DEVON, a south-western county of England, bounded north west and'north by the Bristol channel, north-east by Somerset and Dorset, south-east and south by the English channel, and west by Cornwall. The area, 2,604.9 sq.m., is exceeded only by those of Yorkshire and Lincolnshire among the English counties. East to west structural lines dating from Armorican times are dominant features. The high ground to the north of Barnstaple may be considered as an extension of the Quantock hills—Bren don hills—Exmoor forest line, and terminates in Morte point and Baggy point, which face Lundy. Here are exposed a series of slates, grits and limestones considered so characteristic of the county that it was called the Devonian system (q.v.). It repre sents here the northern rim of a trough in the hollow of which lie the Culm measures of central Devon. The same series appears in the southern rim of the trough in the latitude of Tavistock, but this line is much affected by the granitic mass of Dartmoor, intruded into the Culm and Devonian strata in post-Carboniferous times and subsequently exposed by denudation. The hard core stands out in High Willhays (2,039 ft.), Yes Tor (2,028 ft.) and other peaks. Evidences of Devonian volcanic activity are abund ant in the masses of diabase, dolerite, etc., at Bradford and Trusham, south of Exeter, around Plymouth and at Ashprington. Perhaps the most interesting is the Carboniferous volcano of Brent Tor, near Tavistock. An Eocene deposit, the product of the denudation of the Dartmoor hills, lies in a small basin at Bovey Tracey; it yields beds of lignite and valuable clays.
The eastern side of the county is built of younger rocks, un conf ormable above the old ones and dipping gently eastwards. The lower and most westerly situated member of the younger rocks is a series of breccias, conglomerates, sandstones and marls which are exposed on the coast by Dawlish and Teignmouth, and extend inland, producing a red soil, past Exeter and Tiverton. A long narrow strip of the same formation reaches out westward on the top of the Culm as far as Jacobstow. Farther east, the Bunter pebble beds are represented by the well-known pebble deposit of Budleigh Salterton, whence they are traceable inwards towards Rockbeare. These are succeeded by Keuper marls and sandstones, well exposed at Sidmouth, where the Upper Greensand plateau is clearly seen to overlie them. Greensand covers all the high ground northward from Sidmouth as far as the Blackdown hills. At Beer Head and Axmouth the chalk is seen, and at the latter place is a landslip caused by the springs which issue from the Greensand below the chalk. The lower chalk at Beer has been mined for building stone, and was f ormerly in considerable demand. At the extreme east of the county, Rhaetic and Lias beds make their appearance, the former with a "bone" bed bearing the remains of saurians and fish.
Local Tertiary movements may account for relics of peneplains, one of which has been located at a height of about ,000 ft. on the south-eastern edge of Dartmoor, and for the north-west and north-north-west systems of faults, which can be traced in several valleys on the eastern edge of Dartmoor. The raised beaches of Hope's Nose, the Thatcher Stone and other parts of the coast, together with traces of submerged forests, and most of all the long, steep-sided, drowned valleys forming the numerous inlets of the south Devon coast are evidences of recent coastal movements.
The Tamar, which constitutes the boundary between Devon and Cornwall, flows into the English channel. Its estuary has been utilized for the harbours of Plymouth and Devonport. The other principal rivers rise on Dartmoor. These include the Teign, Dart, Plym and Tavy, falling into the English channel, and the Taw flowing north towards Bideford bay. The river Torridge, also dis charging northward, receives part of its waters from Dartmoor through the Okement, but itself rises in the angle of high land near Hartland point on the north coast. The lesser Dartmoor streams are the Avon, the Erme and the Yealm, all running south. The Exe rises on Exmoor in Somerset, but the main part of its course is through Devon, and it is joined on its way to the English channel by the lesser streams of the Culm, the Creedy and the Clyst. The Otter, rising on the Blackdown hills, also runs south, and the Axe, for part of its course, divides the counties of Devon and Dorset. The finds made at Oreston, near Plymouth, at Kent's Cavern, near Torquay, at Windmill Hill Cavern, Brixham, and at Cattedown, Plymouth, suggest that these limestone areas with southerly aspects were much favoured by Palaeolithic man. Later settlement seems to have been chiefly on the higher land of the interior. Tumuli, stone circles and alignments are numerous on Dartmoor, and are fairly well distributed over the high land of the county. Hill forts and camps occupy strategic positions and their distribution suggests that Dartmoor had already lost much of its former significance when they were built. Many are found around the coasts guarding routes into the interior.
