Portal:Devon

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

More information List of selected articles ...

Devon (/ˈdɛvən/ DEV-ən; historically also known as Devonshire /-ʃɪər, -ʃər/ -⁠sheer, -⁠shər) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west. The city of Plymouth is the largest settlement, and the city of Exeter is the county town.

Devon has a varied geography. It contains Dartmoor and part of Exmoor, two upland moors which are the source of most of the county's rivers, including the Taw, Dart, and Exe. The longest river in the county is the Tamar, which forms most of the border with Cornwall and rises in the Devon's northwest hills. The southeast coast is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, and characterised by tall cliffs which reveal the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous geology of the region. The county gives its name to the Devonian geologic period, which includes the slates and sandstones of the north coast. Dartmoor and Exmoor have been designated national parks, and the county also contains, in whole or in part, five national landscapes.

In the Iron Age, Roman and the Sub-Roman periods, the county was the home of the Dumnonii Celtic Britons. The Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain resulted in the partial assimilation of Dumnonia into the kingdom of Wessex in the eighth and ninth centuries, and the western boundary with Cornwall was set at the Tamar by king Æthelstan in 936. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

edit

Kingswear Castle, seen from Dartmouth Castle

Kingswear Castle is an artillery fort, built to protect Dartmouth harbour in Devon, England. It was constructed between 1491 and 1502 in response to the threat of French attack and was one of the first purpose-built artillery forts in Britain. By the end of the 16th century, however, improvements in the range of artillery weapons had reduced the utility of the castle. It took part in the English Civil War and continued to be armed until the early 18th century, but fell into ruin. Restored as a summer house in 1855, in the 21st century it is managed by the Landmark Trust as a holiday let. (Full article...)

