FILM UNIT RECORDS

Above: Tom Stobart filming Devon's coast, 1947

As early as 1934, a cine group of teachers and students at the Dartington Hall School began making short documentary and classroom films. By 1939, they had produced 20 factual films, including a study of the Galapagos Islands by zoology teacher David Lack (during a sabbatical year away from Dartington). When war broke out, Dartington was selected to house the Ministry of Information film library for south west England. Thousands of factual films were distributed regionally from the Dartington Hall estate during the war.

In 1946, as a result of a national conference on factual films held under the auspices of the Arts Enquiry, the Film Unit was placed on a professional footing under the direction of Tom Stobart. Several documentaries were completed and circulated widely including 'The Artificial Insemination of Cattle' and 'Animals on the Farm'. Other independent features were also completed but in 1949 the Dartington Hall Film Unit was closed. The South West Film and Television Archive in Plymouth preserves surviving films by agreement with The Dartington Hall Trust. A growing collection of reference copies on videotape are maintained at the Trust Archive and can be viewed on application.

The Dartington Hall Film Unit collection is featured on the web site Moving History: A Guide to UK Film and Television Archives in the Public Sector. The site includes a digitised film clip showing forestry operations.