X-Nico

44 unusual facts about Devon


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.

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.

Bradford, Devon

The parish, which lies about six miles east of the town of Holsworthy has part of its eastern boundary formed by the River Torridge, and it is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Milton Damerel, Shebbear, Black Torrington, Ashwater, Cookbury and Thornbury.

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.

Custos Rotulorum of Devon

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

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.

Edward Pellew, 4th Viscount Exmouth

He was a Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace for Devon, and Captain of the 5th (Hay Tor) Volunteer Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment.

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.

Frank Hugh O'Donnell

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

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.

G.T. Moore

Like the first album, it was again recorded outdoors, this time outside a Devon country cottage,

George Manson

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

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.

Henry Duke, 1st Baron Merrivale

Duke was the second son of William Edward Duke, a granite merchant of Merrivale, Devon, and his wife Elizabeth Ann (née Lord).

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.

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.

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.

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.

Merrivale

Merrivale, Devon, hamlet with nearby neolithic stone rows (formerly also spelled Merivale)

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.

Miles Partridge

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

River Cottage

In September 2006, the show would leave those buildings, then known as River Cottage H.Q., to move on to the Park Farm location near to Uplyme in Devon.

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.

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).

Water polo in Dorset

Junior, Senior Mens and Senior Ladies County teams also play a fixture against Devon on an annual basis.

Weare Giffard

"In memory of Hugh Fortescue, Esquire, and of Elizabeth his wife, daughter of John Chichester Esquire and also of John Fortescue, the son of them, Esquire, and of Mary his wife, daughter of Humphrey Speccot of Thornbury, