I.

Introduction

Devon or Devonshire, county, south-western England, bounded on the north by the Bristol Channel, on the east by Somerset and Dorset, on the south by the English Channel, and on the west by Cornwall. Much of the county is bleak moorland, but it has some striking scenery, and many interesting towns and picturesque villages. The north and south coasts not only provide a number of popular seaside resorts, but have made Devon a county with a strong seafaring tradition. Devon has an area of 6,560 sq km (2,533 sq mi). Exeter is the administrative centre.

II.

Land and Resources

The main geological feature is the granite plateau of Dartmoor, the highest point of which is High Willhays at 621 m (2,038 ft). The rest of the county has a mixture of grits, slates, limestones, and sandstones. The rocks of the southern coast near Teignmouth are of a striking red colour. The soils to the north of this region, around Tiverton and Exeter, are of the same hue and have given rise to the sobriquet, “Red Devon”. The main urban areas are in the south.

The principal rivers are the Tamar, which forms most of the boundary with Cornwall, and the Tavy, the Plym, the Dart, and the Teign. All rise on Dartmoor and flow into the English Channel, and are noted for the beauty of their valleys. The Exe rises in Somerset, but its course runs mostly through Devon. The Torridge and the Taw are the main rivers flowing northwards. Other rivers include the Okement, the Otter, the Yealm, the Erme, the Avon, and the Axe, which forms part of the boundary with Dorset.

It is possible to walk virtually the entire distance of the north and the south Devon coasts along the South West Coast Path. There is also a path, the Two Moors Way, crossing Dartmoor and Exmoor and the Tarka Trail, which runs for 180 miles (290 km) in north Devon. Both Exmoor and Dartmoor have been designated by the Countryside Agency as National Parks (see Exmoor National Park). Several parts of Devon have been designated as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty: the Blackdown Hills, which run eastwards from Cullompton, north of Honiton; the southern coastline between Exmouth and Lyme Regis, excluding Sidmouth, Beer, and Seaton; the southern coastline between Bolt Head and Bolt Tail; Salcombe; Slapton Sands; Dartmouth; the estuaries and valleys of the Yealm, Erme, Avon, and Dart rivers; and most of the north Devon coastline. The east Devon coast was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001.

The climate of Devon is mild, and the south coast enjoys long hours of sunshine in summer. However, the county as a whole is damp, with an annual average rainfall in the region of 1,000 to 1,520 mm (40 to 60 in), rising to between 1,520 and 2,540 mm (60 and 100 in) in parts of Dartmoor.

III.

Wildlife

Red deer and ponies are to be found on Exmoor, and fallow deer and ponies on Dartmoor. Otters live in the north Devon rivers. Lydford Gorge, owned by the National Trust, in the north of the county, offers not only spectacular scenery, but the opportunity to see water ouzels, herons, and other birds. Near Slapton Sands on the south coast is a lake known as Slapton Ley, which is a sanctuary for waders and other wildfowl; north of Dawlish is a 200-hectare (500-acre) nature reserve. On the north-west coast at Braunton Burrows, the sand dunes form another nature reserve. The entire Devon coastline is well populated by birds, including guillemots, and all kinds of gulls; from Bideford, a boat sails to the national marine nature reserve of Lundy Island, where there are puffins and razorbills, as well as grey seals, and, on the island, wild goats and sika deer.

IV.

Population and Administration

The population of Devon was estimated in 2001 to be 704,499. The county's two main cities are the port of Plymouth (2001 estimate, 241,000) (now a separate administrative entity) and the cathedral and university city of Exeter (2001, 111,078). Towns of note include Axminster (1991, 3,472), Bideford (1991, 14,326), Barnstaple (1991, 27,691), Braunton (1991, 9,227), Brixham (1991, 15,865), Dartmouth (1991, 5,676), Dawlish (1991, 9,648), Exmouth (1991, 28,414), Holsworthy (1991, 1,892), Honiton (1991, 7,859), Newton Abbot (1991, 23,801), Okehampton (1991, 4,841), Salcombe (1991, 1,921), South Molton (1991, 4,066), Tavistock (1991, 10,222), Teignmouth (1991, 13,528), Tiverton (1991, 14,805), and Totnes (1991, 6,929). The many seaside resorts on the south coast include Paignton (1991, 42,989), Torquay (1991, 59,587), Budleigh Salterton (1991, 3,759), Sidmouth (1991, 10,767), Beer, and Seaton (1991, 7,579), and on the north coast, Ilfracombe (1991, 10,429), Westward Ho!, and Woolacombe. Dartmeet, where the east and west branches of the River Dart meet, is one of the most beautiful spots in the entire country, while Clovelly, on the north coast, can claim to be outstandingly picturesque. Dartmouth has a busy harbour, but is best known as the home of the Royal Naval College.

