swuklink: Devon, England

The County of Devonshire OS Grid Ref: ST675188

Maps from Multimap
1:200,000
1:100,000
1:50,000
1:25,000
1:10,000

This western county if part of the peninsula which extends to Land's End in Cornwall which bounds it to the west. To the north lies the Bristol channel while to the south is the the English Channel.

The county is unique in that it possesses two separate and dramatic coasts on the Bristol Channel to the north and the English Cannel to the south. Both are designated "Heritage Coast" and may be walked along their entirety on the South West Coast Path. It also conatins two National Parks; Dartmoor National Park in its entirety and the Exmoor National Park which lies partly in Somerset.

Inland, Devonconsists of attractive rolling rural scenery, with many picturesque villages with thatched cottages, some of cob. Its features make the county a popular holiday destination, not only for Britons, but also visitors from further abroad and it is reknowned for its popular holiday resorts such as Combe Martin, Dawlish, Ilfracombe, Sidmouth and Teignmouth.

Exeter is the county town while Plymouth (a unitary authority) is the largest town in the county.

Administration

Dartmoor
National Park

Economy
Exmoor
National Park

History
Museums
Railways
Time-Line
Local Government
Railways
Towns
Villages

National Parks
Dartmoor
Exmoor

Wildlife

This western county if part of the peninsula which extends to Land's End in Cornwall which bounds it to the west. To the north lies the Bristol channel while to the south is the the English Channel. On the east it is bounded by Somerset and Dorset.

The wide southern coastal plain rises rapidly to the tableland of Dartmoor. This itself rises steadily to the central plain which crosses the county from NW to SE. The ground continues to rise northwards to Exmoor which extends almost to the Bristol Channel coast.

The landscape of the south coast consists of rolling hills dotted with small towns, such as Dartmouth, Salcombe, Totnes etc., and the towns of Torquay and Paignton are the principal south-coast seaside resorts coast.

The higher north of the county is very rural with few major towns except for Barnstaple, Great Torrington and Bideford.

The main rivers are the Tamar (which forms Devon's western boundary with Cornwall), Avon, Exe, Dart, Teign and Tor.

Agriculture in Devon is limited by the extent of the moors but the county is noted for its dairy farming and large numbers of sheep are also reared.

Devon has been inhabitted by man very early in prehistoric times. After the departure of the Romans it was eventually conquered by the invading Saxons and became part of the Saxon kingdom of Wessex.

As in Cornwall, tin, copper, zinc and manganese were once mined in the county but the industry which relied on costly deep mining succumbed to cheaper ores from abroad.

The importance of the fishing industry, in the early 20th century the largest industry in Devon, is much reduced. The naval station and harbour at Plymouth provided much employment.

CORNWALL DEVON DORSET HAMPSHIRE ISLE OF WIGHT SOMERSET WILTSHIRE

The Hidden Places of Devon
, ed. David Gerrard, publisher Travel Publishing Ltd., 1998, ISBN1902007123

Recommend a Book for this Page

Hits on this page since December 6th

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

current year: previous year:

Introduction
Index of Contents
More about Devon

Other Counties

ALPHABETICAL
SITE INDEX
Select ;-
Aa-Az Ba-Bz Ca-Cz Da-Dz Ea-Ez Fa-Fz Ga-Gz Ha-Hz Ia-Iz Ja-Jz Ka-Kz La-Lz Ma-Mz Na-Nz Oa-Oz Pa-Pz Qa-Qz Ra-Rz Sa-Sz Ta-Tz Ua-Uz Va-Vz Wa-Wz Ya-Yz
SW COUNTIES

No messages posted on this page

Only Members of the Site can post messages in this section. Signing in is easy from our Home Page.

DISCLAIMER: Whilst we endeavour to ensure the content of this site is correct, we cannot undertake that information you find here, is, or will remain accurate and complete. We do not warrant that any information contained on this site is fit for any purpose. If you wish to place reliance on any such information you must check its accuracy by some other means before doing so.

MEMBERS get aditional features on our pages and will soon be able to interact with the site and add their views and informastion. Sign up, from the Home-Page, is simple and involves typing in your email address and a password of your choice.

If you are in any way connected with any location or interested in the subject mentioned on this page and have an hour or two a month to spare, we would welcome you as a local moderator - please email the webmaster by CLICKING HERE.