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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Lydford Castle's tower, seen from the north-west

Lydford Castle is a medieval castle in the town of Lydford, Devon, England. The first castle in Lydford, sometimes termed the Norman fort, was a small ringwork built in a corner of the Anglo-Saxon fortified burh in the years after the Norman conquest of England. It was intended to help control Devon following the widespread revolt against Norman rule in 1068. The Norman fort had been abandoned by the middle of the 12th century.

The second castle in Lydford was constructed in 1195 following a wave of law and order problems across England. It included a stone tower with a surrounding bailey, and rapidly became used as a prison and court to administer the laws in the Forest of Dartmoor and the Devon stannaries. The tower was rebuilt in the middle of the 13th century, probably in the 1260s by Richard, the Earl of Cornwall. It was redesigned to resemble a motte and bailey castle, an antiquated design for the period but one that was heavily symbolic of authority and power. In 1342 the castle, still being used as a prison and courtroom, passed to the Duchy of Cornwall, who owned it until the 20th century.

The castle was repeatedly renovated and then left to deteriorate, so its condition varied considerably over time. Nonetheless, other than a period during the English Civil War and the Restoration in the 17th century, Lydford Castle played an important part in stannary and forest administration until the 19th century. The castle acquired a bad reputation for injustice in the 14th century, and complaints about "Lydford Law" persisted for centuries. In the early 19th century, however, Dartmoor Prison was constructed, and Lydford ceased to be the centre for legal administration. The castle had fallen into ruin by the middle of the century.

In 1932, Lydford Castle passed into the hands of the state, and in the 21st century is run by English Heritage as a tourist attraction. Historian Andrew Saunders has described the castle as architecturally significant, being "the earliest example of a purpose-built gaol" in England. The earthworks of the Norman fort are owned by the National Trust and are open to the public. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll of Plymouth mourning their lovers, who are soon to be transported to Botany Bay, 1792 (from Plymouth)
Image 2The coat of arms of Devon County Council (from Devon)
Image 3An illustration of Exeter in 1563, entitled Civitas Exoniae (vulgo Excester) urbs primaria in comitatu Devoniae (from Exeter)
Image 4John Lewis Building (right), adjacent to Waterstones (left) in the busy high street (from Exeter)
Image 5Royal William Victualling Yard, Stonehouse by Sir John Rennie,1825–33. (from Plymouth)
Image 6The River Exe (from Exeter)
Image 7Charter map of Sutton harbour and Plymouth in 1540 (from Plymouth)
Image 8Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay (from Devon)
Image 9County Hall, Exeter. Headquarters for Devon County Council. (from Devon)
Image 10Geological map of Wales & Southwest England (from Devon)
Image 11Civic Centre, completed 1962, symbolic of the Post War 'Heroic Modernism' of the Welfare State; a listed building since 2007 (from Plymouth)
Image 12The High Street ca. 1895 (from Exeter)
Image 13The Exeter Riddle Sculpture in Exeter High Street, created by artist Michael Fairfax and installed in 2005 (from Exeter)
Image 14Bridge carrying the M5 motorway across the River Exe (from Exeter)
Image 15Cliffs in Devon (from Devon)
Image 16Beckley Point (from Plymouth)
Image 17Torquay sea front during Storm Emma – March 2018 (from Devon)
Image 18Naval War Memorial (from Plymouth)
Image 19Remains of the medieval Exe Bridge, built around 1200 (from Exeter)
Image 20Saltram House remodelled by the architect Robert Adam (from Plymouth)
Image 21Exeter Cathedral and the Devon County War Memorial (from Exeter)
Image 22The Mayflower Steps Memorial (from Plymouth)
$Image 23Ilfracombe, on the coast of North Devon (from Devon)$