Devon is administered from County Hall in Exeter. The county at present has a county council and eight district councils: East Devon, Exeter, Mid-Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge, and West Devon. On April 1, 1998, following the recommendations of the Local Government Commission, the Plymouth district and Torbay borough councils that had previously administered their areas in conjunction with Devon County Council were each created a unitary authority, administered separately from the county. They remain, however, geographically part of Devon.

V.

Education and Culture

Exeter is the seat of the University of Exeter; the University of Plymouth is based in Plymouth, Exeter, Exmouth, and Newton Abbot. The College of St Mark and St John, in Plymouth, is affiliated to the University of Exeter, and offers higher education courses for undergraduates and postgraduates. Blundell's School in Tiverton was founded in 1604, and Exeter School in 1633; both are public schools. The Royal Naval College at Dartmouth harbour trains officers of the Royal Navy and Merchant Marine.

The Cavalier poet-priest Robert Herrick held the living of Dean Prior, a village which lies a short distance south of Buckfastleigh, from 1629 to 1647 and from 1662 until his death in 1674. John Gay, remembered primarily for The Beggar's Opera, was born in Barnstaple in 1685, and the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in the vicarage of Ottery St Mary in 1772. James Anthony Froude, author of a major History of England, was born in Dartington in 1818, and in the following year Charles Kingsley was born in Holne, Dartmoor. The supposedly haunted Hound Tor on Dartmoor provided the background for the Sherlock Holmes story The Hound of the Baskervilles, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. North Devon is the setting of the famous nature tale, Tarka the Otter, by Henry Williamson, now commemorated in the Tarka Trail in north Devon.

Other notable Devonians include St Boniface who was born in Crediton in 680, and who went to Germany to bring Christianity to the people there. Devon has always produced seafarers, and among the most celebrated are Sir John Hawkins, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir Walter Raleigh. Two distinguished painters were also of Devon origin: Nicholas Hilliard, the miniaturist, was born in Exeter in 1547, and Sir Joshua Reynolds was born in Plympton in 1723. Robert Falcon Scott, “Scott of the Antarctic”, was born in Devonport in 1868.

Devon is famous for its clotted cream, made by simmering slowly the rich milk produced by the county's cattle, then taking off the crust of cream that has formed. An essential ingredient of the Devon cream tea is Devonshire Splits (which have a resemblance to scones), halved and filled with jam and clotted cream. Saffron is also used, as in Cornwall, to flavour doughcakes and buns. Junket, a dessert of milk curdled with rennet and usually flavoured with nutmeg, is another dish typical of Devon. Devon cider is almost as well known as Somerset cider, and is still made, although the industry has declined in recent years.

At Marldon, near Paignton, an Apple Pie Fair is held every August 25 as a tribute to the generosity of a 19th-century farmer. The second Tuesday in September is the date of the fair held in Widecombe-in-the-Moor—the same fair to which Uncle Tom Cobley and his friends went in the song Widecombe Fair. The St Giles Fair, held in Barnstaple in September, has its origins in the 10th century, and traditionally consists of a day of horse-trading, a day of cattle sales, and a day of general festivities.

VI.

Places of Interest

Devon has many prehistoric remains. Among the limestone caves near Torquay is Kent's Cavern, one of the oldest human dwellings in Britain, where people were living a quarter of a million years ago. These caves and their surrounds have yielded evidence of animals long extinct in Britain, including rhinoceros and elephants, as well as bears. Many standing stones are found on Dartmoor; most notable among these are several groups in which strange parallel lines of stones form avenues. There are also circles of stones, some of which appear to be the remains of primitive tribal living quarters. The site of a Bronze Age village can be seen at Grimspound, a short distance north of Widecombe-in-the-Moor. Near Postbridge, where there is a remarkable ancient clapper bridge, is Broadun Pound, a prehistoric enclosure. There are numerous remains of hill forts, including Hembury Fort, which was the capital of an early British tribe, the Dumnonii. Remains of the tin and copper industries on which the county's wealth was based for so long litter the landscape of West Devon. Most notable are the gaunt ruins of the tall engine houses, which once sheltered the huge beam engines used to pump the mine shafts clear of water. Examples of these historically significant industrial ruins can be seen across western Devon and throughout Cornwall, and the landscape was collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.

Among the many interesting buildings in the county, three are particularly attractive: Saltram House, just to the west of Plymouth, is a fine 18th-century mansion now owned by the National Trust, with rooms designed by Robert Adam; Buckfast Abbey, not far from Newton Abbot, is a 19th-century reconstruction of a Cistercian monastery, with a church which was built by six monks between 1907 and 1938; and Castle Drogo, near Exeter, is an extraordinary stately home built between 1910 and 1930 to plans by Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens.

