What We Do
We create diverse and engaging experiences for our visitors, enabling us to share the stories of the objects in our collection. Our aim is to get visitors as involved as possible, and see more people in touch (sometimes literally!) with heritage.
Workshops
Our inaugural year of programmed workshops runs October 2021 – May 2022. After this year’s success, we are looking to continue running these workshops each year!
Each session consists of a forty-minute talk and twenty minutes for questions with time after for refreshments, followed by opportunities to explore our current exhibition and handle some of the historical medical items in our collection that are usually hidden away!
Click the link below to take a look at our Ticketsource page.
Handling Sessions
Handling Sessions are designed to get visitors in touch with the objects in our Collection. Come down and have a go at figuring out what the objects were used for. How do you think they worked?
We currently run handling sessions throughout the year at St Nicholas Priory. See their website (below) for the date of the next session.
We can also create handling sessions for private groups. If you are interested, please get in touch using our Contact form.
Exhibitions
We hope to put on a range of exhibitions for our visitors. If you have any ideas of things you’d like to see us discuss, let us know here: Submit an Idea.
We are currently installing a new exhibition at St Nicholas Priory (upstairs!). We hope to be ready for March 2023 with ‘What can history teach us about wellbeing?’. We are also working on our first online exhibition – keep an eye out for that coming soon.
If you are interested in helping us research themes, or learning about how we put on exhibitions, sign up as a volunteer!
Find out more and sign up here
All's Well, Thriving Communities Project
All’s Well was a project run by Exeter Community Centre Trust (ECCT), Exeter Historic Buildings Trust (EHBT) and Devon & Exeter Medical Heritage Trust (DEMHT), aiming to show the benefits of engaging with heritage for health. Thriving Communities Fund supported vulnerable communities through history and heritage.
“Engagement with heritage can change lives. It makes people proud of where they live, and inspires them to participate in their community. Our pilot projects have shown how volunteering, sharing stories, and engaging with heritage has an impact on personal health and community wellbeing. This funding will enable us to establish long term solutions through the power of history and heritage.”
– Hannah Reynolds, Chair of Exeter Community Centre Trust.
We are a Heritage Compass Organisation
We are incredibly grateful to have been a part of Heritage Compass, a business support programme launched by Cause4 and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The opportunity gives us tailored learning and advice from organisations and individuals throughout the Arts and Culture sector and is a great help in becoming a more robust and well-developed organisation.
Find out more on their website: Arts Fundraising
Find Us...
We are based at St Nicholas Priory in Exeter. The priory is open every Sunday, 1-4pm, and Monday, 10am-4pm, with free admission.
The nearest car park is Mary Arches Street, which is a five-minute walk.
Exeter Central train station is a ten-minute walk.
The bus station is a 15-minute walk with many buses stopping on the High Street which is ten minutes away.