memories stretching back to before the First World War, offering insights into local life and work, which for many began aged 14. Topics range from farming, engineering, hunting and mole catching to the devasting Lynmouth flood disaster of 1952 and the formation of the new National Park Authority.
The newly launched website features full recordings, searchable summaries, and black-and-white portraits by photographer Mark J Rattenbury. Taken shortly after the interviews, Mark’s evocative portraits capture the personalities of each contributor, either in their home or their favourite Exmoor location, and form an attractive gallery from which to explore the archive.
South West Heritage Trust Archivist, Liz Grant, said: “The contributors – farmers, doctors, teachers, postmen, local councillors and more – reveal a deep connection to Exmoor, with recollections that highlight strong community ties that revolved around institutions such as the church, the Young Farmers’ Club, and local politics.
“It’s incredibly exciting that we have been able to create this new platform celebrating Exmoor’s unique stories and heritage, and to know that the archive, embedded in our digital preservation system, will now be safeguarded, not only for future generations but forever.”
Interviewer and project consultant Birdie Johnson, who made the original recordings, said: “I couldn’t be more delighted that the contributors to the archive have been acknowledged in this way.
“Inevitably, with the passing of the years, many of them are no longer with us, but I salute them all. Their voices will now live on, reflecting a moment in time in this special place.”
Dulverton contributor Chris Nelder, recorded in 2002 and now 90 years old, said he felt privileged to have been part of the project. “It’s wonderful to know that the archive is now there for everybody to see,” he said. “It’s history. If we hadn’t been asked, there wouldn’t be an archive.”
Originally held on CD in the Somerset Heritage Centre and North Devon Record Office, the recordings were digitised as part of the British Library’s National Lottery Heritage Fund project ‘Unlocking Our Sound Heritage’, which ran from 2017-2022.
Visit The Exmoor Oral History Archive at: https://exmoor-oha.swheritage.org.uk/home.html
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