Local History group in Northam

We are proposing  to form  a local history group which can build on
the research already  undertaken to  prepare a history of
Northam.Many  of its old houses are disappearing and their records
 lost, so we propose the collation of information on all of them and
invite input from present and past owners too, as well as people interested
in the area.
If the project is of interest to sufficient people, we will organise an
inaugural meeting,
The intended result of the group would be an enhanced archival record of the
area and its history designed for easy accessibility on both the web and at
the archive offices in Northam.
If this activity is of interest to you or you have information that you
would like to share, please contact A and J Barnes at anthonybar@gmail.com
or call 01237 473801

Family History.

       A Happy New Year to all you genealogists, who are now actively back into your research with all your new equipment and CDs  and books. Christmas is wonderful!!! Another much under used set of records are the Land Tax Assessments.

     For 3 centuries, land tax was levied every year on the value of freehold property. The surviving records, which are known as the land tax assessments, should list both occupiers (tenants and sub tenants) and the land owners from the 18th century onwards. In theory, land tax assessments go back to around 1692 and end in 1963. In practice, however, you are most likely to come across those of the 18th and 19th centuries. The best period is undoubtedly 1780 to 1832, which has a very good survival rate, because in those years a duplicate land tax assessment also served as the electoral register.

      Unless your ancestors were land owners, it is unlikely that you will find much of interest in the assessments before 1780 as tenants and sub-tenants were not usually mentioned. I hope that you prove me wrong, so always check!

    Far more useful are the assessments from1780 to 1832. Information usually includes the names of all the land occupiers (from 1786) and a description of the properties (from 1826). With careful use, they can be used as a census substitute as virtually all heads of household will be listed.The main value  is as a supplement to the parish records or if the parish registers are lost or destroyed. From 1832 when separate registers of electors came in, we can no longer rely on land tax because of its peculiar system of exemptions. Many bought their way out of it.A duplicate list of taxpayers was sent to London in 1798 and now resides at Kew Ref. IR23.

   Other records do exist but not in readily available forms, such as bundles of accounts, or arranged by hundred or divisions. Some are arranged in townships and much easier to refer to. So do go and enquire at the Record Office. The list of the whole country for 1798 is at Kew. Ref. IR23 and is arranged by parish. IR22 & IR23 might be more interesting as they include maps, plans and exemptions. Earlier assessments could turn up in Record Offices, Libraries, Parish Chests etc. .The next meeting of  The North Devon Family History Group is on 20th Feb at the Burton Art Gallery 2pm -4pm. The talk will be on Stoke Churchyard Burials. Any enquiries please ring me Len  Collum  01237472883.

News from The Burton Art Gallery & Museum
By the time you are reading this, the new Gallery brochure will have been distributed but it will be useful, perhaps, if I highlight a few of the main features; for those who do not yet have a copy, the following is definitely essential.

The main exhibition in gallery 1 from 21st Jan to 22nd February, is the Annual Schools Exhibition. This is by far the most colourful, creative and enjoyable of the year's events, and every parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, cousin and friend of the children whose work is displayed, can feel justly proud of the talent on show. Apart from drawings and paintings, there is sculpture, textiles, collage, ceramics; every media available has been used to create unique works of art, by young people from 5 to 18 years of age.

In other parts of the Gallery there is a selection of paintings by two artists who lived and worked in the Cabin at Bucks Mills, situated half-way down the slipway to the beach. Their paintings reveal their love of the area, its cliffs and beaches, the landscape and village cottages. Judith Ackland, daughter of a Bideford doctor, and Mary Stella Edwards, her companion, had quite different, and identifiable painting styles, using watercolours to great effect. We consider them as the definitive North Devon style of drawing and painting, followed later by Sheila Hutchinson and many others. We are fortunate to have a large permanent collection of their works.
If you would like to know more about the Cabin, now owned by the National Trust, the Friends have invited Steve Mulberry, its Property Manager, to talk to us on February 19th, at 7.00 p.m cost £5. Please let us know if you wish to attend, by phoning 01237 471455

On 20th February, Colin Allbrook, well known artist both locally and nationally, will help you to explore watercolour painting techniques in a Day Workshop from 10.00 – 4.00 p.m. Colin is winner of the Turner Award for watercolour, and the Rowland Prize for landscape painting. Please bring paints, brushes, a landscape image or study to work from (photo) and a packed lunch. A limited amount of watercolour paper will be supplied. Cost: £30. Phone 01237 471455 for a place.

We hope you will enjoy all the Gallery has to offer, and don't forget, if you don't receive the new brochure through the post, you can pick one up at Reception. (Or join the Friends, of course.)
Diana Warmington. (Secretary)



material pigments
by James Bell

imagine saffron aroma
stewing plants
the scent of fresh squid

hear stone grind against stone
leaves crushed
the excited chatter

breathe in aloe flavour
taste it at the back of the throat
see stones of brilliant green

deep blue
herbs hung upside down to dry
mussel shells filled


with puddles of rich red
and clear yellow paint -
over against the wall

rows of desks with projects
in states of completion –
grab the bunch of dried weld

hung on the wall
and put it to boil
for a personal vision

the alchemist’s art –
not a dark arts pigment -
Potter’s pink is lightfast

watercolour by a real potter
ceramic
not considered toxic