midst all our English counties, Devonshire stands unrivalled for the exquisite loveliness of its scenery. Few of those who have climbed its bold heights, crossed its rugged moorlands, and wandered through its shady woods and its delightful green lanes, will be inclined to dispute this assertion, however familiar they may be with English landscapes. It is the marvellous variety of its scenery which constitutes the peculiar charm of this county — the rugged boldness of its many hills contrasting with the soft grace of its valleys. Its majestic coast lines tower defiantly against the sky, both on its north and its south seaboard — now frowning with barren but lofty grandeur at the waves, now clothed from the highest point of the cliff to the water's edge with one deep dark mass of vegetation. But there is not even a grand monotony in the lines of noble cliffs along the coasts of Devonshire. There is no monotony at all; for the grand rocks sink at intervals, to give place to magnificent bays, which sweep gracefully from cliff's point to cliff's point, and help to fling over the coast scenery of this, the most beautiful of English counties, the same aspect of variety which is its most charming characteristic. Those only who have explored the Devonshire coast along the Bristol Channel on the north, and along the English Channel on the south, and who are also familiar with the interior of the county, can properly realise the extreme magnificence of its landscapes. — Francis George Heath, pp. 50-53
Dartmoor, one of the few remaining tracts of uncultivated England; a region not easy to tame, offering small reward to the farmer, but rich repayment to the lovers of beauty, wildness, antiquity. There is nothing quite like it elsewhere, unless it be the Bodmin Moors of Cornwall, where the same granite asserts itself again.... But Dartmoor has its own character, which it does not surrender to a casual acquaintance; it has a reserve and depth of individuality, to be won only by slow confidence. — Arthur Salmon, p. 2
Cities
Geology
Historical Events
- Foundering of the Steam-ship “London” (1866)
- "Wreck of the Spirit of the Ocean at Start Point" (1866)
- Wreck of the “Oregon” under Picklecombe Battery, Plymouth Sound (1867)
- "The late storm — great loss of life in Torbay. 1867"
- Opposition to the Salvation Army: Questions in Parliament about the Torquay Harbour and District Act, 1886
Architecture
- Nightshayes, near Tiverton, designed by William Burges
- St. Boniface, St. Budeaux, Devon, designed by William D. Caröe
- Stoke Damerall Parish Church and Rectory, Devonport, designed by William D. Caröe
- Abbey of Saint Scholastica, Teignmouth
- The Barn Hotel, Exmouth, designed by E. S. Prior
- St. John's Church, Torquay, designed by G. E. Street
- Cliff Towers (near Salcombe), designed by Charles Harrison Townsend
Painting
- Dawn over Teignmouth, by Thomas Armstrong
- Torbay, by Wilfrid Ball
- Study for Chagford (A Moorland Scene), by John Brett
- Torbay, Devon, by John Brett
- The Moorland (Dewar-stone, Dartmoor), by John William Inchbold
-
Across Shipload Bay to Lundy Island, North Devon, by Henry Moore
- In an Orchard, Devon, by John William North
- William Widgery (Devonshire artist)
- Frederick John Widgery (Devonshire artist)
Design
- "Mary, Ethel, and Violet Pinwill, Ecclesiastical Carvers of the Arts and Crafts Movement [and their work in Devon]"
- Five scenes of the early life of Christ, stained glass at St Mary's Church, Hemyock, by Bell & Beckham
Technology
Bibliography
Haytor-Hames, Jane. A History of Chagford. London: Phillimore, 1981.
Heath, Francis George. The Fern Paradise: A Plea for the Culture of Ferns. Illustrated 4th Ed. London: Sampson Low & Co., 1878.
Moore, the Rev. Thomas. The History of Devon from the Earliest Period to the Present. British Library copy of 1823 in Google Books. Free Ebook.
Mudd, David. Dartmoor Reflections. Bodmin: Bossiney Books, 1993.
Presland, John. Lynton and Lynmouth: A Pageant of Cliff & Moorland. Illustrated by F. J. Widgery. London: Chatto & Windus, 1919. Internet Archive, from a copy in Robarts Library, University of Toronto. Web. 15 April 2024.
Pycroft, George. Art in Devonshire: with the biographies of artists born in that county. Exeter: Henry S. Eland, 1883. Internet Archive, from a copy in the Getty Research Institute. Web. 15 April 2024.
Salmon, Arthur Leslie. Dartmoor. London: Blackie, 1913 (?). Internet Archive. Contributed by Robarts Library, University of Toronto. Web. 21 April 2024.
Van der Kiste, John. The Little Book of Devon. Stroud, Glos.: The History Press, 2011. Ebook.
Created 17 September 2018
Last modified 21 April 2024