the British name of which was Dyvnaint, and whose inhabitants were called Dyvonynwyn, or inhabitants of low lands, formed a part of the district included in the appellation of Danmonium. During the dominion of the Romans, it was included in the district called Britannia Prima; by the Saxons it was constituted a part of the kingdom of Wessex.
The county of Devon is the second in size of all the English shires, being exceeded by that of York only. On the north and north-west, it is bounded by the Irish channel; on the west by the rivers Tamar, and Marsland-waters; on the south and south-east, it has the British channel; on the east and north-east, it is limited by the counties of Dorset and Somerset. Its figure is very irregular, but something like a trapezium. Its greatest extent from north to south is about 71 miles; and from east to west 72; its circumference being about 287, including about 1,633,280 acres of land; thirty-three hundreds, 394 parishes, and forty market towns.
The county of Devon is in the see of Exeter, and included in the western circuit. The assizes are held at the county town, Exeter. It returns twenty-six members to Parliament, viz.—two for the county, and two for each of the following places: Exeter, Totness, Plymouth, Oakhampton, Barnstable, Plympton, Honiton, Tavistock, Ashburton, Dartmouth, Bere-Alston, and Tiverton.
A county of so great extent as Devonshire must have a diversified and irregular surface. The mountains in the vicinity of Dartmoor rise to 1500 and 1800 feet. On the south and south-east are extensive wastes, whose surfaces are covered with rough masses of detached granite and immense rocks. To the north and north-west are large tracts of swampy ground, and many peat bogs of great depth. But that part called the Vale of Exeter, a district, the area of which is about 200 square miles, consists of some very fine land; and though the soils vary considerably, the most prevalent are a strong red loam, foliated clay, intersected with veins of ironstone, and a mixture of sand and gravel. The district called the South Hams is frequently termed the garden of Devonshire, from its fertility. It is strikingly diversified by bold swells and luxuriant vales, and in many parts towards the north, the scenery is picturesque and romantic. The surface and soil of West Devon are remarkably uniform, the latter of which consists of perished slate-stone, rubble and mud, intermixed with a portion of loamy mould. Here the cultivated lands are all enclosed, and villages and farm-houses are frequent. North Devon, or the country round Bideford, Barnstaple, and South Molton, contains much productive land, and is greatly diversified with beautiful scenery.
Although the climate of Devonshire varies much in different districts, still from its situation between two seas, its immediate exposure to the south-west winds, as they blow from the ocean, and the elevated summits of the surrounding mountains, it is, upon the whole, much milder than that of the other English counties. The winters are exceedingly mild, and proverbially favourable to the cure of pulmonary complaints. The air is generally dry and warm, and the harvest earlier than in any other parts of the west. On the southern coast, the myrtle flourishes in the open air unsheltered.
The principal rivers of Devonshire are, the Taw, River Torridge, the Dart, the Teign, and the Exe; and the lesser are, the Tavy, the Plym, the Yealm, the Arme, the Aven, the Otter, the Sid, the Axe, and the Lyn. In some of them, particularly the Tamar and Tavy, the salmon-fishing is valuable. The royalty of the Tavy belongs to the Drake family, who have constructed a very large weir across the river, furnished with traps for taking the salmon on their way down after a flood. The Exe salmon is esteemed superior to that of any other river in this country. These streams furnish trout in great plenty; plaice, the torpedo, or electric ray, the opah or king-fish, and the sepia or cuttle fish, are found in and at the mouths of these rivers.
The Grand Western Canal connects the southeastern coast and the Bristol channel. Its length is about 35 miles, traversing partly through this county, and passing the towns of Exeter, Tiverton, Taunton, &c. The Tamar Canal follows the course of the Tamar river, on the southern coast of Devonshire. Its northern end is considerably elevated. Its objects are, the import of coals, lime, and manures, and the export of agricultural products. It commences in the Tamar river, at Morwellham quay, and terminates at Tamerton bridge. Tavistock Canal follows a north-eastern direction for about 4½ miles in this county. It commences where the Tamar Canal finishes, and reaches the town of Tavi- Devonshire stock where it ends. Several of the rivers of Devonshire are navigable for considerable distances.
The mineral waters are numerous, but inconsiderable. They are all chalybeate; the principal of which are those of Gubb's Well, near Cleave; Bella-Marsh, near King-Steignton; Ilsington, near Totness; Brook, near Tavistock; and Brampton.