Roman relics have been found from time to time at Exeter (Isca Damnoniorum), the only large Roman station in the county.
The Saxon conquest of Devon must have begun some time be fore the 8th century, for in 7oo there existed at Exeter a famous Saxon school. By this time, however, the Saxons had become Christians, and established their supremacy, not by destructive inroads, but by a gradual process of colonization, settling among the native Welsh and allowing them to hold lands under equal laws. The final incorporation of the district which is now Devon with the kingdom of Wessex must have taken place about 766. At the beginning of the 9th century Wessex was divided into definite pagi, probably corresponding to the later shires, and the Saxon Chronicle mentions the district by name in 823, when a battle was fought betWeen the Welsh in Cornwall and the people of Devon at Camelford. During the Danish invasions of the 9th century aldermen of Devon are frequently mentioned. In 851 the invaders were defeated by the fyrd and aldermen of Devon, and in 878 they were again defeated with great slaughter. In oo3, in the reign of Ethelred the Unready, the Danes sacked Exeter.
Devon, in the 7th century, formed part of the vast bishopric of Dorchester-on-Thames. In 7o5 it was attached to the newly created diocese of Sherborne, and in 910 Archbishop Plegmund constituted Devon a separate diocese, and placed the see at Credi ton. About o3o the dioceses of Devon and Cornwall were united, and in o49 the see was fixed at Exeter.
William the Conqueror immediately recognized the importance of securing the loyalty of the West by the capture of Exeter. The city withstood an i8-days' siege, and William was only ad mitted at length upon honourable terms. The many vast fiefs held by Norman barons in Devon were known as honours, chief among them being Plympton, Okehampton, Barnstaple, Harber ton and Totnes. The honour of Plympton was bestowed in the t2th century on the Redvers family, together with the earldom of Devon; in the t3th century it passed to the Courtenay family (q.v.), who had already become possessed of the honour of Oke hampton, and who in 1335 obtained the earldom. The dukedom of Exeter was bestowed, in the i4th century, on the Holland family, which became extinct in the reign of Edward IV. The ancestors of Sir Walter Raleigh, who was born at Budleigh, had long held considerable estates in the county. In 1204 the inhabitants paid 5,000 marks to have the county disafforested, with the exception of Dartmoor and Exmoor.
Devon had an independent sheriff, the appointment Ileing at first hereditary, but afterwards held for one year only. In 132o complaint was made that all the hundreds of Devon 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, Ash burton, Chagford, and Plympton. The ancient miners' parlia ment was held in the open air on Crockern Tor.
In 114o the castles of Exeter and Plympton were held against Stephen by Baldwin de Redvers. In the i4th and t5th centuries the French made frequent attacks on the coast. During the Wars of the Roses frequent skirmishes took place between the earl of Devon and Lord Bonville, the respective champions of the Lan castrian and Yorkist parties. In 147o Warwick and Clarence were pursued as far as Exeter by Edward IV. after the battle of "Lose Coat Field." Warwick subsequently escaped to the Continent from Dartmouth. Richard III. came to Exeter to punish per sonally those who had inflamed the West against him. Hundreds were outlawed, including the bishop and the dean. Perkin War beck besieged Exeter in 1497, and Henry VII. came down to thank the citizens for their resistance and to judge the prisoners. Great disturbances in the county followed the inaugural service of Edward VI.'s prayer book on Whit Sunday, 1549. A priest at Sampford Courtenay was persuaded to read the old Mass on the following day. Swiftly the insubordination spread into a serious revolt, in which the men of Cornwall joined, and Exeter suffered a distressing siege before it was relieved by Lord Russell. On the outbreak of the Civil War the county as a whole favoured the parliament, but the prevailing desire was for peace, and in 1643 a treaty for the cessation of hostilities in Devon and Corn wall was agreed upon. Skirmishes, however, continued until the capture of Dartmouth and Exeter in 1646 put an end to the struggle. After the Monmouth rebellion, Judge Jefferies held a "bloody assize" at Exeter. In 1688 the prince of Orange landed at Torbay and was entertained for several days at Forde and at Exeter.
