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DEVONSHIRE (DEvoN)
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See also:DEVONSHIRE (See also:DEvoN) , a See also:south-western See also:county of See also:England, bounded N.W. and N. by the See also:Bristol Channel, N.E. by See also:Somerset and See also:Dorset, S.E. and S. by the See also:English Channel, and W. by See also:Cornwall. The See also:area, 2604.9 sq. m., is exceeded only by those of See also:Yorkshire and See also:Lincolnshire among the English counties. Nearly the whole of the See also:surface is uneven and hilly. The county contains the highest See also:land in England south of See also:Derbyshire (excepting points on the south Welsh border); and the scenery, much varied, is in most parts striking and picturesque. The heather-clad uplands of Exmoor, though chiefly within the See also:borders of Somerset, extend into See also:North Devon., and are still the haunt of red See also:deer, and of the small See also:hardy ponies called after the See also:district. Here, as on Dart-See also:moor, the streams are See also:rich in See also:trout. See also:Dartmoor, the See also:principal See also:physical feature of the county, is a broad and lofty expanse of moorland which rises in the See also:southern See also:part. Its highest point, 2039 ft., is found in the north-western portion. Its rough wastes contrast finely with the See also:wild but wooded region which immediately surrounds the See also:granite of which it is composed, and with the rich cultivated See also:country lying beyond. Especially noteworthy in this fertile See also:tract are the South Hams, a fruitful district of See also:apple orchards, lying between the Erme and the Dart; the rich meadow-land around See also:Crediton, in the vale of See also:Exeter; and the red rocks near See also:Sidmouth. Two features which lend a characteristic See also:charm to the Devonshire landscape are the number of picturesque old cottages roofed with See also:thatch; and the deep lanes, sunk below the See also:common level of the ground, bordered by tall hedges, and overshadowed by an See also:arch of boughs. The north and south coasts of the county differ much incharacter,'but both have See also:grand cliff and See also:rock scenery, not surpassed by any in England or See also:Wales, resembling the Mediterranean seaboard in its range of See also:colour. As a See also:rule the See also:long See also:combes or glens down which the See also:rivers flow seaward are densely wooded, and the country immediately inland is of See also:great beauty. Apart from the Tamar, which constitutes the boundary between Devon and Cornwall, and flows into the English Channel, after forming in its See also:estuary the harbours of See also:Devonport and See also:Plymouth, the principal. rivers rise on Dartmoor. These include the Teign, Dart, Plym and Tavy, falling into the English Channel, and the Taw flowing north towards See also:Bideford See also:Bay. The See also:river Torridge, also discharging northward, receives part of its See also:waters from Dartmoor through the Okement, but itself rises in the See also:angle of high land near Hartland point on the north See also:coast, and makes a wide sweep southward. The lesser' Dartmoor streams are the See also:Avon, the Erme and the Vealm, all See also:running south. The Exe rises on Exmoor in See also:Somersetshire; but the See also:main part of its course is through Devonshire (where it gives name to Exeter), and it is joined on its way to the English Channel by the lesser streams of the See also:Culm, the Creedy and the Clyst. The See also:Otter, rising on the Blackdown Hills, also runs south, and the See also:Axe, for part of its course, divides the counties of Devon and Dorset. These eastern streams are comparatively slow; while the rivers of Dartmoor have a shorter and more rapid course.
