A major archive dedicated to saving the photographic history of Totnes has finally moved home – but it hasn’t gone very far.

Totnes Image Bank and Rural Archive has been based at the Town Mill since it was set up 18 years ago.

Its future there has been uncertain for some two years, following the decision to close the information centre and the Totnes Trust, which owns the building, began looking at other uses for it.

But now the image bank has a new home – in the same building.

The image bank, which has an archive of digital photographs more than 60,000-strong, has moved from the first floor to the ground floor and now has its own entrance. Although the image bank has lost its exhibition space, it now has exhibitions on display in the museum.

Photographer and founder Barrington Weekes said he was “relieved” the image bank now had a settled home.

And he said he was also “grateful” to the town council for providing space in its East Gate gatehouse for the storage of the image banks important archive material. Mr Weekes launched the image bank 18 years ago after he was left the photographic archive of two leading photographers in the town.

Later, the Dartington Rural Archive, based at Foxhole, closed and he took over an archive of some 7,000 digitized images.

Since then, Mr Weekes and archive manager Val Price have been scanning and archiving thousands of photographs that have been donated relating to Totnes and the south Devon area.

He said: “Everyone is interested in our history – especially through photographs.

“It is a fascinating way of accessing our history.”