Portal:Devon

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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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John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979, and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979, he was tried at the Old Bailey on charges of conspiracy and incitement to murder his ex-boyfriend Norman Scott, a former model. Thorpe was acquitted on all charges, but the case, and the furore surrounding it, ended his political career.

Thorpe was the son and grandson of Conservative MPs, but decided to align with the small and ailing Liberal Party. After reading Law at Oxford University he became one of the Liberals' brightest stars in the 1950s. He entered Parliament at the age of 30, rapidly made his mark, and was elected party leader in 1967. After an uncertain start during which the party lost ground, Thorpe capitalised on the growing unpopularity of the Conservative and Labour parties to lead the Liberals through a period of electoral success. This culminated in the general election of February 1974, when the party won 6 million votes. Under the first-past-the-post electoral system this gave them only 14 seats, but in a hung parliament, no party having an overall majority, Thorpe was in a strong position. He was offered a cabinet post by the Conservative prime minister, Edward Heath, if he would bring the Liberals into a coalition. His price for such a deal, reform of the electoral system, was rejected by Heath, who resigned in favour of a minority Labour government.

The February 1974 election was the high-water mark of Thorpe's career. Thereafter his and his party's fortunes declined, particularly from late 1975, when rumours of his involvement in a plot to murder Norman Scott began to multiply. Thorpe resigned the leadership in May 1976, when his position became untenable. When the matter came to court three years later, Thorpe chose not to give evidence to avoid being cross-examined by counsel for the prosecution. This left many questions unanswered; despite his acquittal, Thorpe was discredited and did not return to public life. From the mid-1980s he was disabled by Parkinson's disease. During his long retirement he gradually recovered the affections of his party, and by the time of his death was honoured by a later generation of leaders, who drew attention to his record as an internationalist, a supporter of human rights, and an opponent of apartheid. (Full article...)

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

Image 1Siege of Plymouth, 1643 (from Plymouth)
Image 2John Lewis Building (right), adjacent to Waterstones (left) in the busy high street (from Exeter)
Image 3Watercolour 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 4Exeter Guildhall, which dates from 1470 (from Exeter)
Image 5Plymouth Drake's Island (1860s-1880s) by Francis Frith (from Plymouth)
Image 6Ponies grazing on Exmoor near Brendon, North Devon (from Devon)
Image 7Bridge carrying the M5 motorway across the River Exe (from Exeter)
Image 8The inner harbour, Brixham, south Devon, at low tide (from Devon)
Image 9John Rocque's 1744 map of Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 10Beckley Point (from Plymouth)
Image 11"The House That Moved", West Street, Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 12Oil 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 13Armada Way looking north (from Plymouth)
Image 14The New Palace Theatre in 2008 (from Plymouth)
Image 15Cliffs in Devon (from Devon)
Image 16Exeter Civic Centre (from Exeter)
Image 17A portion of Exeter's city wall, formed of both Roman and medieval stones (from Exeter)
Image 18Population pyramid of Exeter (district) in 2021 (from Exeter)
Image 19The High Street ca. 1895 (from Exeter)
$Image 20Ilfracombe, on the coast of North Devon (from Devon)$