The tin mines of Devon have been worked from time imme morial, and in the t4th century mines of tin, copper, lead, gold and silver are mentioned. At the time of the Domesday Survey the salt industry was important, and there were 99 mills in the county and 13 fisheries. From an early period the chief manufacture was that of woollen cloth, and a statute 4 Ed. IV. permitted the manu facture of cloths of a distinct make in certain parts of Devon. About 1505 Anthony Bonvis, an Italian, introduced an improved method of spinning into the county, and cider-making is men tioned in the 16th century. In 168o the lace industry was already flourishing at Colyton and Ottery St. Mary, and flax, hemp and malt were largely produced in the 17th and i8th centuries.
Devon returned two members to parliament in 129o, and in 1295 Barnstaple, Exeter, Plympton, Tavistock, Torrington and Totnes were also represented. In 1831 the county, with its bor oughs, returned 26 members, but under the Reform Act of 1832 they were reduced to 18. Subsequent bills brought further reductions. The last redistribution bill (1918) left the county with a total of II members.
The churches are for the most part of the Perpendicular period, dating from the middle of the I4th to the end of the I 5th century. Exeter cathedral is an exception, the whole (except the Norman towers) being very beautiful Decorated work. The special fea tures of Devonshire churches are the richly-carved pulpits and chancel screens of wood. The largest and the most beautiful screen is that at Hartland (c. 1450). Granite crosses are frequent, the finest being that of Coplestone, near Crediton. A number of ancient rude stone crosses stand among the prehistoric pagan re mains on the wastes of Dartmoor. Monastic remains are scanty; the principal are those at Tor, Buckfast, Tavistock and Buck land abbeys. Suppressed in 1539, Buckfast abbey became by turns a ruin and a private house. In 1882 it was bought by some Benedictine monks, who had been exiled from France. In 1907 they began the reconstruction of the abbey, which was opened for public worship by Cardinal Bourne in 1922. Among domestic buildings may be mentioned the i4th century parsonage at Little Hempston, the houses of Wear Gifford, Bradley and Dartington of the 15th century; Bradfield and Holcombe Rogus (Eliza bethan) and Forde (Jacobean). The ruined castles of Oke hampton (Edward I.), Exeter, with its vast British earthworks, Berry Pomeroy (Henry III., with ruins of a large Tudor man sion), Totnes (Henry III.) and Compton (early 15th century), are all interesting.
Climate and Agriculture.—The climate is more humid than that of the eastern or south-eastern parts of England. The mean annual temperature somewhat exceeds that of the midlands, but the average summer heat is rather less than that of the southern counties to the east. The air of the Dartmoor highlands is sharp and bracing. Mists are frequent, and snow often lies long. On the south coast frost is little known, and hydrangeas, myrtles, geraniums and heliotrope live through the winter without pro tection. The climate of Sidmouth, Teignmouth, Torquay and other watering places on this coast is very equable, the mean tempera ture in January being 43.6° at Plymouth. The north coast, ex posed to the storms of the Atlantic, is more bracing; although there also, in the more sheltered nooks (as at Combe Martin), myrtles of great size and age flower freely, and produce their annual crop of berries.
The cultivated area falls a little below the average of the Eng lish counties. There are, however, about 298,690ac. of rough grazing, and 667,961 ac. of permanent grass. The arable land is estimated at 466,919 acres. Oats, wheat, barley and root-crops are chiefly grown. The Devon breed of cattle is well adapted both for fattening and for dairy purposes; while sheep are kept in great numbers on the hill pastures. Devon is specially famous for clotted cream and junket. The bulk of the acreage under green crops is occupied by turnips, swedes, and mangold. Orchards occupy a large acreage, and consist chiefly of apple trees, impor tant for the manufacture of cider.
Fisheries.—Large quantities of the pilchard and 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 trawling is the main feature of the Devonshire industry, whereas seining and driving characterize that of Cornwall. Pil chard, cod, sprats, brill, plaice, soles, turbot, shrimps, lobsters, oysters and mussels are met with, besides herring and mackerel, which are fairly plentiful. After Plymouth the principal fishing station is at Brixham, but there are lesser stations in every bay and estuary.
