X-Nico

49 unusual facts about Devon


Admiralty Research Laboratory

During the First World War, the Anti-Submarine Division of the Admiralty had established experimental stations at Hawkcraig (Aberdour) and Parkeston Quay, Harwich, without-stations at Dartmouth and Wemyss Bay, to work on submarine detection methods.

Albert Klapstein

Klapstein did not run for reelection at the dissolution of the assembly in 2004 after losing the nomination race for the new riding of Leduc-Beaumont-Devon to George Rogers.

Anthony Horneck

In 1665 he became tutor to Christopher Monck, Lord Torrington, son of George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle The duke gave him the living of Dolton in Devon, and procured for him a prebend at Exeter Cathedral, where he was admitted 13 June 1670.

Arthur Francis Turner

He entered the navy in 1931, completing a four year course at the Royal Naval Engineering College at Keyham, Devonport.

Bobbin lace

Guilds of modern lacemakers still meet in regions as varied as Devonshire, England and Orange County, California.

British M-class submarine

She was captained during her sea trials by experienced submariner Commander Max Horton after his return from the Baltic, and was later lost with all hands while on exercise in the English Channel near Start Point in Devon after a collision with a Swedish collier, SS Vidar, on 12 November 1925.

Broadwoodwidger Rural District

The county boundary was realigned when the district was abolished in 1966, with two parishes, Northcott and Werrington being transferred to Cornwall with the remaining four parishes remaining in Devon and passing to the Holsworthy Rural District.

Buddleja davidii 'Castle School'

Buddleja davidii 'Castle School' is a recent introduction, cloned from a seedling discovered growing in the wall of the eponymous Castle School in Tiverton, Devon, England, by nurseryman Martin Hugh-Jones, and introduced to commerce in 2004.

Butterleigh

Butterleigh is a village in Mid Devon, England situated about three miles south east of Tiverton.

Comet line

The third route from Paris (the Shelburne line) ran to Rennes and then St Brieuc in Brittany, where men were shipped to Dartmouth.

Cookbury

The parish, which lies about five miles east of the town of Holsworthy, is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Thornbury, Bradford, Ashwater, Hollacombe, and Holsworthy Hamlets.

Crediton Parish Church

Sully was lord of the manor of Iddesleigh, but was said by Westcote to have had his seat at "Rookesford", i.e. Ruxford, in the parish of Sandford about 1/2 mile north-west of Crediton.

Custos Rotulorum of Devon

This is a list of people who have served as Custos Rotulorum of Devon.

Danielle Senior

Danielle Senior is a London-based singer and songwriter, originally from Devon in the United Kingdom.

Darby Lux I

William resided at his estate “Ippleden”, located in Devonshire, England.

Darren Schroeder

Darren Schroeder is a pākehā from Christchurch, New Zealand who is now living in Devon, England.

Ectoedemia heckfordi

It is only known from Devon in Great Britain, having been discovered in 2004 at the National Trust's Hembury Woods by amateur naturalist Bob Heckford, for whom it is named.

Édouard Corbière

He was a prisoner on parole at Tiverton, Devon, until November 1811 when he was sent to Stapleton Prison near Bristol.

Elizabeth Dickens

Concerned about his father's financial problems, in 1839 Charles Dickens rented a cottage for his parents far from London, and, as he thought, far from temptation, at Alphington in Devon.

Exercise Tiger

Exercise Tiger, or Operation Tiger, was the code name for one in a series of large-scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, which took place on Slapton Sands or Slapton Beach in Devon.

Formica cunicularia

:In the New Forest it occurs in earth-mounds, at Seaton under stones, in the Landslip, Isle of Wight, in the side of the cliff, and at Fairlight I found it in the side of the cliff and in earth-mounds in the undercliff - one of the nests being traced by tracking a worker which was carrying home a fly in its jaws.

Francis Foster Barham

After a preliminary training in the grammar school of Penzance, he studied under one of his brothers near Epping Forest, and was then articled for five years (1826–31) to a solicitor at Devonport.

Frank Hugh O'Donnell

O'Donnell was born in an army barracks in Devon, England, where his father, Sergeant Bernard MacDonald, was stationed.

