NOW ONLINE: photographs of north Devon 1870-1940

As well as taking his own photographs, James Ravilious and his colleagues also collected older photographs of the region from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

For the first time Beaford Arts is making available this unique 8,000-strong collection of old images (and which James and colleagues termed the 'Old Archive') as a searchable online database.

We hope local historians and north Devon folk will help us fill in the gaps in the record - each image has a link to "Add Information", so do feel free to share anything you can add to the histories originally noted by James and his team.

search the Old Archive

80,000 rural images of the 1970s and 1980s

At its inception in 1971, The Beaford Archive sought to document north Devon's land and people as the 20th Century moved towards its closing chapters.

This unique record of the 1970s and 1980s is largely the creation of one man. Shortly after the Archive began, artist and photographer James Ravilious (1939-1999) was asked to take “a few photos” for the collection. Seventeen years later, he had created a uniquely detailed portrait of a corner of England on the brink of change.

Order Ravilious prints or books online

The Archive itself is in fact a vast collection of negatives. As you’ll appreciate, these need expert handling and preservation – some are already suffering from fungal growth. For that reason, unfortunately the Archive isn’t open to public and is stored in atmosphere-controlled conditions in the North Devon Record Office.

We are working towards the longer-term aim of making all of James' work available online. For now, several online gallery pages showcasing the range of his work can be reached via links on the left of this page.