The Devon Portal
Devon (/ˈdɛvən/, also known as Devonshire) is a county of England, reaching from the Bristol Channel in the north to the English Channel in the south. It is part of South West England, bounded by Cornwall to the west, Somerset to the north-east and Dorset to the east. The city of Exeter is the county town. The county includes the districts of East Devon, Mid Devon, North Devon, South Hams, Teignbridge, Torridge and West Devon. Plymouth and Torbay are each geographically part of Devon, but are administered as unitary authorities. Combined as a ceremonial county, Devon's area is 6,707 km2 (2,590 square miles) and its population is about 1.1 million.
Devon derives its name from Dumnonia (the shift from m to v is a typical Celtic consonant shift). During the British Iron Age, Roman Britain and the early Middle Ages, this was the homeland of the Dumnonii Brittonic Celts. The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain resulted in the partial assimilation of Dumnonia into the Kingdom of Wessex during the eighth and ninth centuries. The western boundary with Cornwall was set at the River Tamar by King Æthelstan in 936. Devon was later constituted as a shire of the Kingdom of England. (Full article...)
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The Blackdown Hills are a range of hills along the Somerset-Devon border in south-western England, which were designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1991.
The plateau is dominated by hard chert bands of Upper Greensand with some remnants of chalk, and is cut through by river valleys. The hills support an extensive range of wildlife leading to the designation of 16 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs).
There is evidence of human occupation since the Iron Age. Fortifications include the remains of ancient hill forts, Normanmotte-and-baileycastles and Second World War airfields. There are also religious buildings such as Dunkeswell Abbey and village churches. The hills are crossed by a network of minor roads with major transport routes including the M5 motorway running around the periphery. ( Full article...)List of selected articles |
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General images
Plymouth shown within Devon and England (from Plymouth)
MV Pont-Aven: Brittany Ferries service to Roscoff, France and Santander, Spain in Millbay Docks (from Plymouth)
"The House that Moved", West Street, Exeter (from Exeter)
The District of Exeter including Topsham shown within Devon (from Exeter)
Exe Flood Relief Channel built after the floods of 1960 (from Exeter)
Beckley Point (from Plymouth)
County Hall, Exeter. Headquarters for Devon County Council. (from Devon)
Exeter Guildhall, which dates from 1470 (from Exeter)
An illustration of Exeter in 1563, entitled Civitas Exoniae (vulgo Excester) urbs primaria in comitatu Devoniae (from Exeter)
Agatha Christie, best selling crime novelist (from Devon)
Torquay sea front during Storm Emma - March 2018 (from Devon)
Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll of Plymouth mourning their lovers, who are soon to be transported to Botany Bay, 1792 (from Plymouth)
Civic Centre, 1954–61, symbolic of the Post War 'Heroic Modernism' of the Welfare State; nationally listed in 2009 to prevent its demolition by Plymouth City Councillors (from Plymouth)
Heathland at Woodbury Common in south east Devon. (from Devon)
The Exeter Crown and County Courts Building (from Exeter)
The beach at Westward Ho!, North Devon, looking north towards the shared estuary of the rivers Taw and Torridge. (from Devon)
the 'Invincible' Spanish Armada, 1588 (from Plymouth)
Exeter Canal Basin (from Exeter)
Part of the seafront of Torquay, south Devon, at high tide. (from Devon)
Elliot Terrace, Plymouth Hoe (from Plymouth)
The High Street ca. 1895 (from Exeter)
Naval War Memorial (from Plymouth)
Exeter International Airport (from Exeter)
St Michael's Church and Episcopal Building (from Exeter)
Exeter St Davids Railway Station (from Exeter)