Gilbert Bourne

Gilbert Bourne (date of birth unknown; d. 10 September 1569 at Silverton, Devon) was the last Roman Catholic Bishop of Bath and Wells, England.

Hartland Point

It is three miles (5 km) north-west of the village of Hartland.

Henry Perlee Parker

The son of Robert Parker, of Plymouth Dock, a teacher of marine and mechanical drawing, was born at Devonport on 15 March 1795.

James Polkinghorne

Polkinghorne's greatest match was on 23 October 1826 against Abraham Cann of Colebrooke who was the champion of Devon.

Jan Visman

These laboratories were located in Calgary until 1955 when they moved to Edmonton and are still operating alongside the Alberta Research Council at the Coal Research Centre in Devon, Alberta.

John Ainsworth-Davis

John Creyghton Ainsworth-Davis (23 April 1895 in Aberystwyth, Wales – 3 January 1976 in Stockland, Devon) was a Welsh athlete.

John Fancy

Following the death of his wife in 1983 he retired to Slapton, Devon to be near his daughter.

Kelly, Devon

Kelly House is mid 18th century but its predecessor the Tudor house was on a different site nearby and is still in existence.

Ken Doolan

He graduated in 1956, undertook sea training in the frigate HMAS Swan (U74) in 1957 and in December 1958 graduated from the Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Devon.

Leonard Baskin

He lived most of his life in the U.S., but spent nine years in Devon at Lurley Manor, Lurley, near Tiverton, close to his friend Ted Hughes, for whom he illustrated Crow.

Lowland Mounted Brigade

In late September 1915, the brigade (just two regiments strong, Ayrshire Yeomanry and Lanarkshire Yeomanry) left Fife for Devonport.

Luffincott

The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Tetcott, Ashwater, St Giles on the Heath and Northcott.

Margaret Cruwys

She died on 12 March 1968 at 31 St Peter Street, Tiverton, Devon, and was buried on 18 March 1968 at the Church of the Holy Cross, Cruwys Morchard, Devon.

Maris Wigeon

Until recently (2008/9) the only commercial seed distributor for Maris Widgeon, was Pickards Seeds, of Burrington, Devon.

Mark Blaug

Mark Blaug FBA (3 April 1927, The Hague, Netherlands – 18 November 2011, Dartmouth, United Kingdom), was a British economist (naturalised in 1982), who has covered a broad range of topics over his long career.

Nicholas Upsall

In 1630, their population was increased when the ship Mary and John arrived in New England carrying 140 passengers from the English West Country counties of Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.

Philip Richard Morris

Philip Richard Morris (Devonport 4 December 1836 – 22 April 1902, 92 Clifton Hill, Maida Vale, London) was an English painter of genre and maritime scenes (particularly allegorical ones of rural life), Holman Hunt-influenced religious paintings and (later in his career) portraits.

Siege of Lisbon

In May 1147, the first contingents of crusaders left from Dartmouth in England for the Holy Land.

South West Water

South West Water provides drinking water and waste water services throughout Cornwall and Devon and in small areas of Dorset and Somerset.

St Thomas, Exeter

The other part, about a mile to the west of the main body of the parish, contained the hamlet of Oldridge and was transferred to the parish of Whitestone in 1884.

Thomas George Tucker

Tucker died in Stope Cove, Devon, England, on 24 January 1946, survived by the two daughters and son of his first marriage (to Annie Mary Muckalt who died in 1933).

Thomas Sewell Robins

Born in Devonport, Devon, he was an early member of the New Water-Colour Society and the Institute of Painters in Water-Colours.

Topsham, Maine

The first sawmill was built in 1716 on the Cathance River, and in 1717 the plantation received the name Topsham, named for Topsham in Devon, England.

Walter Heath Williams

However, Walter Heath Williams lived in the southwest of England in Bath, Somerset, and in Topsham and Torquay in Devon, whereas his namesake lived nearly his entire life in Surrey, on the south side of London.

