There was much celebration at Chagford’s Jubilee Hall last Friday evening, when well-known historian and writer Ian Mortimer cut the ribbon to declare the new heritage centre and newly refurbished library open.

Ian, who hails from Moretonhampstead and is a great supporter of local historical research and libraries, also gave a talk about why libraries are important.

The historian is the author of the famous A Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England and sequels, the most recent being A Time Traveller’s Guide to Restoration Britain.

The library moved into its new, purpose-built extension to the Jubilee Hall in December last year, but has only just been fully fitted out with new shelving and a fresh layout.

The heritage centre has moved into the space of the old library, but the room has been divided and completely refurbished. It now consists of two distinct areas: a reading and reference room and an archive room.

A team of volunteers supervised by a professional archivist is starting work on transferring a large collection of books, documents and photographs from inaccessible cabinets into purpose-built shelving. The process will involve cleaning the items, cataloguing them and storing them in archive-quality folders and containers.

The refurbishment of the rooms and the setting up of the archive and heritage centre has been achieved with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund of £32,700, with an additional grant from the Queen’s Jubilee Fund, administered by Chagford Parish Council.

Erica Loram, who recently celebrated 20 years of being Chagford’s librarian, said she was delighted with the new library. ‘Libraries are so important, especially in a community like ours where people cannot easily get to the bigger libraries. We are so lucky to have this wonderful new library in Chagford.

‘I hope that more and more people will want to make use of the good selection of books, DVDs, free WiFi and internet, and a lovely new children’s corner.’

The event included a storyteller to entertain the children who had come along, and everyone was encouraged to look around and ask questions over drinks and nibbles.