X-Nico

43 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.

Bishop of Truro

It was created by the division of the Diocese of Exeter in 1876 approximately along the Devon-Cornwall border (a few parishes of Devon west of the Tamar were included in the new diocese).

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.

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.

Darby Lux I

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

Fosse Way

There are further alignments on the A358 at Ball's Farm and Musbury south of Axminster, which imply a Roman road did continue along the River Axe toward Axmouth and Seaton.

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.

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.

George Manson

But his health had been gradually failing, and he was ordered to Lympstone in Devonshire where he died in 1876.

HMS Appledore

One ship and two shore establishments of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Appledore, after the village in Devon.

James Polkinghorne

This match, the purse for which was £200 a side for the best of three back falls, took place at Tamar Green, Morice Town, near Devonport, on 23 October 1826, in the presence of upwards of 12,000 spectators.

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

The match took place at Devonport, and ten thousand people are said to have attended.

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.

Jim Reid

He now lives in Devon with his wife Julie, and daughters Simone (born 2003) and Candice (born 2007).

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.

John Morphett

Morphett was born in London, the second son of Nathaniel Morphett, a solicitor, and his wife Mary, née Gliddon, of Cummins, Ide, Devon, and was educated at Plymouth and Highgate Grammar Schools.

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.

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.

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.

Microcon

Microcon is an annual science fiction and fantasy convention, held annually at the University of Exeter in Exeter, Devon, England since 1982, usually over the first weekend in March.

Miles Partridge

His wife's name was Jane, and after his death she was granted the manor of Kenn, Devon.

New Shute House

The family moved to temporary lodging at Colyton House in nearby Colyton where they remained for two years.

River Burn

The River Burn, Devon, a tributary of the River Tavy on Dartmoor in the county of Devon, England

Seán Rafferty

Seán Rafferty (5 February 1909, Kettleholm, Dumfriesshire, Scotland – 4 December 1993, Iddesleigh, Devon, England) was a Scottish poet, based in England from 1932 until his death.

Seaton Branch Line

They opened a station called Colyton for Seaton, near Shute.

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.

Victor Daley

He was born at the Navan, County Armagh, Ireland, and was educated at the Christian Brothers at Devonport in England.

William Pullen

Pullen was born in Devonport, Devon, the son of Royal Navy Lieutenant William Pullen and Amelia Mary Haswell.

William Randell

In 1840 W. B. Randell purchased 566 acres as a "Special Survey", then another tranche, totalling 966 acres which he called "Kenton Park" (probably named for Kenton, Devon).

Woodacott

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


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.

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.

Brad Green

Braddon Green (born 1959), first-class cricketer for Victoria and 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.

Buckfast

Buckfast is a small village near to Buckfastleigh in Devon, England

Calvados

The Conseil General of Calvados and Devon County Council signed a Twinning Charter in 1971 to develop links with the English county of Devon.

Carew Reynell

Reynell was the son of Richard Reynell (d.1585) of East Ogwell, Devon, and his wife Agnes Southcote, daughter of John Southcote of Bovey Tracey, Devon.

Charles Carew

Carew was the son of Reverend Robert Baker Carew, Rector of Bickleigh, Devon, grandson of Sir Thomas Carew, 6th Baronet (see Carew baronets).

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.

Coplestone Bampfylde

Sir Coplestone Bampfylde, 3rd Baronet (c. 1689–1787), his grandson, British MP for Exeter and Devon 1713–1727

Cornish cuisine

Cornwall has influenced and been influenced by other British cuisine, as well as having similarities with the cuisine of its neighbour, Devon.

Danielle Senior

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

Deadsoul Tribe

Several Deadsoul Tribe tracks, such as "Black Smoke and Mirrors" on A Murder of Crows and "Toy Rockets" on The January Tree feature Devon Graves on flute, an instrument he picked up largely due to his admiration for Jethro Tull mainman Ian Anderson.