Charter map of Sutton harbour and Plymouth in 1540 (from Plymouth)
National Armada memorial (Britannia) (from Plymouth)
Roger Deakins, acclaimed cinematographer (from Devon)
The gatehouse of Rougemont Castle (from Exeter)
Unloading mail by hand from the Sir Francis Drake at Millbay Docks, March 1926 (from Plymouth)
The Great Hall in the Guildhall (from Plymouth)
Prysten House, Finewell Street, 1498, is the oldest surviving house in Plymouth, and built from local Plymouth Limestone and Dartmoor granite (from Plymouth)
Ponies grazing on Exmoor near Brendon, North Devon. (from Devon)
John Foulston's Town Hall, Column and Library in Devonport (from Plymouth)
Bridge carrying the M5 motorway across the River Exe (from Exeter)
Plymouth Sound and Breakwater (from Plymouth)
Clockwise from top: West Hoe, Smeaton's Tower, University of Plymouth, Royal William Yard, National Marine Aquarium, Southside St, Barbican (from Plymouth)
Armada Way looking north (from Plymouth)
The inner harbour, Brixham, south Devon, at low tide. (from Devon)
A portion of Exeter's city wall, formed of both Roman and medieval stones. (from Exeter)
St David's Church, Exeter (from Exeter)
Frontispiece to Shapter's "History of the Cholera in Exeter in 1832" (from Exeter)
Cliffs in Devon. (from Devon)
The Exeter Riddle Sculpture in Exeter High Street, created by artist Michael Fairfax and installed in 2005 (from Exeter)
Clockwise: The Cathedral, The Clock Tower, Devon County Hall, Cathedral Close, The Iron Bridge. (from Exeter)
Coat of arms of Devon (from Devon)
Grade I listed Town Hall, Column and Library in Devonport (from Plymouth)
Menhir at Drizzlecombe (from Devon)
The New Palace Theatre in 2008 (from Plymouth)
St Petroc's flag of Devon (from Devon)
Laver Building, University of Exeter (from Exeter)
Geological map of Wales & Southwest England. (from Devon)
Remains of the medieval Exe Bridge, built around 1200 (from Exeter)
Royal William Victualling Yard, Stonehouse by Sir John Rennie,1825–33. (from Plymouth)
Ilfracombe, on the coast of North Devon. (from Devon)
Siege of Plymouth, 1643 (from Plymouth)
John Rocque's 1744 map of Exeter (from Exeter)
Barnfield Theatre (from Exeter)
Northeastward 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)
The Mayflower Steps Memorial (from Plymouth)
Exeter Civic Centre (from Exeter)
Home Park (from Plymouth)
The Devonport Leat on Dartmoor looking up stream (from Plymouth)
The Parade, Barbican (from Plymouth)
Interior of the Drake Circus Shopping Centre in 2006 (from Plymouth)
The coat of arms of Devon County Council. (from Devon)
Sir Francis Drake (from Plymouth)
Exeter Cathedral and the Devon County War Memorial (from Exeter)
The 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)
HMNB Devonport – the largest operational naval base in Western Europe. (from Plymouth)
Piazza Terracina, Exeter, named after Terracina, Italy (from Exeter)
The River Exe (from Exeter)
The Roland Levinsky Building – Faculty of Arts of the University of Plymouth (from Plymouth)
Princesshay Shopping Centre with Exeter Cathedral in the background (from Exeter)
Saltram House remodelled by the architect Robert Adam (from Plymouth)
Smeaton's Tower (from Plymouth)
Lamp standard from the 1905 Exe bridge, installed at Butts Ferry on Exeter Quayside in 1983 (from Exeter)
Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay (from Devon)
The Catholic cathedral (from Plymouth)
The Plymouth Combined Crown and County Court centre (from Plymouth)
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Recently featured: Bigbury sea tractor - Crazywell cross - South Devon Cattle - Dartmoor tors – Plymouth harbour – Westward Ho! beach
Devon Subcategories
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Related portals
- Cornwall
- Somerset
- United Kingdom
- England
- Wales
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
WikiProjects
- Devon WikiProject
- Cornwall WikiProject
- England WikiProject
- Somerset WikiProject
- UK geography WikiProject
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?