Bideford Retold

Starting in August 2026, working with Libraries Unlimited and dBs Pro, our students will help bring a historic book collection to life through creative technology as part of Bideford Retold, a new community heritage project supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Plymouth Heritage Praxis has partnered wiht dBs Pro, the in-house creative studio at dBs Institute, and Libraries Unlimited to deliver Bideford Retold, a 12-month project that will revitalise the Chope Collection held at Bideford Library in North Devon.

The collection, a regionally significant archive of around 500 books, was bequeathed to the people of Bideford by local historian and folklorist Richard Pearse Chope. His passion for North Devon was captured in a favourite line by Hilaire Belloc: “One’s native place is the shell of one’s soul.” Bideford Retold takes that sentiment forward for a new generation.