Portal:Devon

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The Devon Portal

Devon (/ˈdɛvən/ DEV-ən; historically also known as Devonshire /-ʃɪər, -ʃər/ -⁠sheer, -⁠shər) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west. The city of Plymouth is the largest settlement, and the city of Exeter is the county town.

Devon has a varied geography. It contains Dartmoor and part of Exmoor, two upland moors which are the source of most of the county's rivers, including the Taw, Dart, and Exe. The longest river in the county is the Tamar, which forms most of the border with Cornwall and rises in the Devon's northwest hills. The southeast coast is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, and characterised by tall cliffs which reveal the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous geology of the region. The county gives its name to the Devonian geologic period, which includes the slates and sandstones of the north coast. Dartmoor and Exmoor have been designated national parks, and the county also contains, in whole or in part, five national landscapes.

In the Iron Age, Roman and the Sub-Roman periods, the county was the home of the Dumnonii Celtic Britons. The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain resulted in the partial assimilation of Dumnonia into the kingdom of Wessex in the eighth and ninth centuries, and the western boundary with Cornwall was set at the Tamar by king Æthelstan in 936. (Full article...)

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Typical moorland scenery on Exmoor

Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath. Exmoor is more precisely defined as the area of the former ancient royal hunting forest, also called Exmoor, which was officially surveyed 1815–1818 as 18,810 acres (7,610 ha) in extent. The moor has given its name to a National Park, which includes the Brendon Hills, the East Lyn Valley, the Vale of Porlock and 55 km (34 mi) of the Bristol Channel coast. The total area of the Exmoor National Park is 692.8 km² (267.5 sq mi), of which 71% is in Somerset and 29% in Devon.

The upland area is underlain by sedimentary rocks dating from the Devonian and early Carboniferous periods with Triassic and Jurassic age rocks on lower slopes. Where these reach the coast, cliffs are formed which are cut with ravines and waterfalls. It was recognised as a heritage coast in 1991. The highest point on Exmoor is Dunkery Beacon; at 519 metres (1,703 ft) it is also the highest point in Somerset. The terrain supports lowland heath communities, ancient woodland and blanket mire which provide habitats for scarce flora and fauna. There have also been reports of the Beast of Exmoor, a cryptozoological cat roaming Exmoor. Several areas have been designated as Nature Conservation Review and Geological Conservation Review sites.