The ores of iron, lead, tin, and manganese, are found in considerable quantities in Devonshire; and gold, silver, copper, bismuth, antimony, and cobalt, have been sometimes discovered in small quantities. Ironstone is common in many districts, but it is not of a quality that yields much metal. It is supposed that the inhabitants of this county were in the habit of working the iron, as well as the other metallic mines, before the arrival of the Romans. The lead ore of this county is of many kinds, but principally of a greyish-blue colour. The potters' or tesselated ore is of a shining, rectangular, tabulated structure, always breaking into cubical granules; another kind is of a flaky, smooth, and glossy texture, breaking into ponderous fragments; and a third sort is more closely-grained, fracture sparkling and uneven, and very rich in silver. The tin works were anciently numerous and valuable; but the Cornwall mines being much more productive, they are now nearly abandoned. Manganese was first discovered about fifty years ago. It is found in large, rugged, irregular masses, and contains a great variety of crystallizations.
Native silver has been found in different substances, and in various forms. Cobalt, interspersed with numerous filaments of silver, has been found at Sampford in great abundance. Antimony, of a dark lead colour, full of long shining needle-like strie, has been discovered at Chudleigh, Henock, and South Bovey.
The minerals of Devonshire are many. Limestone, of almost every description, is found in different parts of the county. In the eastern parts, it has a good deal the appearance of chalk. In the neighbourhood of South Hams, it is hard, beautifully veined, bears a fine polish, and resembles the Italian marble. In other districts, it is manufactured into black marble, variegated with streaks of white; into a flesh colour, having streaks of brown; into a pale red, blue, and into almost every variety of colours. Gypsum is found, but not in abundance, in the neighbourhood of Plymouth, Salcombe-Regis, and Exeter. Fluor spar is produced in great plenty in the mines of Beer-Ferris.
Among the argillaceous substances of the county are fine pipe clay, found in great abundance at Wear-Gifford; potters' clay in the vale of King-Steignton; and slate of an excellent quality near Slapton sands, and East-Alwington.
The silicious class of this county contains quartz crystals of a small size; flints in great abundance, but particularly in the mountainous tract of Haldon. Freestone of various kinds is dug up in the parishes of Salcombe, Branscombe, and Beer. Whinstone, basalt, and a substance like the Derbyshire loadstone, are found in different parts of the county. Granite is met on Dartmoor, where the range which extends into Cornwall commences.
Coal of various sorts is found in Devonshire. That procured at Bovey-Heathfield, and thence called Borey coal, is a singular production. Its strata extend about nine miles, in a southern direction, the uppermost of which rises to the surface, and is from 18 inches to 4 feet thick, but increasing in thickness downward, until the lowermost stratum of coal is 16 feet thick. This stratum lies on a bed of clay, under which is a sharp green sand, from which rises water of a vivid green colour, abounding in sulphur and vitriol, and as warm as some of the Bath springs. The exterior parts of this coal, which lie nearest the clay, have a great mixture of earth, and generally of a dark brown colour. The veins which lie nearer the centre are more compact and solid, and in colour and weight are like common pit coal. That stratum called the wood-coal is a vein of sometimes chocolate colour and sometimes of black coal, consisting of a number of laminae, or thin splinters, which will divide like whalebone, and generally dug out in pieces of three or four feet long. The fire made of this coal is more or less lasting according to the veins from which it is dug. The basis of this coal is supposed to be vast assemblages of trees, that have, at various distant ages, been washed by torrents from the neighbouring hills; and on which, from time to time, intervening beds of clay and sand have been deposited.
Pyrites, in globular balls, of various sizes, are obtained in different parts of the county. The outward coat is of a brown rusty colour, composed of very minute angular crystals; and the inside is a very solid substance of sulphur and iron, not radiated.
A society for the improvement and encouragement of agriculture was established in Devonshire in the year 1791, which has been of considerable service in spreading a knowledge of the most improved modes of practice adopted in other parts of the kingdom. The forest of Dartmoor contains considerable tracks, capable of much improvement; and the land in the vale of Exeter, which is the best in the country, is cultivated with wheat, barley, beans, peas, and some little flax. The pasture lands are chiefly appropriated to supply the dairy; but, in some parts, considerable attention is paid to breeding sheep and cattle. Orchards, and apple trees, in hedges, are common in most of the farms; oats, turnips, and potatoes, also, are cultivated in many districts. In West Devon, two-thirds of the inclosed lands are employed alternately in raising corn, and the grasses; red clover, rye-grass, and sometimes white clover, and trefoil. Irrigation is common: so is also peat-burning. In North Devon, the soil is productive, the orchard grounds are extensive, and the inclosures tolerably large. The farms in Devonshire are held, generally, by a lease of three lives, or for ninety-nine years. As the lives drop, new ones are put in, on payment of an adequate sum. Landed property seems to be more regularly divided in this county than in most others; there being very few large freeholds, and the inhabitants live sociably and independently upon their own moderate-sized tenements. Their principal manures are lime, sea-sand, sea-weed, and dung. Besides the productions of Devonshire, which it has in common with other counties, its cider deserves notice. It is traditionally said, that the planting of orchards commenced between 200 and 300 years ago, at Buckland Priory. A great quantity of cider is now manufactured, and it is in general of a good quality, but differing according to the districts in which it is made; that of the neighbourhood of Exeter and the contiguous places being the most esteemed.