See also:Geology.—The greatest area occupied by any one See also:group of rocks in Devonshire is that covered by the Culm, a See also:series of slates, grits and greywackes, with some impure limestones and occasional radiolarian cherts as at Codden See also: In the central hollow the Culm reposes, while the See also:northern and southern rims rise to the surface respectively north of the See also:latitude of See also:Barn-See also:staple and South Molton and south of the latitude of See also:Tavistock. These Devonian rocks have been subdivided into upper, See also:middle and rower divisions, but the stratigraphy is difficult to follow as the beds have suffered much crumpling; See also:fine examples of contorted strata may be seen almost anywhs re on the north coast, and in the south, at See also:Bolt See also:Head and Start Point they have undergone severe See also:metamorphism. Limestones are only poorly See also:developed in the north, but
in the south important masses occur, in the middle and at the See also:base different parts of the county, but everywhere it is more humid
' of the upper subdivisions, about Plymouth, See also:Torquay, See also:Brixham and between See also:Newton See also: The Lower Chalk at Beer has been See also:mined for See also:building See also: Tin occurs in the granite of Dartmoor, and along its borders, but rather where the Devonian than where the Carboniferous rocks border the granite. It is found most plentifully in the district which surrounds Tavistock, which, for tin and other ores, is in effect the great See also:mining district of the county. Here, about 4 M. from Tavistock, are the Devon Great See also:Consols mines, which from 1843 to 1871 were among the richest copper mines in the See also:world, and by far the largest and most profitable in the See also:kingdom. The divided profits during this period amounted to £1,192,960. But the mining interests of Devonshire are affected by the same causes, and in the same way, as those of Cornwall. The quantity of ore has greatly diminished, and the cost of raising it from the deep mines prevents competition with See also:foreign markets. In many mines tin underlies the See also:general See also:depth of the copper, and is worked when the latter has been exhausted. The See also:mineral products of the Tavistock district are various, and besides tin and copper, ores of See also:zinc and See also:iron are largely distributed. Great quantities of refined See also:arsenic have been produced at the Devon Great Consols mine, by elimination from the iron See also:pyrites contained in the various lodes. See also:Manganese occurs in the neighbourhood of Exeter, in the valley of the Teign and in N. Devon; but the most profitable mines, which are shallow, are, like those of tin and copper, in the Tavistock district. The other mineral productions of the county consist of marbles, building stones, slates and potters' See also:clay. Among building stones, the granite of Dartmoor holds the foremost place. It is much quarried near Princetown, near Moreton See also:Hampstead on the N.E. of Dartmoor and elsewhere. The See also:annual export is considerable. Hard traps, which occur in many places, are also much used, as are the See also:lime-stones of Buckfastleigh and of Plymouth. The Roborough stone, used from an early period in Devonshire churches, is found near Tavistock, and is a hard, porphyritic elvan, taking a fine See also:polish. Excellent roofing slates occur in the Devonian series See also:round the southern part of Dartmoor. The See also:chief quarries are near See also:Ashburton and Plymouth (Cann See also:quarry). Potters clay is worked at See also: The mean annual temperature somewhat exceeds that of the See also:mid-lands, but the See also:average summer See also:heat is rather less than that of the southern counties to'the east. The See also:air of the Dartmoor See also:highlands is See also:sharp and bracing. Mists are frequent, and See also:snow often lies long. On the south coast See also:frost is little known, and many See also:half hardy See also:plants, such as hydrangeas, myrtles, geraniums and heliotropes, live through the See also:winter without See also:protection. The climate of Sidmouth, Teignmouth, Torquay and other watering places on this coast is very equable, the mean temperature in See also:January being 43.6° at Plymouth. The north coast, exposed to the storms and swell of the See also:Atlantic, is more bracing; although there also, in the more sheltered nooks (as at Combe Martin), myrtles of great See also:size and age See also:flower freely, and produce their annual See also:crop of berries. Rather less than three-quarters of the See also:total area of the county is under cultivation; the cultivated area falling a little below the average of the English counties. There are, however, about 16o,000 acres of hill pasture in addition to the area in permanent pasture, which is more than one-half that of the cultivated area. The Devon breed of See also:cattle is well adapted both for fattening and for See also:dairy purposes; while See also:sheep are kept in great See also:numbers on the hill pastures. Devonshire is one of the chief cattle-farming and sheep-farming counties. It is specially famous for two products of the dairy—the clotted cream to which it gives its name, and See also:junket. Of the area under See also:grain crops, oats occupy about three times the acreage under See also:wheat or See also:barley. The bulk of the acreage under See also:green crops is occupied by turnips, swedes and mangold. Orchards occupy a large acreage, and consist chiefly of apple-trees, nearly every See also:farm maintaining one for the manufacture of See also:cider. See also:Fisheries.