The following are images from various Devon-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Menhir at Drizzlecombe (from Devon)
Image 2Exeter Guildhall, which dates from 1470 (from Exeter)
Image 3Watercolour by Olive Wharry circa 1942 of St. Sidwell's Church, Exeter, after the Blitz. In the early hours of 4th May 1942 a 250kg bomb fell directly on St Sidwells. The church tower was left standing but was so badly damaged that it was pulled down shortly after. A replacement church was built on the site. From the Royal Albert Memorial Museum's collection (63/2004/4). (from Exeter)
Image 4The River Exe (from Exeter)
Image 5Armada Way looking north (from Plymouth)
Image 6The beach at Westward Ho!, North Devon, looking north towards the shared estuary of the rivers Taw and Torridge (from Devon)
Image 7An illustration of Exeter in 1563, entitled Civitas Exoniae (vulgo Excester) urbs primaria in comitatu Devoniae (from Exeter)
Image 8Beckley Point (from Plymouth)
Image 9The gatehouse of Rougemont Castle (from Exeter)
Image 10Plymouth Sound and Breakwater (from Plymouth)
Image 11Frontispiece to Shapter's "History of the Cholera in Exeter in 1832" (from Exeter)
Image 12Bridge carrying the M5 motorway across the River Exe (from Exeter)
Image 13The 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)
Image 14Prysten House, Finewell Street, 1498, is the oldest surviving house in Plymouth, and built from local Plymouth Limestone and Dartmoor granite (from Plymouth)
Image 15The New Palace Theatre in 2008 (from Plymouth)
Image 16The flag of the historic county of Devon (from Devon)
Image 17Ponies grazing on Exmoor near Brendon, North Devon (from Devon)
Image 18Torquay sea front during Storm Emma – March 2018 (from Devon)
Image 19The Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Boniface (Stonehouse, Plymouth) (from Plymouth)
Image 20The High Street ca. 1895 (from Exeter)
Image 21Saltram House remodelled by the architect Robert Adam (from Plymouth)
Image 22Home Park (from Plymouth)
Image 23The Exeter Riddle Sculpture in Exeter High Street, created by artist Michael Fairfax and installed in 2005 (from Exeter)
Image 24Plymouth the Promenade Pier (postcard c1925) by A. R. Quinton (from Plymouth)
Image 25The Cathedral Green after a rare snowfall (from Exeter)
Image 26Heathland at Woodbury Common in south east Devon (from Devon)
Image 27John Foulston's Town Hall, Column and Library in Devonport (from Plymouth)
Image 28Chris Martin, lead singer of Coldplay (from Devon)
Image 29Siege of Plymouth, 1643 (from Plymouth)
Image 30Piazza Terracina, Exeter, named after Terracina, Italy (from Exeter)
Image 31Plymouth the Hoe (postcard c1920) by A.R. Quinton (from Plymouth)
Image 32Exe Flood Relief Channel built after the floods of 1960 (from Exeter)
Image 33Interior of the Drake Circus Shopping Centre in 2006 (from Plymouth)
Image 34The Devonport Leat on Dartmoor looking up stream (from Plymouth)
Image 35"The House That Moved", West Street, Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 36Charter map of Sutton harbour and Plymouth in 1540 (from Plymouth)
Image 37The Roland Levinsky Building – Faculty of Arts of the University of Plymouth (from Plymouth)
Image 38the 'Invincible' Spanish Armada, 1588 (from Plymouth)
Image 39Elliot Terrace, Plymouth Hoe (from Plymouth)
Image 40Unloading mail by hand from the Sir Francis Drake at Millbay Docks, March 1926 (from Plymouth)
Image 41Agatha Christie, best selling crime novelist (from Devon)
Image 42Laver Building, University of Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 43Exeter Cathedral and the Devon County War Memorial (from Exeter)
Image 44A portion of Exeter's city wall, formed of both Roman and medieval stones (from Exeter)
Image 45Barnfield Theatre (from Exeter)
Image 46Grade I listed Town Hall, Column and Library in Devonport (from Plymouth)
Image 47Princesshay Shopping Centre with Exeter Cathedral in the background (from Exeter)
Image 48Smeaton's Tower (from Plymouth)
Image 49HMNB Devonport – the largest operational naval base in Western Europe. (from Plymouth)
Image 50The Great Hall in the Guildhall (from Plymouth)
Image 51Population pyramid of Plymouth (unitary authority) in 2021 (from Plymouth)
Image 52The coat of arms of Devon County Council (from Devon)
Image 53Inter-city trains at Plymouth station, operated by Great Western Railway (from Plymouth)
Image 54The inner harbour, Brixham, south Devon, at low tide (from Devon)
Image 55Roger Deakins, cinematographer (from Devon)
Image 56MV Pont-Aven: Brittany Ferries service to Roscoff, France and Santander, Spain in Millbay Docks (from Plymouth)
Image 57Royal William Victualling Yard, Stonehouse by Sir John Rennie,1825–33. (from Plymouth)
Image 58Part of the seafront of Torquay, south Devon, at high tide (from Devon)
Image 59Population pyramid of Exeter (district) in 2021 (from Exeter)
$Image 60Ilfracombe, on the coast of North Devon (from Devon)$
Image 60Ilfracombe, on the coast of North Devon (from Devon)
Image 61John Lewis Building (right), adjacent to Waterstones (left) in the busy high street (from Exeter)
Image 62St Michael's Church and Episcopal Building (from Exeter)
Image 63Civic Centre, completed 1962, symbolic of the Post War 'Heroic Modernism' of the Welfare State; a listed building since 2007 (from Plymouth)
Image 64Exeter Civic Centre (from Exeter)
Image 65County Hall, Exeter. Headquarters for Devon County Council. (from Devon)
Image 66National Armada memorial (Britannia) (from Plymouth)
Image 67Exeter Canal Basin (from Exeter)
Image 68The Plymouth Combined Crown and County Court Centre (from Plymouth)
Image 69Lamp standard from the 1905 Exe bridge, installed at Butts Ferry, on Exeter Quayside, in 1983 (from Exeter)
Image 70Plymouth Pavilions, home to the Plymouth City Patriots. (from Plymouth)
Image 71The Exeter Law Courts (from Exeter)
Image 72St David's Church, Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 73Remains of the medieval Exe Bridge, built around 1200 (from Exeter)
Image 74Plymouth Drake's Island (1860s-1880s) by Francis Frith (from Plymouth)
Image 75Northeastward 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)
Image 76Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll of Plymouth mourning their lovers, who are soon to be transported to Botany Bay, 1792 (from Plymouth)
Image 77Geological map of Wales & Southwest England (from Devon)
Image 78Cliffs in Devon (from Devon)
Image 79Exeter International Airport (from Exeter)
Image 80Plymouth (1860s-1880s) by Francis Frith (from Plymouth)
Image 81The Mayflower Steps Memorial (from Plymouth)
Image 82The Parade, Barbican (from Plymouth)
Image 83John Rocque's 1744 map of Exeter (from Exeter)
Image 84Oil on canvas painting by an unknown artist c.1870. These houses were later demolished to make way for St Edmund's Church. The painting depicts the edge of the River Exe flowing under three arches of the Old Exe Bridge, with houses on the bridge and on the river bank, St Edmund's Church can be seen in the top left. (from Exeter)
Image 85Exeter St Davids Railway Station (from Exeter)
Image 86Sir Francis Drake (from Plymouth)
Image 87Naval War Memorial (from Plymouth)

edit

Little Trowlesworthy Tor on Lee Moor, near Cadover Bridge.

Recently featured: Bigbury sea tractor - Crazywell cross - South Devon Cattle - Dartmoor tors – Plymouth harbour – Westward Ho! beach

edit

Some of the larger settlements of Devon

See List of places in Devon for more information

edit

... 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?

edit

Economy and industry of Devon • Flag of Devon • History of Devon • Notable people from Devon

edit

WikiProjects puzzle

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Discover Wikipedia using portals

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Portal:Devon, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

Portal:Devon

Portal:Devon

The Devon Portal

Selected article - show another

General images

Selected image

Subcategories

Map

Related portals

Did you know...

Topics

WikiProjects

Associated Wikimedia

Share this article: