The County of Devon

‘Devon – Glorious Devon’, that is what the old song says, and most people still seem to agree. Its landscape is celebrated and its villages, beaches and coastline are the England of the imagination. When America was first discovered, and trade and conquest looked over the sea, it was Devon that the seamen mainly came from. By the end of the sixteenth century, Devon had become an important and influential part of England. At about 2,600 square miles, it vies with Cumbria to be the second largest county after North Yorkshire, though with 1.1 million people it is, by English standards, sparsely populated. It has some rich land of great oaks and old inns and top-grade strains of sheep and cattle.

Devon’s obvious beauty, abundance of beaches, charming small towns and mild weather make it the most popular county, among the English, after their own. With almost five million visitors a year, Devon just pips Cornwall and only London, with sixteen million, has more than the two counties combined. It is the destination county for holidays, and most tastes and every depth of pocket are catered for. Families will have happily occupied children, come rain or shine. Dartmoor rises to heights just shy of High Peak in Derbyshire – High Willhayes is 2,038 feet (621 metres), while the cliffs on the north coast from Hartland Point southwards have a claim as the most magnificent coastal scenery in the land. Though much wetter and windier than the South-East, Devon has high skies and a certain softness of the air from the Gulf Stream, making possible semi-tropical plants that would not grow further east. Overbecks, near Salcombe, even has fruiting banana palms, as well as spectacular views.

Exeter is as far west as the Romans got. It is the most ancient and most interesting of the cities of the West and its greatest building is the Cathedral. Its unbroken 300ft roof gives it the longest Gothic perspective in the world, and with its intricate vaulting and grand decorated Gothic style, the building is of mind-blowing beauty. You should spend a night in Exeter, as you can’t get the full measure of the place in a day. Plymouth is the biggest city, and the revitalised Barbican, the largest area of cobbled streets in Britain, thankfully survived the bombing raids that flattened most of the place during the Second World War; it lies behind The Hoe, which evokes memories of Drake, Hawkins and Raleigh. The Royal Navy still has a dockyard here, although the sailors whom you may meet in the streets today are more likely to be yachtsmen from one of the several marinas serving the cruising waters of the Tamar and Plymouth Sound.

Dartmouth and Salcombe on their beautiful estuaries are the cream of Devon, and the area between is the lush and lovely South Hams.

A most delightful way to spend a day is to take the ferry from Totnes to Dartmouth, times depending on the tide, then the old steam train from Kingswear to Paignton, where a bus takes you back to your starting point. This brilliant round trip, which can be made on a single ticket, can obviously be done the other way round and the scenery as you sail down The Dart is marvellous. Totnes has the handsomest High Street in Devon, and the church has an amazing painted stone rood screen. Nearby Dartington has the Cider Press, an oasis of non-High Street-type retail therapy – it is a riot of quality artisan produce. Dartington Hall is an institution, a theatre, a garden and a great place to visit. The town of Dartmouth, with its ancient merchants’ houses and vast Royal Naval College, is important even without tourists, whereas Salcombe is partly of their creation. The choice of coves and beaches, sailing, fishing – in short, holidaying, in a gently upscale atmosphere – makes it unique.

From the soft South of the county, it is a short drive to the hard grandeur of Dartmoor, southern Britain’s greatest expanse of wilderness. This is a world of its own, where prehistory is visible and legends seem to live. St Michael is supposed to be the protector of high places and St Michael, Brentor, a church on an extreme western limb of Dartmoor, offers wonderful views that you can park quite close to, if climbing isn’t your thing. Princetown, near the middle of the moor, is the site of Dartmoor Prison, built 1805–1808 originally to hold prisoners from the Napoleonic Wars; its gaunt vastness is quite a spectacle, and one that is now full of more local inmates.

Beyond Barnstaple, with its famous Pannier Market, is the youth and surfing culture of Woolacombe, Croyde and Saunton. If keen golfers want to leave the kids on the beach, Saunton East is the only five-star golf course in the whole West of England, and links golf doesn’t come much better than this. By Bideford is Westward Ho!, the only town in England to be called after a book, in this case by Charles Kingsley. This precedent, if followed, would have led to its being called Stalky & Co after the book by Rudyard Kipling about the school years he spent there. The huge beach is popular with kite-surfers and swimmers.

The county boundary goes through the western edge of Exmoor down Badgeworthy Water – pronounced Badgery – made famous in R.D. Blackmore’s tale Lorna Doone. This now little-read book lives on in the name ‘Doone Country’, though it is no more impressive in real life than many another Exmoor combe.

We hope this helps you to enjoy Britain’s most visited and possibly most varied and beautiful county.

Ross Harvey