William Botsford Jarvis

He married Margaret, daughter of William Parker Ranney H.E.I.C.S., of Topsham, Devon

Woodacott

Woodacott is sometimes regarded as part of the nearby village of Thornbury.


Alec Devon Kreider

Alec Devon Kreider (born February 4, 1991) is a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, criminal who was convicted for the three murders of a Manheim Township family on May 12, 2007.

Anna Louisa Geertruida Bosboom-Toussaint

Her first romance, Almagro, appeared in 1837, followed by De graaf van Devonshire ("The Earl of Devonshire") in 1838; De Engelschen te Rome ("The English at Rome") in 1840, and Het Huis Lauernesse ("The House of Lauernesse") in 1841, an episode of the Reformation that has been translated into many European languages.

Anthony Kingston

After the death of Sir William Courtenay of Powderham in 1535, Kingston married his widow, Mary, daughter of Sir John Gainsford, and left Gloucestershire to reside at Chudleigh, Devon, which, with Honiton, belonged to his wife's jointure.

Arthur Champernowne

Champernowne was the second son of Sir Philip Champernowne of Modbury, Devon, whose family had lived in Devon since arriving from Cambernon in Normandy in the eleventh century as part of the Norman Conquest.

Barbastelle

In Britain, only a few breeding roosts are known; Paston Great Barn in Norfolk, parts of Exmoor and the Quantock Hills in Devon and Somerset (see Tarr Steps), the Mottisfont woodland in Hampshire and Ebernoe Common in West Sussex.

Berry Castle

Berry Castle, Weare Giffard, an Iron Age hill fort near Weare Gifford, Devon, United Kingdom

Bertie Bolton

Bolton's final game for Dorset came in 1912 against Devon.

Brown podzolic

Thus they are common in Ireland, Scotland, Wales (where they occupy about 20% of the country) and western England, especially Devon, Cornwall and the Lake District.

Childe's Tomb

Devon folk singer Seth Lakeman sang about Childe the Hunter on his 2006 album Freedom Fields.

Chrisstanleyite

First discovered by Dr. Werner Paar from a sample received from Hope’s Nose, Torquay, Devon, England, chrisstanleyite has since been discovered in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and in El Chire, La Rioja, Argentina.

Devon Belle

Both observation cars have been preserved in England and are still in revenue-earning service: No.13 is working on the Dartmouth Steam Railway, in south Devon; while No.14 is now at the Swanage Railway in Dorset, after a lengthy sojourn in North America.

Devon Energy

It is the corporate sponsor of the Wise Eyes community watch program, begun in 1993 in and named for Wise County, Texas, which is located in the Barnett Shale, where Devon has a large presence.

Devon Labour Briefing

In the UK miners' strike (1984-1985), Devon Labour Briefing twinned itself with the Maerdy Colliery in South Wales, and collected money and food.

Devon Railway Centre

The Devon Railway Centre is in the village of Bickleigh in Mid Devon, England, at the former Cadeleigh railway station on the closed Great Western Railway branch from Exeter to Dulverton, also known as the Exe Valley Railway.

DVD Monthly

It was founded by Dave Perry in 1999, in Exeter, Devon, as part of his Predator Publishing company.

Eric Buller

He represented Devon until 1926, and returned in 1931 to play a single match against Cornwall.

Exercise Tiger

Exercise Tiger was relocated from Slapton to Bereton on the Devon coast and used as the background to Kate Ellis's book, The Armada Boy, first published in 1999.

Frederick Arthur Challinor

Frederick Arthur Challinor was born on 12 November 1866 at Longton, Staffordshire and died on 10 June 1952 at Paignton, Devon.

Fremington Army Camp

Fremington Army Camp was a military camp in the village of Fremington, Devon, England, which was used as a base to train the United States Army Air Corps.

Gillian Morgan

At the turn of the century Morgan was Chief Executive of the North & East Devon Health AUthority, based in Exeter where her husband was teacher at Exeter School.

Hartland, Devon

The Parish Church of St Nectan (see main article at: Church of Saint Nectan, Hartland) has the highest tower in Devon (128 ft), built in the late Perpendicular style.