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.

DVD Monthly

DVD Monthly was founded in April 1999 as the first magazine of Dave Perry's Predator Publishing in Exeter, Devon, UK.

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.

Elizabeth Simcoe

Margaret married Admiral Samuel Graves on June 14, 1769 and she grew up at Graves's estate, Hembury Fort near Honiton in Devon.

Francis Palmer Selleck

He was the grandson of the first Francis Palmer Selleck (1824–1883), of Shaugh Prior, Meavy and Plympton, Devon.

Frederick Thrupp

Thrupp executed the monument to Lady Coleridge at Ottery St. Mary in Devon; the reredos representing the Last Supper in St. Clement's, York; and the monument to Hugh Nicholas Pearson in Sonning Church, Berkshire, in 1883.

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.

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.

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.

John Creemer Clarke

Clarke was the son of Robert Clarke of St Giles in the Wood, Devon and his wife Graciana Creemer, daughter of John Creemer of Exbourne Devon.

John Rolle

John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1756–1842), British Member of Parliament for Devon, 1780–1786

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.

Karan Ashley

Her first big debut as, editor and executive producer was the independent film Devon's Ghost, alongside fellow Power Ranger alumnus Johnny Yong Bosch and executive producer Koichi Sakamoto for Gag Order Films, Inc.

Liber Exoniensis

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

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.

Margaret Rolle, 15th Baroness Clinton

Apart from the many valuable manors inherited from her father she also inherited the patronage of the Rolle pocket borough of Callington in Cornwall, and nominated in 1761 as its MP her Devon agent Richard Stevens (1702-1776), of Winscott, in the parish of Peters Marland, adjacent to Petrockstowe, who was the brother-in-law of Margaret's distant, but locally resident, cousin Henry Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (1708-1750) of Stevenstone.

Mike Zito

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

Old Roman Catholic Church in North America

The Most Reverend Francis P. Facione is the Titular Archbishop of Devon and the current Presiding Bishop of this Independent Catholic denomination.

Penrose Methodist Chapel

The Methodist societies established by William O’Bryan (1778-1868) became known as the Bible Christians, and the first formed at Launcells and Shebbear along the Devon and Cornwall border largely on agricultural land.

Robert Kekewich

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

Rodney Pocceschi

In the evening of June 23, 2003, Christina Marie Tatem, an 18-year-old IHOP employee, let two men into the back door of the restaurant: her boyfriend and convicted felon LeKeith Devon Speller, 21, and his accomplice Shawn Anthony Zhe.

Royal Dart Yacht Club

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

Seán Rafferty

He married Peggy Laing in 1947 and the next year moved with her to Iddesleigh, Devon, where he was landlord of the "Duke of York" public house.

Sir John Northcote, 1st Baronet

Northcote was the eldest surviving son of John Northcote (1570-1632) of Hayne, Newton St Cyres, near Crediton, Devon, (whose splendid monument he erected in Newton St Cyres Church) by his second wife Susanna Pollard, daughter of Sir Hugh II Pollard of King's Nympton.

Sir William Pole, 4th Baronet

Sir William Pole, 4th Baronet (1678–1741), of Colcombe Castle, near Colyton and Shute, near Honiton, Devon, was an English politician.

St Clement's Day

Ironworkers gather from all over the Britain to celebrate St Clement’s Day at Finch Foundry near Okehampton in Devon.

Stannary

Plympton became the fourth Devon stannary town in 1328 after a powerful lobby persuaded the Sheriff of Devon that it was nearer the sea and therefore had better access for merchants.

Sydney Thelwall

From 1867 to 1874 he was curate of Charles Church, Plymouth, Devon He was vicar of West Leigh, Devon from 1874 to 1892, and vicar of Radford Semele from 1892 to 1909.

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.

Tønder

The Scouts of Tønder are twinned with Hemyock, in Devon, England, and make exchange trips between the countries every few years.

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).