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Unique Exeter picture collection to be saved

Julia Gregory
BBC News, Devon
Reporting fromExeter
South West Heritage Trust A damaged archive photo taken by Henry Wykes shows Exeter Cathedral surrounded by the remains of buildings badly damaged in a German bombing raid. There is a huge pile of rubble in the foreground and the top of the photo shows clear signs of chemical deterioration which is destroying the negative. South West Heritage Trust
Exeter Cathedral after being bombed during the Blitz

A "unique and irreplaceable" record of photos of 20th Century Exeter is being saved from destruction with a £178,000 National Lottery grant, according to the South West Heritage Trust.

The trust said it would use the money to digitise 24,000 images taken by photographer Henry Wykes, which are suffering from vinegar syndrome - a chemical process that destroys negatives.

Mr Wykes, who was born in Australia and opened his first studio in Exeter in 1914, documented key moment's in the city's history, including the devastation caused by the Baedeker raids in April and May 1942.

He was the UK's oldest working photographer when he retired at the age of 88 in 1962.

South West Heritage Trust A faded negative of the Royal Clarence Hotel which is showing signs of damage across the image. There is writing in yellow running along the side of the negative. South West Heritage Trust
The photos - this one showing the Royal Clarence Hotel - are to be restored thanks to a National Lottery grant
South West Heritage Trust A negative shows residents of St Loye's College and School of Occupational Therapy, taking part in a sewing workshop. It is hard to distinguish everything in the image but women or girls are sewing by hand and one can be seen sitting in front of a sewing machine. To the left of the photo a wheelchair user is working on a dark piece of fabric.South West Heritage Trust
Residents of St Loye's College and School of Occupational Therapy, for people with physical disabilities and learning difficulties, taking part in a sewing workshop

The Isca Photographic Collection Project will preserve 24,000 of the 50,000 images the collection holds and the work is likely to take 15 months.

Volunteers will help catalogue the photographs and make them available online.

Scott Pettitt, the head of archives at Devon Heritage Centre, said: "The Isca Collection is one of the most significant visual records of Exeter of the past century.

"It offers an extraordinary account of the city and its inhabitants during a period of unprecedented transformation."

He said the collection was "a social document of the city and its inhabitants".

South West Heritage Trust Photographer Henry Wykes who documented Exeter's history is photographed aged 87. He is wearing a suit jacket with a bow tie and glasses in this head and shoulders shot and is smiling at the camera.South West Heritage Trust
Photographer Henry Wykes photos show changes to the city and its population

He said Mr Wykes, who was also a portrait photographer, "captured the changing faces of the city".

Mr Pettitt added: "By the 1960s there was more diversity and he captured things like changes in women's fashion."

There will be an exhibition at Custom House in Exeter in 2026 and community events will also take place, including an environmental project.

Stuart McLeod, from the National Lottery, said the project would lead to more people getting "involved with, protecting and learning about the exciting heritage right on their doorstep".

He said heritage had a "huge role to play" in instilling pride in communities and boosting local economies.

South West Heritage Trust A photographic image shows 23 workers dressed in jackets and caps posing for photographer Henry Wykes at the Bodley Foundry on Commercial Road, Exeter. They are standing and kneeling in front of a huge wheel which is placed on the ground. South West Heritage Trust
Workers at the Bodley Foundry on Commercial Road, Exeter
South West Heritage Trust Nurses dressed in uniforms with aprons and headdresses hold babies beside their hospital beds in Bowring ward in the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital. There is a Christmas tree in the background. South West Heritage Trust
Nurses and babies at Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital, Bowring Ward, during Christmas 1933

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