Harvest jug

They are traditional in the south-west of England, especially the ports of Barnstaple and Bideford in north Devon and Donyatt in Somerset.

Hort baronets

The current Baronet is Sir Andrew Edwin Fenton Hort, of East Prawle, Devon.

Horton Priory

It was founded as a Benedictine abbey around 970 by Ordgar, Earl of Devon, or his son, Ordulph, and dedicated to Olfrida, the mother of Saint Edith of Wilton by King Edgar the Peaceful.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Born in London, UK, to gardener and writer, Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall, and father, Robert Fearnley-Whittingstall, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was brought up in Devon, UK.

John Carpenter Garnier

Carpenter Garnier, born Carpenter, was the son of John Carpenter of Mount Tavy, Tavistock, Devon and his wife Lucy Garnier, daughter of Rev. William Garnier.

Jon Godden

Though she returned to England with her now-retired father and her mother in the spring of 1936 and briefly stayed with them in Totnes, Devon, she soon set off back to India with Rumer, who had married and established a Calcutta dancing school.

Joseph Lloyd Brereton

In recognition of his work in Devon, in 1858 Brereton was made prebendary of Exeter Cathedral.

Liber Exoniensis

It contains a variety of administrative materials concerning the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire.

Maiden Castle, Dorset

This was a characteristic of Vespasian's campaign in the region; there was military occupation at Cadbury Castle in Somerset, Hembury in Devon, and Hodd Hill in Dorset.

Marble Hill House

but more commonly thereafter, and provided a standard model for the English villas built throughout the Thames Valley and further afield, for example New Place, King's Nympton, Devon, built between 1746–9 to the design of Francis Cartwright of Blandford in Dorset.

Michael Linning Melville

Michael Linning Melville and his wife Elizabeth both died in 1876 and are buried in the old churchyard at Dartington Hall in South Devonshire, England.

Mike Zito

Zito met Devon Allman while working together at the Guitar Center in St. Louis.

Peril at End House

Transposed from Devon to Cornwall, the Majestic Hotel of the book is based on the Imperial Hotel in Torquay.

RAF Northleach

Glider Training School left RAF Stoke Orchard and RAF Northleach for good relocating to RAF Exeter, Devon and its satellite of RAF Culmhead, Somerset.

Robert Kekewich

Kekewich was the second son of Trehawke Kekewich, of Peamore House, near Exeter, Devon, and the grandson of Samuel Trehawke Kekewich.

Royal Dart Yacht Club

The Royal Dart Yacht Club was founded in 1866 located in Kingswear, Devon, England.

Sport in Plymouth

Sport in Plymouth, Devon, England, dates back to the 19th century with its first club, Plymouth United F.C., being founded in 1886.

The Great Money Caper

At this point Homer finally confesses that he got conned but Marge and the townspeople themselves tell Homer and Bart that they set up the trial and the carjacking to teach them a lesson on conning people, revealing that Skinner was not really shot (it was a fake blood pack) and the con man who stole their car was an actor called Devon Bradley.

The Secret of Crickley Hall

The village of Hollow Bay in The Secret Of Crickley Hall is based on Lynmouth in Exmoor National Park, Devon and Devil's Cleave is the East Lyn Valley and Watersmeet.

Tricia Pursley

She is best known for her role as Devon Shepherd McFadden, the daughter of Ellen Shepherd (Kathleen Noone), on the soap opera All My Children.

Walpole Vidal

Vidal was born at Cornborough House, Abbotsham near Bideford, Devon, England, and educated at Westminster School, being Captain of School and of the School's football and cricket XIs when he left in 1872.

Warren Patmore

Patmore was an instant success with Management gaining two promotions in three seasons with Devon & Exeter Football League side Morchard Bishop.

Wassailing

The West Country is the most famous and largest cider producing region of the country and some of the most important wassails are held annually in Carhampton and Dunster (Somerset) and Whimple (Devon), both on 17 January (old Twelfth Night).

Whimple

The Whimple Wassail is an orchard-visiting wassail ceremony and was first mentioned by the Victorian author and folklorist; the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould in his book Devon Characters and Strange Events (published 1908).