A FESTIVAL OF

Devon in the 1920s

Events from March - October 2025 across Devon
The Festival offers people a chance to imagine what life was like in their own communities 100 years ago.
Home and work, education and travel, fun and fashion, find out more about the 1920s in events across the county.

Upcoming Events

Check out the next few events or go to our full listing and find something at the right time or place for you.
Exeter

RAMM’s Devon in the 1920s

Date: 14/01/2025
Time: 10:00 am

Exploring the 1920s through objects from the Museum’s collection

The Lion Who Never Roared – The Jack Leslie Story

Date: 12/02/2025
Time: 7:30 pm

Talk about Jack Leslie, the Plymouth Argyle black footballer selected to play for England in 1925

Barnstaple

Miss Rosalie Chichester in the 1920s

Date: 15/02/2025
Time: 11:00 am

Join Miss Chichester on her world voyage in the early 1920s

Chagford

Castle Drogo in the 1920s

Date: 15/02/2025
Time: 10:30 am

Castle Drogo is a Lutyens-designed castle that was constructed during the 1920s for the Drewe family

Exeter

A Country House Weekend at Killerton in the 1920s

Date: 15/02/2025
Time: 10:00 am

Killerton as a visitor would have seen it in the 1920s

Kingswear

Coleton Fishacre – a 1920s House

Date: 15/02/2025
Time: 10:30 am

The 1920s’ Arts and Crafts country retreat built by the D’Oyly Carte family

About Devon in the 1920s

In the 1920s Devon emerged from the Great War. It was a time of ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Shadows’

First place winners of the 1929 Totnes festival
People were able to enjoy themselves. There were new houses and jobs. Inventions such as the motor vehicle made life easier.
But for others bereavement was slow to heal. Domestic drudgery like fetching water from the well continued. Technological change meant redundancy.
Festival events explore both these sides of life in the 1920s.

The Festival of Devon in the 1920s

has been organised by

Our Thanks To

Arlington Court, National Trust
Bampton Heritage and Visitor Centre
Barnstaple Town Council
Bovey Tracey Heritage Centre
Castle Drogo, National Trust
Chudleigh History Group
Coleton Fishacre, National Trust
Crediton Area History and Museum Society
Culm Valley societies
Dartmoor Trust
Dawlish History Group and Dawlish Museum
Devon Gardens Trust
Devon Rural Archive
Devonshire Association
Exeter Central Library. Libraries Unlimited
Exeter history societies and organizations
Freeline Graphics
Friends of Devon’s Archives
Friends of Ford Park Cemetery
Friends of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum
Ivybridge Heritage and Archive Group
Killerton House, National Trust
Museum of Dartmoor Life
Museum of North Devon and Barnstaple
Newton Abbot Town and GWR Museum
North Devon Maritime Museum
Old Seale-Haynians
Plymouth Community Heritage Network
Plymouth Historical Association
Plymstock Library
Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery
South Brent Story Tellers and Archive
St Thomas Local History Group
Teign Heritage, Teignmouth and Shaldon Museum
Valiant Soldier & Buckfastleigh History Group
Whimple History Society and Whimple Heritage Centre

Acknowledgements

Dartmoor National Park Authority
Devon and Cornwall Police Museum
Devon and Exeter Institution
Devon Gardens Trust
Elmgrant Trust
Museums Development
South West Maritime History Society
WHOTT (Westcountry Historic Omnibus and Transport Trust)

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