—Though the fisheries of Devon are less valuable than those of Cornwall, large 'quantities of the See also:pilchard and See also:herrings caught in Cornish waters are landed at Plymouth. Much of the fishing is carried on within the three-mile limit; and it may be asserted that See also:trawling is the main feature of the Devon-See also:shire See also:industry, whereas seining and See also:driving characterize that of Cornwall. Pilchard, See also:cod, sprats, See also:brill, See also:plaice, soles, turbot, shrimps, lobsters, oysters and mussels are met with, besides See also:herring and See also:mackerel, which are fairly plentiful. After Ply-mouth, the principal fishing station is at Brixham, but there are lesser stations in every bay and estuary. Other See also:Industries.—The principal See also:industrial works in the county are the various See also:Government establishments at Plymouth and Devonport. Among other industries may be noted the See also:lace-works at Tiverton; the manufacture of See also:pillow-lace for which See also:Honiton and its neighbourhood has long been famous; and the See also:potteries and terra-See also:cotta works of Bovey Tracey and Watcombe. Woollen goods and serges are made at Buckfastleigh and Ashburton, and boots and shoes at Crediton. Convict labour is employed in the direction of agriculture, See also:quarrying, &c., in the great See also:prison of Dartmoor. Communications.—The main See also:line of the Great Western railway, entering the county in the east from See also:Taunton, runs to Exeter, skirts the coast as far as Teignmouth, and continues a See also:short distance inland by Newton Abbot to Plymouth, after which it crosses the estuary of the Tamar by a great See also:bridge to See also:Saltash in Cornwall. Branches serve Torquay and other seaside resorts of the south coast; and among other branches are those from Taunton to See also:Barnstaple and from Plymouth northward to Tavistock and See also:Launceston. The main line of the See also:London & South-Western railway between Exeter and Plymouth skirts the north and west of Dartmoor by See also:Okehampton and Tavistock. A See also:branch from Yeoford serves Barnstaple, See also:Ilfracombe, Bideford and See also:Torrington, while the See also:Lynton & Barnstaple and the Bideford, Westward Ho & Appledore lines serve the districts indicated by their names. The branch line to Princetown from the Plymouth-Tavistock line of the Great Western See also:company in part follows the line of a very early railway—that constructed to connect Plymouth with the Dartmoor prison in 1819-1825, which was worked with See also:horse cars. The only waterways of any importance 'are the Tamar, which is navigable up to Gunnislake(3 m. S.W. of Tavistock), and the Exeter See also:ship See also:canal, noteworthy as one of the See also:oldest in England, for it was originally cut in the reign of See also: It has one See also:court of See also:quarter sessions, and is divided into twenty-four See also:petty sessional divisions. The boroughs of Barnstaple, Bideford, Devonport, Exeter, Plymouth, South Molton, and Tiverton have See also:separate commissions of the See also:peace and courts of quarter sessions, and those of See also:Dartmouth, Great Torrington, Torquay and Totnes have commissions of the peace only. There are 461 See also:civil parishes. Devonshire is in the See also:diocese of Exeter, with the exception of small parts in those of See also:Salisbury and See also:Truro; and there are 516 ecclesiastical parishes or districts wholly or in part within the county. The See also:parliamentary divisions are the Eastern or Honiton, North-eastern or Tiverton, Northern or South Molton, North-western or Barnstaple, Western or Tavistock, Southern or Totnes, Torquay, and Mid or Ashburton, each returning one member; and the county also contains the parliamentary boroughs of Devonport and Plymouth, each returning two members, and that of Exeter, returning one member. See also:History.—The Saxon See also:conquest of Devonshire must have begun some See also:time before the 8th century, for in 700 there existed at Exeter a famous Saxon school. By this time, however, the See also:Saxons had become Christians, and established their supremacy, not by destructive inroads, but by a See also:gradual See also:process of colonization, settling among the native Welsh and allowing them to hold lands under equal See also:laws. The final See also:incorporation of the district which is now Devonshire with the kingdom of Wessex must have taken place about 766, but the county, and even Exeter, remained partly Welsh until the time of i€thelstan. At the beginning of the 9th century Wessex was divided into definite pagi, probably corresponding to the later shires, and the Saxon See also:Chronicle mentions Devonshire by name in 823, when a See also:battle was fought between the Welsh in Cornwall and the See also:people of Devonshire at See also:Camelford. During the Danish invasions of the 9th century aldermen of Devon are frequently mentioned. In 851 the invaders were defeated by the See also:fyrd and aldermen of Devon, and in 878, when the Danes under Hubba were harrying the coast with a See also:squadron of twenty-three See also:ships, they were again defeated with great slaughter by the fyrd. The See also:modern hundreds of Devonshire correspond in position very nearly with those given in the Domesday Survey, though the names have in many cases been changed, owing generally to alterations in their places of See also:meeting. The See also:hundred of Bampton formerly included estates west of the Exe, now transferred to the hundred of Witheridge. Ten of the modern hundreds have been formed by the See also:union of two or more Domesday hundreds, while the Domesday hundred of See also:Liston has had the new hundred of Tavistock severed from it since 1114. Many of the hundreds were separated by tracts of See also:waste and forest land, of which Devonshire contained a vast extent, until in 1204 the inhabitants paid 5000 marks to have the county disafforested, with the exception only of Dartmoor and Exmoor.
Devonshire in the 7th century formed part of the vast bishopric
of See also:Dorchester-on-See also:Thames. In 705 it was attached to the newly created diocese of See also:Sherborne, and in 910 See also:Archbishop Plegmund constituted Devonshire a separate diocese, and placed the see at Crediton. About 1030 the dioceses of Devonshire and Cornwall were See also:united, and in 1049 the see was fixed at Exeter. The arch-deaconries of Exeter, Barnstaple and Totnes are all mentioned in the 12th century and formerly comprised twenty-four deaneries. The deaneries of Three Towns, Collumpton and Ottery have been created since the 16th century, while those of Tamerton, Dunkeswell, Dunsford and Plymptre have been abolished,,bringing the See also:present number to twenty-three.
At the time of the See also:Norman invasion Devonshire showed an active hostility to Harold, ,and the easy submission which it rendered to the Conqueror accounts for the exceptionally large number of Englishmen who are found retaining lands after the Conquest. The many vast fiefs held by Norman barons were known as honours, chief among them being Plympton, Okehampton, Barnstaple, Harberton and Totnes. The See also:honour of Plympton was bestowed in the 12th century on the Redvers See also:family, together with the earldom of Devon; in the 13th century it passed to the See also:Courtenay family, who had already become possessed of the honour of Okehampton, and who in 1335 obtained the earldom. The dukedom of Exeter was bestowed in the 14th century on the See also: The ancestors of See also:Sir See also:Walter See also:Raleigh, who was See also:born at Budleigh, had long held considerable estates in the county. Devonshire had an See also:independent See also:sheriff, the See also:appointment being at first hereditary, but afterwards held for one See also:year only. In 1320 complaint was made that all the hundreds of Devonshire were in the hands of the great lords, who did not appoint a sufficiency of bailiffs for their proper government. The miners of Devon had independent courts, known as stannary courts, for the regulation of mining affairs, the four stannary towns being Tavistock, Ashburton, Chagford, and Plympton. The ancient miners' See also:parliament was held in the open air at Crockern's Tor. The castles of Exeter and Plympton were held against See also:Stephen by See also:Baldwin de Redvers, and in the 14th and 15th centuries the See also:French made frequent attacks on the Devonshire coast, being repulsed in 1404 by the people of Dartmouth. In the See also:Wars of the See also:Roses the county was much divided, and frequent skirmishes took place between the See also:earl of Devon and See also:Lord Bonville, the respective champions of the Lancastrian and Yorkist parties. Great disturbances in the county followed the See also:Reformation of the 16th century and in 1549 a See also:priest was compelled to say mass at Sampford See also:Courtney. On the outbreak of the Civil See also:War the county as a whole favoured the parliament, but the prevailing See also:desire was for peace, and in 1643 a treaty for the cessation of hostilities in Devonshire and Cornwall was agreed upon. Skirmishes, however, continued until the See also:capture of Dartmouth and Exeter in 14.6 put an end to the struggle. In 1688 the See also:prince of See also:Orange landed at To -bay and was entertained for several days at See also:Ford and at Exeter. The tin mines of Devon have been worked from time immemorial, and in the 14th century mines of tin, copper, lead, See also:gold and See also:silver are mentioned. Agriculturally the county was always poor, and before the disafforestation rendered especially so through the ravages committed by the herds of wild deer. At the time of the Domesday Survey the See also:salt industry was important, and there were ninety-nine See also:mills in the county and thirteen fisheries. From an early period the chief manufacture was that of woollen See also:cloth, and a See also:statute 4 Ed. IV. permitted the manufacture of cloths of a distinct make in certain parts of Devonshire. About 1505 See also:Anthony Bonvis, an See also:Italian, introduced