For visitors not acquainted with agriculture the displays seek to explain the processes of ploughing, sowing and reaping, and then threshing, winnowing and milling.

For those interested in family history there is a research room which houses the Devon Record Office Service Point. It is open Mondays 2.00 - 4.30pm and Wednesdays 10.30 - 4.30pm and at other times by appointment.

A photographic archive of around 8000 images of Mid Devon life is available to researchers. Some of the images can be seen on a touch screen computer in the Upper Amory Gallery.

If you are planning a visit to use the research facilities please look at our website for further information.

John Heathcoat was a nineteenth century inventor, industrialist, entrepreneur and philanthropist who came to Tiverton in 1816. He pioneered the process of making machine-made net lace and one of his six-ton machines is the centrepiece of the industrial collection. All the royal wedding veils since Princess Victoria have been made in Tiverton.

The refurbished and redisplayed Authers Gallery, which houses the Tivvy Bumper locomotive and other transport artefacts, reopened in April 2006.  All the objects, covering the roads, railways and canals of Mid Devon, have been re-displayed and a new raised platform gives visitors a superb birds-eye view of the Tivvy Bumper. Film clips and an interactive computer bring transport history to life.


14 galleries of exhibits are open to the public each describing a part of Mid Devon life through the years. Please visit our website for a more detailed description of the galleries