The Devon Portal
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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...)
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The climate of south-west England is classed as oceanic (Cfb) according to the Köppen climate classification. The oceanic climate is typified by frequent cloudy skies, cool winters with cool summers and precipitation all year round, with more experienced in winter. Annual rainfall is about 1,000 millimetres (39 in) and up to 2,000 millimetres (79 in) on higher ground. Exceptions include areas to the east of high ground (e.g. Exeter / parts of West Somerset that are subject to a rain shadow effect and annual rainfall is closer to 30 inches).
Summer maxima averages range from 18 °C (64 °F) in the Scillies to 22 °C (72 °F) in the east north-east of the region and winter minima averages range from 1 °C (34 °F) in the north-east of the region to 5 °C (41 °F) across the extreme south-west of Cornwall and the Scillies. Cold snaps are generally less intense or prolonged in the south west and rarely does the temperature fall below −15 °C (5 °F). Similarly, prolonged heat is fairly rare, however in recent years there have been more heatwave related conditions, albeit fairly short affairs but in July 2022 temperatures have hit 36 °C (97 °F) in Bude and other parts of the region temperatures were between 33 and 35 °C (91 and 95 °F) widely in more inland locations.
The south west is the second windiest area of the United Kingdom, the majority of winds coming from the south-west and north-West. Government organisations predict the area will experience a rise in temperature and become the hottest region in the United Kingdom.
Inland areas of low altitude experience the least amount of precipitation. They have the highest summer maxima temperatures, but winter minima are lower than those of the coast. Snowfalls are more frequent in comparison to the coast, but less so in comparison to higher ground. They experience the lowest wind speeds and the total sunshine hours are between those of the coast and the moors. This typical climate of inland areas is more noticeable the further north-east into the region.
In comparison to inland areas, the coast experiences high minimum temperatures, especially in winter, and slightly lower maximum temperatures during the summer. Rainfall is lowest at the coast and snowfall there is rarer than the rest of the region. Coastal areas are the windiest parts of the peninsula and they receive the most sunshine. The general coastal climate becomes more prevalent further south-west into the region.
The south-west has areas of moorland inland such as Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Exmoor. Because of their high altitude they experience lower temperatures and more precipitation than the rest of the south west (approximately twice as much rainfall as lowland areas). Both of these factors also result in the highest levels of snowfall and the lowest levels of sunshine. Exposed areas of the moors are windier than the lowlands and can be almost as windy as the coast.
Sunshine is highest on the coast as convective clouds tend to form slightly inland as the ground heats up faster. Annual amounts are around 1700/1800 hours for places like Torquay, Falmouth, Newquay and Ilfracombe, whilst inland areas such as Yeovil, Tiverton and Exeter are cloudier, prone to fog and consequently 1450/1600 hours are more typical. (Full article...)
General images
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Exeter Civic Centre (from Exeter) -
Interior of the Drake Circus Shopping Centre in 2006 (from Plymouth) -
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HMNB Devonport – the largest operational naval base in Western Europe. (from Plymouth) -
Charter map of Sutton harbour and Plymouth in 1540 (from Plymouth) -
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Grade I listed Town Hall, Column and Library in Devonport (from Plymouth) -
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Naval War Memorial (from Plymouth) -
The Mayflower Steps Memorial (from Plymouth) -
Agatha Christie, best selling crime novelist (from Devon) -
Remains of the medieval Exe Bridge, built around 1200 (from Exeter) -
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Exeter International Airport (from Exeter) -
Prysten House (1498) on Finewell Street is the oldest surviving house in Plymouth, built from local Plymouth limestone and Dartmoor granite. (from Plymouth) -
John Rocque's 1744 map of Exeter (from Exeter) -
Population pyramid of Plymouth (unitary authority) in 2021 (from Plymouth) -
Plymouth Drake's Island (1860s–1880s) by Francis Frith (from Plymouth) -
The coat of arms of Devon County Council (from Devon) -
The 'invincible' Spanish Armada, 1588 (from Plymouth) -
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Exeter St Davids Railway Station (from Exeter) -
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Siege of Plymouth, 1643 (from Plymouth) -
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The flag of the historic county of Devon (from Devon) -
Unloading mail by hand from the Sir Francis Drake at Millbay Docks, March 1926 (from Plymouth) -
Roger Deakins, cinematographer (from Devon) -
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Plymouth the Hoe (postcard c. 1920) by A.R. Quinton (from Plymouth) -
The New Palace Theatre in 2008 (from Plymouth) -
Civic Centre, completed 1962, symbolic of the Post War 'Heroic Modernism' of the Welfare State; a listed building since 2007 (from Plymouth) -
Exeter Guildhall, which dates from 1470 (from Exeter) -
Exe Flood Relief Channel built after the floods of 1960 (from Exeter) -
Oil 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) -
Geological map of Wales & Southwest England (from Devon) -
Plymouth Pavilions, home to the Plymouth City Patriots. (from Plymouth) -
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Plymouth (1860s–1880s) by Francis Frith (from Plymouth) -
MV Pont-Aven: Brittany Ferries service to Roscoff, France and Santander, Spain in Millbay Docks (from Plymouth) -
Frontispiece to Shapter's "History of the Cholera in Exeter in 1832" (from Exeter) -
Armada Way looking north (from Plymouth) -
Inter-city trains at Plymouth station, operated by Great Western Railway (from Plymouth) -
Princesshay Shopping Centre with Exeter Cathedral in the background (from Exeter) -
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"The House That Moved", West Street, Exeter (from Exeter) -
The Exeter Law Courts (from Exeter) -
Elliot Terrace, Plymouth Hoe (from Plymouth) -
Laver Building, University of Exeter (from Exeter) -
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Beckley Point (from Plymouth) -
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The High Street ca. 1895 (from Exeter) -
Cliffs in Devon (from Devon) -
Sir Francis Drake (from Plymouth) -
Watercolour 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) -
A portion of Exeter's city wall, formed of both Roman and medieval stones (from Exeter) -
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Plymouth the Promenade Pier (postcard c. 1925) by A. R. Quinton (from Plymouth) -
Population pyramid of Exeter (district) in 2021 (from Exeter) -
St Michael's Church and Episcopal Building (from Exeter) -
Lamp standard from the 1905 Exe bridge, installed at Butts Ferry, on Exeter Quayside, in 1983 (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) -
An illustration of Exeter in 1563, entitled Civitas Exoniae (vulgo Excester) urbs primaria in comitatu Devoniae (from Exeter) -
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John Lewis Building (right), adjacent to Waterstones (left) in the busy high street (from Exeter) -
Smeaton's Tower (from Plymouth) -
The gatehouse of Rougemont Castle (from Exeter) -
The Exeter Riddle Sculpture in Exeter High Street, created by artist Michael Fairfax and installed in 2005 (from Exeter) -
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Torquay sea front during Storm Emma – March 2018 (from Devon) -
County Hall, Exeter. Headquarters for Devon County Council. (from Devon) -
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St David's Church, Exeter (from Exeter) -
The Cathedral Green after a rare snowfall (from Exeter) -
Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll of Plymouth mourning their lovers, who are soon to be transported to Botany Bay, 1792 (from Plymouth) -
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The beach at Westward Ho!, North Devon, looking north towards the shared estuary of the rivers Taw and Torridge (from Devon) -
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The River Exe (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) -
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Exeter Canal Basin (from Exeter)
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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?
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