an improved method of See also:spinning into the county, and cider-making is mentioned in the 16th century. In 168o the lace industry was already flourishing at Colyton and Ottery St Mary, and See also:flax, See also:hemp and See also:malt were largely produced in the 17th and 18th centuries. Devonshire returned two members to parliament in 1290, and in 1295 Barnstaple, Exeter, Plympton, Tavistock, Torrington and Totnes were also represented. In 1831 the county with itsboroughs returned a total of twenty-six members, but under the Reform See also:Act of 1832 it returned four members in two divisions, and with ten boroughs was represented by a total of eighteen members. Under the act of 1868 the county returned six members in three divisions, and four of the boroughs were disfranchised, making a total of seventeen members. Antiquities.—In primeval antiquities Devonshire is not so rich as Cornwall; but Dartmoor abounds in remains of the highest See also:interest, the most See also:peculiar of which are the long parallel alignments of upright stones, which, on a small See also:scale, resemble those of See also:Carnac in See also:Brittany. On Dartmoor the lines are invariably straight, and are found in See also:direct connexion with See also:cairns, and with circles which are probably sepulchral. These stone avenues are very numerous. Of the so-called sacred circles the best examples are the " Longstones " on Scorhill Down, and the " See also:Grey Wethers " under Sittaford Tor. By far the finest cromlech is the " Spinster's Rock " at Drewsteignton, a three-pillared cromlech which may well be compared with those of Cornwall. There are numerous menhirs or single upright stones; a large dolmen or holed stone lies in the bed of the Teign, near the Scorhill circle; and rock basins occur on the See also:summit of nearly every tor on Dartmoor (the largest are on Kestor, and on Heltor, above the Teign). It is, however, tolerably evident that these have been produced by the gradual disintegration of the granite, and that the dolmen in the Teign is due to the See also:action of the river. Clusters of hut See also:foundations, circular, and formed of See also:rude granite blocks, are frequent; the best example of such a See also:primitive See also:village is at Batworthy, near Chagford; the type resembles that of East Cornwall. Walled enclosures, or pounds, occur in many places; Grimspound is the most remarkable. Boundary lines, also called trackways, run across Dartmoor in many directions; and the rude See also:bridges, formed of great slabs of granite, deserve See also:notice. All these remains are on Dartmoor. Scattered over the county are numerous large hill castles and camps,—all earthworks, and all apparently of the See also:British period. See also:Roman See also:relics have been found from time to time at Exeter (Isca Damnoniorum), the only large Roman station in the county. The churches are for the most part of the Perpendicular period, dating from the middle of the 14th to the end of the 15th century. Exeter See also:cathedral is of course an exception, the whole (except the Norman towers) being very beautiful Decorated See also:work. The See also:special features of Devonshire churches, however, are the richly carved pulpits and See also:chancel screens of See also:wood, in which this county exceeded every other in England, with the exception of See also:Norfolk and See also:Suffolk. The designs are rich and varied, and the skill displayed often very great. Granite crosses are frequent, the finest and earliest being that of Coplestone, near Crediton. Monastic remains are scanty; the principal are those at Tor, Buckfast, Tavistock and See also:Buckland Abbeys. Among domestic buildings the houses of See also:Wear See also:Gifford, See also:Bradley and Dartington of the 15th century; Bradfield and Holcombe Rogus (Elizabethan), and See also:Forde (Jacobean), deserve notice. The ruined castles of Okehampton (Edward I.), Exeter, with its vast British See also:earth-works, See also:Berry See also:Pomeroy (See also: Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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