Other Industries.—The principal industrial works in the county are the various Government establishments at Plymouth and Devonport. Among other industries may be noted the lace works at Tiverton; the manufacture of pillow-lace for which Honiton and its neighbourhood has long been famous; and the potteries and terra-cotta works of Bovey Tracey and Watcombe. Woollen goods and serges are made at Buckfastleigh and Ash burton, and boots and shoes at Crediton.
Minerals.—Silver-lead was formerly worked at Combe Martin, near the north coast, and elsewhere. Tin has been worked on Dartmoor (in stream works) from an unknown period. Copper was not much worked before the end of the i8th century. Tin occurs in the granite of Dartmoor, and along its borders, and especially, with zinc and iron, around Tavistock, which has the Devon Great Consols mine within 4m., which from 1843-71 were the richest of copper mines. But Devonshire mining is affected by the same causes as that of Cornwall. The quantity of ore has greatly diminished, and the cost of raising it from the deep mines prevents competition with foreign markets. In many mines tin underlies the general depth of the copper, and is worked when the latter has been exhausted. Great quantities of refined arsenic have been produced at the Devon Great Consols mine, by elimination from the iron pyrites contained in the various lodes. Manganese occurs in the neighbourhood of Exeter, in the valley of the Teign and in north Devon; but the most profitable mines are in the Tavistock district. In the 14th century, tin, copper, lead, gold and silver mines are mentioned.
The other mineral productions of the county consist of marbles, building stones, slates and potters' clay. The granite of Dart moor is much quarried near Princetown, near Moreton Hamp stead on the north-east of Dartmoor, and elsewhere. Hard traps, which occur in many places, are also much used for building, as are the limestones of Buckfastleigh and of Plymouth. The Roborough stone, used from an early period in Devonshire churches, is found near Tavistock, and is a hard porphyrytic elvan, taking a fine polish. Excellent roofing slates occur in the Devonian series round the southern part of Dartmoor. The chief quarries are near Ashburton and Plymouth (Cann quarry). Pot ters' clay is worked at King's Teignton, whence it is largely exported; at Bovey Tracey; and at Watcombe near Torquay. The Watcombe clay is of the finest quality. China clay or kaolin is found on the southern side of Dartmoor, at Lee Moor, and near Trowlesworthy. There is a large deposit of umber close to Ashburton.
The area of the administrative county and associated county boroughs is 1,671,364 acres, pop. (1931) 732,869. There are ten municipal boroughs, two county boroughs, and 23 urban districts.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-T. Westcote, Survey of Devon, written about 163o, Bibliography.-T. Westcote, Survey of Devon, written about 163o, and first printed in 1845 ; J. Prince, Worthies of Devon (Exeter, 1701) ; Tristram Risdon, Chronological Description or Survey of the County of Devon (1714) ; Sir W. Pole, Collections towards a History of the County of Devon (1791) ; R. Polwhele, History of Devonshire (3 vols., Exeter, 1797, 1798-1800) ; T. Moore, History of Devon from the Ear liest Period to the Present Time (vols. i., ii., 1829-31) ; G. Oliver, Historic Collections relating to the Monasteries in Devon (Exeter, 182o) ; D. and S. Lysons, Magna Britannia (vol. vi., 1822) ; Ecclesiasti cal Antiquities in Devon (Exeter, 1844) ; Mrs. Bray, Traditions of Devonshire, in a series of letters to Robert Southey (London, 1838) ; G. C. Boase, Devonshire Bibliography (1883) ; R. N. Worth, History of Devonshire (1886 ; new edition, 1895) ; C. Worthy, Devonshire Par ishes (Exeter, 1887) ; Sir W. R. Drake, Devonshire Notes and Notelets (1888) ; S. Hewett, Peasant Speech of Devon (1892) ; Devonshire Will (18o6) ; Victoria County History, Devonshire. "The Transactions of the Devonshire Association" are invaluable. There are great numbers of more popular works, such as those by the late Rev. S. Baring-Gould.