Kenton Past & Present Society: 2015 Programme

Exeter War Hospitals Project

The Kenton Past & Present Society has sent us its 2015 programme: an interesting line-up of topics including Exeter war hospitals and mental health in World War 1; Dumnonia in the 'Dark Ages'; the social history of women's life in the late medieval and and early modern period; the industrial history of Countess Wear; and a visit to the newly-refurnished St Nicholas Priory.


Kenton Past & Present Society 2015 Programme

21st January
Short AGM followed by talk on Exeter WW1 War Hospitals.
Dr Julia Neville will give a talk about her research into the seven war hospitals that operated in Exeter during World War 1.

18th March
Dumnonia 400-800 AD, a talk by Derek Gore
Derek Gore visited Kenton Past and Present in 2011 and gave a fascinating account of the Vikings in Devon. On his return visit he will talk about the Kingdom of Dumnomia, AD400-800 - the Archaeology and History of the South West in the ‘Dark Ages’.

20th May
‘Industrial History of Countess Wear’ a talk by Geoffrey Harding.
As a past Secretary of Exeter Local History Society Geoffrey brings a wealth of local knowledge to his talk about the Industrial History of Countess Wear, Geoffrey visited us a few years ago to give a talk entitled Turnpikes and Toll Houses

15th July
A privately guided visit to St Nicholas Priory in Exeter.
The Priory, a Benedictine monastery founded in 1087, has recently been refurnished. The website describes the changes as offering ‘An Elizabethan town house which gives greater access to the Priory and gives a wonderful insight into Tudor Life’. The cost of this visit will be £5 per person.

16th September
‘What did women do all day’
- a talk by Professor Jane Whittle, an Exeter University Historian of Rural England who has a particular interest in economic development, work, consumption, gender and popular protest in the late medieval and and early modern period. We look forward to her talk with great interest!

18th November
‘Shell Shocked Britain after the First World War’ a talk by Suzie Grogan.
Suzie has recently published a book which looks at the effect of the First World War on the mental health of the troops and the families they came home to. It also examines how attitudes to psychological trauma changed and the and the impact of the trauma on subsequent generations. Her talk is sure to promote a thought provoking evening.

Meetings are held at 7.30pm on the third Wednesday of alternate months in the Victory Hall Committee Room unless otherwise stated.

See website for contact details.