Image 20Ilfracombe, on the coast of North Devon (from Devon)
Image 21Part of the seafront of Torquay, south Devon, at high tide (from Devon)
Image 22Grade I listed Town Hall, Column and Library in Devonport (from Plymouth)
Image 23Exe Flood Relief Channel built after the floods of 1960 (from Exeter)
Image 24Naval War Memorial (from Plymouth)
Image 25Remains of the medieval Exe Bridge, built around 1200 (from Exeter)
Image 26Plymouth (1860s-1880s) by Francis Frith (from Plymouth)
Image 27Roger Deakins, cinematographer (from Devon)
Image 28The Parade, Barbican (from Plymouth)
Image 29The gatehouse of Rougemont Castle (from Exeter)
Image 30Royal William Victualling Yard, Stonehouse by Sir John Rennie,1825–33. (from Plymouth)
Image 31Exeter International Airport (from Exeter)
Image 32Barnfield Theatre (from Exeter)
Image 33The coat of arms of Devon County Council (from Devon)
Image 34Laver Building, University of Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 35Frontispiece to Shapter's "History of the Cholera in Exeter in 1832" (from Exeter)
Image 36Geological map of Wales & Southwest England (from Devon)
Image 37The Exeter Riddle Sculpture in Exeter High Street, created by artist Michael Fairfax and installed in 2005 (from Exeter)
Image 38Plymouth Sound and Breakwater (from Plymouth)
Image 39An illustration of Exeter in 1563, entitled Civitas Exoniae (vulgo Excester) urbs primaria in comitatu Devoniae (from Exeter)
Image 40Agatha Christie, best selling crime novelist (from Devon)
Image 41Lamp standard from the 1905 Exe bridge, installed at Butts Ferry, on Exeter Quayside, in 1983 (from Exeter)
Image 42Saltram House remodelled by the architect Robert Adam (from Plymouth)
Image 43Prysten House, Finewell Street, 1498, is the oldest surviving house in Plymouth, and built from local Plymouth Limestone and Dartmoor granite (from Plymouth)
Image 44Plymouth the Promenade Pier (postcard c1925) by A. R. Quinton (from Plymouth)
Image 45National Armada memorial (Britannia) (from Plymouth)
Image 46Unloading mail by hand from the Sir Francis Drake at Millbay Docks, March 1926 (from Plymouth)
Image 47Northeastward 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 48The Mayflower Steps Memorial (from Plymouth)
Image 49The Great Hall in the Guildhall (from Plymouth)
Image 50Plymouth Pavilions, home to the Plymouth City Patriots. (from Plymouth)
Image 51Charter map of Sutton harbour and Plymouth in 1540 (from Plymouth)
Image 52The flag of the historic county of Devon (from Devon)
Image 53The Exeter Law Courts (from Exeter)
Image 54Interior of the Drake Circus Shopping Centre in 2006 (from Plymouth)
Image 55Menhir at Drizzlecombe (from Devon)
Image 56Population pyramid of Plymouth (unitary authority) in 2021 (from Plymouth)
Image 57The Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Boniface (Stonehouse, Plymouth) (from Plymouth)
Image 58Exeter Canal Basin (from Exeter)
Image 59HMNB Devonport – the largest operational naval base in Western Europe. (from Plymouth)
Image 60St Michael's Church and Episcopal Building (from Exeter)
Image 61The Cathedral Green after a rare snowfall (from Exeter)
Image 62Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay (from Devon)
Image 63The Devonport Leat on Dartmoor looking up stream (from Plymouth)
Image 64St David's Church, Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 65Heathland at Woodbury Common in south east Devon (from Devon)
Image 66Torquay sea front during Storm Emma – March 2018 (from Devon)
Image 67Exeter St Davids Railway Station (from Exeter)
Image 68Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll of Plymouth mourning their lovers, who are soon to be transported to Botany Bay, 1792 (from Plymouth)
Image 69Sir Francis Drake (from Plymouth)
Image 70Home Park (from Plymouth)
Image 71The beach at Westward Ho!, North Devon, looking north towards the shared estuary of the rivers Taw and Torridge (from Devon)
Image 72the 'Invincible' Spanish Armada, 1588 (from Plymouth)
Image 73Exeter Cathedral and the Devon County War Memorial (from Exeter)
Image 74County Hall, Exeter. Headquarters for Devon County Council. (from Devon)
Image 75John Foulston's Town Hall, Column and Library in Devonport (from Plymouth)
Image 76Civic Centre, completed 1962, symbolic of the Post War 'Heroic Modernism' of the Welfare State; a listed building since 2007 (from Plymouth)
Image 77Piazza Terracina, Exeter, named after Terracina, Italy (from Exeter)
Image 78Plymouth the Hoe (postcard c1920) by A.R. Quinton (from Plymouth)
Image 79MV Pont-Aven: Brittany Ferries service to Roscoff, France and Santander, Spain in Millbay Docks (from Plymouth)
Image 80The 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 81The River Exe (from Exeter)
Image 82The Plymouth Combined Crown and County Court Centre (from Plymouth)
Image 83Smeaton's Tower (from Plymouth)
Image 84Inter-city trains at Plymouth station, operated by Great Western Railway (from Plymouth)
Image 85The Roland Levinsky Building – Faculty of Arts of the University of Plymouth (from Plymouth)
Image 86Princesshay Shopping Centre with Exeter Cathedral in the background (from Exeter)
Image 87Elliot Terrace, Plymouth Hoe (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