In Exeter is the Anglican cathedral church of St Peter, which was built mainly during the 13th and 14th centuries, although its towers date from the 12th century (see Exeter Cathedral). The Roman Catholic cathedral church of St Mary and St Boniface, which was completed in 1858, is in Plymouth. Exeter, which stands on the River Exe, has many attractions, including the remains of the 3rd-century defensive wall, and of Rougemont Castle, built by the Normans, and the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, which has a display of silver, recalling the days when Exeter was one of the country's assaying towns. There are also a number of interesting old buildings, although not as many as there were before World War II, when the town was known as one of the most beautiful in England. Heavy bombing during the war destroyed many of the Elizabethan buildings in the city centre. Plymouth, with the natural harbour of its sound, has been a thriving port for many centuries. Like Exeter it was heavily bombed during the war, and much of the centre has been rebuilt. Fortunately, many of the Elizabethan buildings in the Barbican were spared, and still remain. The Hoe, Plymouth's famous park where Drake was playing bowls as the Spanish Armada approached, is dominated by the former Eddystone Lighthouse, built by John Smeaton in 1759, and transferred to the Hoe when a later lighthouse was constructed.

Three Football League clubs—Exeter City, Plymouth Argyle, and Torquay United—are located in the county.

VII.

Economy

Agriculture and the service industries are the main industries in Devon. The agricultural sector is dominated by dairy farming, and by the raising of beef cattle and sheep. Although some 25 per cent of the county consists of infertile moorland or heath, these stretches are used for rough grazing. Many of the cider orchards that flourished in the past have now disappeared, but some cider is still made, and the growing of other fruit is important. Cereals, animal fodder, potatoes, and flowers are also produced, especially in the South Hams, the area between Plymouth and Torbay. Fishing is carried on along most of the coast, particularly from Brixham and Exmouth in the south, and Lynmouth in the north.

Tourism is the most important of the service industries; both north and south coasts boast many popular seaside resorts, in addition to the attractions of the inland areas. Manufacturing includes the production of glass at Dartington, lace in Honiton, and textiles in Tiverton. Carpets are still made in Axminster, but the town also produces woollen materials. Granite is quarried and china clay mined on Dartmoor, and ball clay near the River Bovey. The naval base at Devonport is still operative.

VIII.

History

Devon contains ample evidence of prehistoric settlement. Dartmoor has been settled for over 8,000 years, and the area contains the greatest concentration of Bronze Age remains in England, which, together with evidence of the Iron Age and the tin industry dating from the 12th century, contribute to a great archaeological richness in the park. The Bronze Age village settlement at Grimspound is surrounded by a thick perimeter stone wall 3 m (9 ft) thick, within which are the remains of 24 huts. Neolithic and Bronze Age flint arrowheads have been unearthed at the site, although the area remains largely unexcavated. Standing stones, burial mounds, and hill forts on Exmoor indicate that the area has been populated since prehistoric times.

The county is not rich in Roman remains, principally because Exeter was the only major Roman fortress in Devon. After the Romans had left, the native Celtic population, which was largely of Welsh origin, was left alone until the arrival of the Saxons during the 7th century. In the 8th century, the whole area was absorbed into Wessex, and it remained a loyal part of that kingdom, fighting successfully from strongholds at Barnstaple, Exeter, Lydford, and Totnes against the invasion attempts of the Danes. However, by the time of the Norman Conquest the situation had changed; instead of supporting Harold II, the people of Devon offered minimal resistance to the Normans, who overran Exeter in 1068. Because they had not opposed him, William I gave much of the county to a number of English noblemen, who thus became major landowners.

The tin mines of Dartmoor began to be worked in the 12th century, and the industry became of great importance, recognized, as in Cornwall, by the establishment of stannary courts, exclusively concerned with mining matters. Together with the production of cloth, tin brought considerable prosperity to Devon. Barnstaple, Exeter, Plymouth, and Dartmouth became busy ports, and their trade seems to have been scarcely disturbed by the frequent raids that the French made on the south coast during the 14th century. Fighting between Lancastrian and Yorkist factions in Devon took place during the Wars of the Roses. Plymouth was the port from which Francis Drake set out when he sailed around the world, and also to face the Spanish Armada, and it was from Plymouth too that the Pilgrim Fathers finally set sail for America.

During the Civil War, the county was mostly on the Parliamentarian side, although some skirmishing continued until 1646. In 1688, William of Orange landed at Brixham, and stayed for some time in Exeter before moving on to London.

Mining, which produced not only tin but a number of other metals, including silver, copper, and iron ore, continued to be a leading source of wealth until the end of the 19th century, after which the industry declined. However, it was wool that made Devon one of the richest counties of England in the late Middle Ages, being produced by a semi-industrial system utilizing the county's large hydroelectric power potential: water wheels were used to provide power for fulling and other processes. Exeter, Plymouth, and Devonport, which from late in the 17th century had developed as a major naval port and dockyard, were heavily bombed during World War II.