There is evidence of human occupation from the Mesolithic. This developed for agriculture and extraction of mineral ores into the Bronze and Iron Ages. The remains of standing stones, cairns and bridges can still be identified. The royal forest was granted a charter in the 13th century, however foresters who managed the area were identified in the Domesday Book. In the Middle Ages sheep farming was common with a system of agistment licensing the grazing of livestock as the Inclosure Acts divided up the land. The area is now used for a range of recreational purposes. (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various Devon-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1The gatehouse of Rougemont Castle (from Exeter)
Image 2Sir Francis Drake (from Plymouth)
Image 3Plymouth Sound and Breakwater (from Plymouth)
Image 4Exeter St Davids Railway Station (from Exeter)
Image 5The Exeter Riddle Sculpture in Exeter High Street, created by artist Michael Fairfax and installed in 2005 (from Exeter)
Image 6Population pyramid of Plymouth (unitary authority) in 2021 (from Plymouth)
Image 7The Roland Levinsky Building – Faculty of Arts of the University of Plymouth (from Plymouth)
Image 8Royal William Victualling Yard, Stonehouse by Sir John Rennie,1825–33. (from Plymouth)
Image 9The Parade, Barbican (from Plymouth)
Image 10Heathland at Woodbury Common in south east Devon (from Devon)
Image 11Exeter Canal Basin (from Exeter)
Image 12Plymouth Drake's Island (1860s-1880s) by Francis Frith (from Plymouth)
Image 13A portion of Exeter's city wall, formed of both Roman and medieval stones (from Exeter)
Image 14The coat of arms of Devon County Council (from Devon)
Image 15The Exeter Law Courts (from Exeter)
Image 16The River Exe (from Exeter)
Image 17Smeaton's Tower (from Plymouth)
Image 18The Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Boniface (Stonehouse, Plymouth) (from Plymouth)
Image 19"The House That Moved", West Street, Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 20Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay (from Devon)
Image 21Remains of the medieval Exe Bridge, built around 1200 (from Exeter)
Image 22Prysten House, Finewell Street, 1498, is the oldest surviving house in Plymouth, and built from local Plymouth Limestone and Dartmoor granite (from Plymouth)
Image 23Exeter Civic Centre (from Exeter)
Image 24The High Street ca. 1895 (from Exeter)
Image 25Bridge carrying the M5 motorway across the River Exe (from Exeter)
Image 26The Devonport Leat on Dartmoor looking up stream (from Plymouth)
Image 27Plymouth (1860s-1880s) by Francis Frith (from Plymouth)
Image 28Naval War Memorial (from Plymouth)
Image 29Armada Way looking north (from Plymouth)
Image 30Saltram House remodelled by the architect Robert Adam (from Plymouth)
Image 31Civic Centre, completed 1962, symbolic of the Post War 'Heroic Modernism' of the Welfare State; a listed building since 2007 (from Plymouth)
Image 32The Mayflower Steps Memorial (from Plymouth)
Image 33County Hall, Exeter. Headquarters for Devon County Council. (from Devon)
Image 34Plymouth the Hoe (postcard c1920) by A.R. Quinton (from Plymouth)
Image 35Elliot Terrace, Plymouth Hoe (from Plymouth)
Image 36Laver Building, University of Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 37Exe Flood Relief Channel built after the floods of 1960 (from Exeter)
Image 38St Michael's Church and Episcopal Building (from Exeter)
Image 39Princesshay Shopping Centre with Exeter Cathedral in the background (from Exeter)
Image 40Piazza Terracina, Exeter, named after Terracina, Italy (from Exeter)
Image 41Siege of Plymouth, 1643 (from Plymouth)
Image 42The New Palace Theatre in 2008 (from Plymouth)
Image 43Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll of Plymouth mourning their lovers, who are soon to be transported to Botany Bay, 1792 (from Plymouth)
Image 44Barnfield Theatre (from Exeter)
Image 45Geological map of Wales & Southwest England (from Devon)
Image 46Lamp standard from the 1905 Exe bridge, installed at Butts Ferry, on Exeter Quayside, in 1983 (from Exeter)
Image 47The Great Hall in the Guildhall (from Plymouth)
Image 48Unloading mail by hand from the Sir Francis Drake at Millbay Docks, March 1926 (from Plymouth)
Image 49Watercolour by Olive Wharry circa 1942 of St. Sidwell's Church, Exeter, after the Blitz. In the early hours of 4th May 1942 a 250kg bomb fell directly on St Sidwells. The church tower was left standing but was so badly damaged that it was pulled down shortly after. A replacement church was built on the site. From the Royal Albert Memorial Museum's collection (63/2004/4). (from Exeter)
Image 50Exeter Cathedral and the Devon County War Memorial (from Exeter)
$Image 51Ilfracombe, on the coast of North Devon (from Devon)$

Image 51Ilfracombe, on the coast of North Devon (from Devon)
Image 52The beach at Westward Ho!, North Devon, looking north towards the shared estuary of the rivers Taw and Torridge (from Devon)
Image 53Cliffs in Devon (from Devon)
Image 54The Plymouth Combined Crown and County Court Centre (from Plymouth)
Image 55John Rocque's 1744 map of Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 56The Higher Market, Exeter, in 1943; at this time the larger firms such as Mac Fisheries had joined the smaller shopkeepers' stalls in the market, which, before the war, along with neighbouring Goldsmith Street, was earmarked for demolition; a new Civic Centre was to be built on the site. (from Exeter)
Image 57John Foulston's Town Hall, Column and Library in Devonport (from Plymouth)
Image 58An illustration of Exeter in 1563, entitled Civitas Exoniae (vulgo Excester) urbs primaria in comitatu Devoniae (from Exeter)
Image 59Grade I listed Town Hall, Column and Library in Devonport (from Plymouth)
Image 60Ponies grazing on Exmoor near Brendon, North Devon (from Devon)
Image 61The inner harbour, Brixham, south Devon, at low tide (from Devon)
Image 62The flag of the historic county of Devon (from Devon)
Image 63MV Pont-Aven: Brittany Ferries service to Roscoff, France and Santander, Spain in Millbay Docks (from Plymouth)
Image 64Exeter Guildhall, which dates from 1470 (from Exeter)
Image 65HMNB Devonport – the largest operational naval base in Western Europe. (from Plymouth)
Image 66the 'Invincible' Spanish Armada, 1588 (from Plymouth)
Image 67Charter map of Sutton harbour and Plymouth in 1540 (from Plymouth)
Image 68Exeter International Airport (from Exeter)
Image 69Frontispiece to Shapter's "History of the Cholera in Exeter in 1832" (from Exeter)
Image 70Roger Deakins, cinematographer (from Devon)
Image 71National Armada memorial (Britannia) (from Plymouth)
Image 72Plymouth Pavilions, home to the Plymouth City Patriots. (from Plymouth)
Image 73Population pyramid of Exeter (district) in 2021 (from Exeter)
Image 74Beckley Point (from Plymouth)
Image 75The Cathedral Green after a rare snowfall (from Exeter)
Image 76Agatha Christie, best selling crime novelist (from Devon)
Image 77Part of the seafront of Torquay, south Devon, at high tide (from Devon)
Image 78St David's Church, Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 79Menhir at Drizzlecombe (from Devon)
Image 80Northeastward view of Plymouth Sound from Mount Edgcumbe Country Park in Cornwall, with Drake's Island (centre) and, behind it from left to right, the Royal Citadel, the fuel tanks of Cattedown, and Mount Batten; in the background, the hills of Dartmoor. (from Plymouth)
Image 81Torquay sea front during Storm Emma – March 2018 (from Devon)
Image 82Oil on canvas painting by an unknown artist c.1870. These houses were later demolished to make way for St Edmund's Church. The painting depicts the edge of the River Exe flowing under three arches of the Old Exe Bridge, with houses on the bridge and on the river bank, St Edmund's Church can be seen in the top left. (from Exeter)
Image 83Interior of the Drake Circus Shopping Centre in 2006 (from Plymouth)
Image 84Home Park (from Plymouth)
Image 85Plymouth the Promenade Pier (postcard c1925) by A. R. Quinton (from Plymouth)
Image 86John Lewis Building (right), adjacent to Waterstones (left) in the busy high street (from Exeter)
Image 87Inter-city trains at Plymouth station, operated by Great Western Railway (from Plymouth)

