Dartmoor Trust Archive
Preserving Dartmoor's Recorded HistoryAbout
This online archive contains tens of thousands of amazing images, audio recordings and video of Dartmoor's past.
Established nearly two decades ago by the Dartmoor Trust to provide a home for the rich history of Dartmoor including material from priceless collections including Chapman, Burnard and more recently, Hansford Worth.
The Dartmoor Trust Archive welcomes new collections. We can preserve digital copies of your assets and provide a home for them on the Internet, protecting them from decay and loss through our robust digitisation processes. You retain the copyright to the pictures whilst contributing to this much loved online resource.
Searching the Archive
We have been working hard to make searching the archive as simple as possible. As the records are catalogued, more information will be available to search.
Main search pageRandom Records
A few images to get you started, we have tens of thousands more for you to enjoy.
Our Collections
Our History
For many years, The Dartmoor Trust campaigned for an archive of Dartmoor's history. Initial plans were for a Dartmoor Research Centre to be established. However, with the increasing use and popularity of the internet, it became clear that a digital archive would provide better access for all those interested in learning more about Dartmoor.
In 2000, The Dartmoor Trust created two exhibitions: Dartmoor Century I and II. These displayed for the first time a selection of photographs taken from two major collections - The Taylor Collection and The Burnard Collection. The aim of the Dartmoor Century exhibitions was to emphasise the importance of collecting and conserving old photographs and, by comparing them to recent photographs of the same view, to highlight the changes that have taken place on Dartmoor. The photographs from the exhibitions were also published in two accompanying books.
As a result of these exhibitions, and the ideas of The Dartmoor Trust, the Dartmoor Trust Archive was born. Now 15 years since it`s birth the Dartmoor Trust Archive website has been updated, made more user friendly and interactive, and accessible on all today`s media.
After 2 years` research and with the support of the National Park Authority, the Heritage Lottery Fund and local history groups, an exhibition of Dartmoor Life in the First World War was presented for 6 months, during which it had more than 50,000 visitors and received wide acclaim including a prestigious award by the Community Archive and Heritage Group. An educational website has also been created for schools, that will be added to and form the basis of an archive of images and memories to commemorate Dartmoor rural communities` involvement in the First World War.