Devonshire

Devonshire, the most extreme but one of the south-west counties of England, situated between the English Channel and the Bristol Channel, having Somerset on the N.E., Dorset on the E., and separated from Cornwall on the W. by the river Tamar. The county contains over a million and a half of acres, and is thus next in size to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and has a population of between six and seven hundred thousand. The scenery is very diversified, and the climate, though bleak on the uplands, is very mild on the south coast, where the myrtle, the orange, and the citron flourish in the open air. The coasts are rocky and indented, having Bideford and Morte Bays on the N. and Start and Tor Bays on the S. Dartmoor in the south is a wild tract interspersed with bogs and mosses, having an area of 22 miles by 14, and rising to a height of over 2,000 feet. The island of Lundy in the Bristol Channel is 2-1/2 miles long by 1 broad, and contains 920 acres. This belongs to the county, as does also Drake's Island, a fortified islet in Plymouth Sound. For political purposes Devonshire has eight divisions, each of which returns one member to Parliament. After the capital Exeter, which is the cathedral town, the principal towns are Plymouth, with Devonport and Stonehouse, Tiverton, Tavistock, Barnstaple, and Bideford. Geologically, Devonshire has a sandstone formation in the N. and S., while the basin between them is of carboniferous rock, through which the igneous rock breaks in the south to form the granite tors of Dartmoor. Exmoor in the N. has in Dunkery Beacon the next highest point to Dartmoor. The Northam Burrows in the N. is a curious formation of grass-covered sand bounded by pebble ridges. The central part, called the Vale of Exeter, is very fertile, and forms rich tillage and grazing grounds, producing the cream, butter, and cider for which the county is famed. West Devon resembles Cornwall, and is for mining purposes under the Stannary Act; the "forest" of Dartmoor belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall. It produces copper ore, tin, iron ore, and other minerals, besides potter's clay and china clay. Attempts have been made to exploit profitably the peat stores of Dartmoor and Exmoor, but these have not met with much success. Among the industries are the making of gloves and tanning, and the numerous harbours and seaports give great facilities for fishing. The dockyards of Devonport and Keyham also employ many hands. The principal rivers are the Exe, Torridge, Taw, Plym, Teign, and Tamar, with their many tributaries. Large vessels can ascend the Tamar for five miles from Hamoaze. Owing to the multitude of streams, Devonshire is rich in water power. The boulders of the moorlands seem to belong to a period of glaciers, though no marks of glacier action are to be traced. There are caves with remains of animals and traces of man of the Palaeolithic and Neolithic ages, raised beaches, and buried forests. There are many traces of the Romans, among them 500 stations that can be traced, and roads which bear generally the names of ways, paths, or ridges. Few counties are better known than Devonshire; the mild climate, the beautiful scenery, the fact of its having produced many of the naval heroes of the 15th and 16th centuries, have made it the favourite hunting ground of tourists and of novelists. Kingsley, Black, Blackmore, and Whyte Melville have combined to familiarise us with its features.