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Little Trowlesworthy Tor on Lee Moor, near Cadover Bridge.

Recently featured: Bigbury sea tractor - Crazywell cross - South Devon Cattle - Dartmoor tors – Plymouth harbour – Westward Ho! beach

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Some of the larger settlements of Devon

See List of places in Devon for more information

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Did you know...

... that Plymouth's lighthouse, Smeaton's Tower (pictured), was dismantled and then rebuilt on Plymouth Hoe as a memorial?
... that Devon is the third largest of the English counties and has a population of 1,109,900?
... that the name Devon derives from the name of the Celtic people who inhabited the southwestern peninsula of Britain at the time of the Roman invasion?
... that Devon was one of the first areas of England settled following the end of the last ice age?
... that the St Nicholas Priory in Exeter is being restored with the same methods that were used 500 years ago?
... that Devon is the only county in England to have two separate coastlines?
... that there was no established coat of arms for Devon until 1926?
... that the English Riviera Geopark in Torbay is the world's only urban Geopark?

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Economy and industry of Devon • Flag of Devon • History of Devon • Notable people from Devon

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v t e Ceremonial county of Devon
Devon Portal
Unitary authorities	Plymouth Torbay
Boroughs or districts	East Devon Exeter Mid Devon North Devon South Hams Teignbridge Torridge West Devon
Major settlements (cities in italics)	Ashburton Axminster Bampton Barnstaple Bideford Bovey Tracey Brixham Buckfastleigh Budleigh Salterton Chagford Chudleigh Chulmleigh Colyton Crediton Cullompton Dartmouth Dawlish Exeter Exmouth Great Torrington Hatherleigh Holsworthy Honiton Ilfracombe Ivybridge Kingsbridge Kingsteignton Lynton Moretonhampstead Newton Abbot North Tawton Northam Okehampton Ottery St Mary Paignton Plymouth Plympton Plymstock Salcombe Seaton Sidmouth South Molton Tavistock Teignmouth Tiverton Topsham Torquay Totnes See also: List of civil parishes in Devon
Rivers	Ashburn Avon Axe Barle Bovey Bray Burn Clyst Creedy Culm Dart East Dart West Dart Erme Exe Heddon Lemon Lew Lumburn Lyd East Lyn West Lyn Meavy Mole Okement East Okement West Okement Otter Plym Sid Swincombe Tamar Tavy Taw Teign Thrushel Torridge Walkham Wallabrooke East Webburn West Webburn Wolf Yealm
Topics	Flag Devon County Council Parliamentary constituencies Economy Places Towns by population SSSIs Country houses Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings Scheduled monuments Bridges History Schools Museums Lord Lieutenants High Sheriffs Notable people Dartmoor Exmoor South Devon AONB Tamar Valley AONB Jurassic Coast South West Coast Path Two Moors Way North Devon's Biosphere Reserve