In these parts, also, a considerable quantity of butter is made. The average produce from each cow is about a pound a day. Cattle and sheep are bred and fattened here in great numbers. The fish which abound in the rivers and on the coast of Devonshire, besides the home consumption, afford considerable exports to the Bath and London markets. The oyster-beds in the neighbourhood of Lympstone, are said to be a hundred acres in extent.
Devonshire cows are celebrated through the island. When in a state of the greatest purity, they are distinguished by a high red colour, without any white spots; by a light dun ring round the eye; by being fine in the bone and clean in the neck; by the horns being of a medium length, bent upwards; by the tail being small and set on very high; by being thin skinned and silky in handling; and by the property of feeding at an early age. The North Devon variety is in high estimation for the fineness of the grain of the meat; and the superiority of the oxen over most other breeds, in possessing more activity, being better calculated for labour, and having more blood. The ox is in perfection about the fifth year of his age, and is much used for team-work. The native horses are small, but hardy, and much accustomed to the pack-saddle. The breed of sheep is various; mostly of the Dorsetshire kind as to weight of carcase and length of wool, but characterized by a great variety of heads; some having horns, some having none, and others having nobs.
Devonshire is not a great manufacturing county; yet at Exeter, the lower orders are chiefly employed in the woollen trade; and serge and kerseys, to the value of £600,000 per annum, have been exported. About 300 persons are also occupied here in the manufacture of cotton. The Heathcoates, having been driven from Loughborough in Leicestershire, settled in this county, in 1816, and have employed many hands in manufacturing lace. The value of the serge manufactured at Ashburton is computed at upwards of £100,000 annually; at Barnstaple, baize, silk-stockings, and waistcoating are made; and much coarse brown earthen ware is manufactured at Bideford; and shaloons and felts at South Moulton.
Among the British antiquities of Devonshire are the numerous cairns on the eminence called Haldon-hill; a cromlech at Drew-Steignton; and at a little distance from it a logan or rocking-stone; several remains of British houses are scattered over Dartmoor.
The ancient castles, now in ruins, are, Berry-Pomeroy, built by Ralph de la Pomeroy, who came to England with the Conqueror; Compton Castle, Rougemont Castle, formerly the seat of the West Saxon kings, in the vicinity of Exeter, and according to tradition, built by Julius Caesar; the Castle of Oakhampton stood about a mile south-west of the town; Plympton Castle was the residence of Richard de Rivers Earl of Devon, in the reign of Henry I. The same person was also in possession of Tiverton Castle, the ruins of which may still be seen; Totness Castle, which appears to have been erected by Judhael de Totnais, to whom the manor was given by the Conqueror.
The remains of the abbeys and monasteries of Devonshire are those of Buckfastleigh, near Ashburton; Buckland Abbey, on the eastern banks of the river Tay; Dunkeswell, near Collumpton; the Cistercian Abbey at Axminster, is the property of Lord Petre; Hartland Abbey, which forms a part of the present house of Paul Orchard, Esq.; the ruins of a Priory of Benedictines, at Moodbury; Tor Abbey, forming a portion of the modern seat of G. Cary, Esq.
The venerable and magnificent Cathedral of Exeter demands the first notice, among the ancient specimens of ecclesiastical buildings. The variety of styles discovered in this edifice, proves that it was erected at various periods. It is supposed that the part called St Mary's Chapel is the ancient Saxon church, erected prior to the year 868. It is likely that the first considerable cathedral was planned by Bishop Warlewart, before the year 1138. At Bishop's Seighton is a church in the early Saxon style. Teignmouth church is a specimen of the earliest building of the Normans.
The island of Lundy belongs to this county. It is rather more than three miles long, about one in breadth, and contains 2000 acres of land, 400 of which only is under cultivation.
The principal noblemen's and gentlemen's seats principal are, Ugbrooke, near Chudleigh, the beautiful seat of Seats. Lord Clifford; Saltram, of Lord Borrington, the largest mansion in the county; Mount Edgcumbe, of the Earl of the same name; Nuttelle, the beautiful seat of Lord Heathfield; Castle Hill, of Lord Fortescue; Clovely-court, of Sir James Hamlyn, Bart.; Bicton, of John Lord Rolle; Powderham Castle, the principal seat of the Courtenay family; Escot House, of Sir John Kennaway, Bart.; Haddon House, of Sir Laurence Palk, Bart.; Werrington, a seat of the Duke of Northumberland.
In the year 1700, the population of Devonshire was 248,200; in 1750 it was 272,200; in 1801, it was 354,400; and in 1811, it amounted to 396,100.
See Polwhele's History of Devon; and Beauties of England and Wales.