Image 23Ilfracombe, on the coast of North Devon (from Devon)
Image 24Part of the seafront of Torquay, south Devon, at high tide (from Devon)
Image 25Elliot Terrace, Plymouth Hoe (from Plymouth)
Image 26Sir Francis Drake (from Plymouth)
Image 27Piazza Terracina, Exeter, named after Terracina, Italy (from Exeter)
Image 28Home Park (from Plymouth)
Image 29John Rocque's 1744 map of Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 30Population pyramid of Plymouth (unitary authority) in 2021 (from Plymouth)
Image 31The Roland Levinsky Building – Faculty of Arts of the University of Plymouth (from Plymouth)
Image 32the 'Invincible' Spanish Armada, 1588 (from Plymouth)
Image 33Unloading mail by hand from the Sir Francis Drake at Millbay Docks, March 1926 (from Plymouth)
Image 34National Armada memorial (Britannia) (from Plymouth)
Image 35Princesshay Shopping Centre with Exeter Cathedral in the background (from Exeter)
Image 36Inter-city trains at Plymouth station, operated by Great Western Railway (from Plymouth)
Image 37Population pyramid of Exeter (district) in 2021 (from Exeter)
Image 38Oil 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 39Siege of Plymouth, 1643 (from Plymouth)
Image 40Plymouth (1860s-1880s) by Francis Frith (from Plymouth)
Image 41Plymouth Pavilions, home to the Plymouth City Patriots. (from Plymouth)
Image 42The Plymouth Combined Crown and County Court Centre (from Plymouth)
Image 43The beach at Westward Ho!, North Devon, looking north towards the shared estuary of the rivers Taw and Torridge (from Devon)
Image 44Watercolour 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 45The Devonport Leat on Dartmoor looking up stream (from Plymouth)
Image 46Interior of the Drake Circus Shopping Centre in 2006 (from Plymouth)
Image 47Plymouth Drake's Island (1860s-1880s) by Francis Frith (from Plymouth)
Image 48The Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Boniface (Stonehouse, Plymouth) (from Plymouth)
Image 49Heathland at Woodbury Common in south east Devon (from Devon)
Image 50Barnfield Theatre (from Exeter)
Image 51The flag of the historic county of Devon (from Devon)
Image 52The Cathedral Green after a rare snowfall (from Exeter)
Image 53The 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 54Northeastward 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 55Roger Deakins, cinematographer (from Devon)
Image 56Smeaton's Tower (from Plymouth)
Image 57Lamp standard from the 1905 Exe bridge, installed at Butts Ferry, on Exeter Quayside, in 1983 (from Exeter)
Image 58Exeter Civic Centre (from Exeter)
Image 59Exeter International Airport (from Exeter)
Image 60The gatehouse of Rougemont Castle (from Exeter)
Image 61Exeter St Davids Railway Station (from Exeter)
Image 62St David's Church, Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 63Plymouth the Hoe (postcard c1920) by A.R. Quinton (from Plymouth)
Image 64Frontispiece to Shapter's "History of the Cholera in Exeter in 1832" (from Exeter)
Image 65Agatha Christie, best selling crime novelist (from Devon)
Image 66"The House That Moved", West Street, Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 67Grade I listed Town Hall, Column and Library in Devonport (from Plymouth)
Image 68Exe Flood Relief Channel built after the floods of 1960 (from Exeter)
Image 69Prysten House, Finewell Street, 1498, is the oldest surviving house in Plymouth, and built from local Plymouth Limestone and Dartmoor granite (from Plymouth)
Image 70Exeter Canal Basin (from Exeter)
Image 71The Parade, Barbican (from Plymouth)
Image 72MV Pont-Aven: Brittany Ferries service to Roscoff, France and Santander, Spain in Millbay Docks (from Plymouth)
Image 73Plymouth Sound and Breakwater (from Plymouth)
Image 74Armada Way looking north (from Plymouth)
Image 75HMNB Devonport – the largest operational naval base in Western Europe. (from Plymouth)
Image 76The inner harbour, Brixham, south Devon, at low tide (from Devon)
Image 77A portion of Exeter's city wall, formed of both Roman and medieval stones (from Exeter)
Image 78Ponies grazing on Exmoor near Brendon, North Devon (from Devon)
Image 79John Foulston's Town Hall, Column and Library in Devonport (from Plymouth)
Image 80Laver Building, University of Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 81The New Palace Theatre in 2008 (from Plymouth)
Image 82Menhir at Drizzlecombe (from Devon)
Image 83Exeter Guildhall, which dates from 1470 (from Exeter)
Image 84The Exeter Law Courts (from Exeter)
Image 85St Michael's Church and Episcopal Building (from Exeter)
Image 86Plymouth the Promenade Pier (postcard c1925) by A. R. Quinton (from Plymouth)
Image 87The Great Hall in the Guildhall (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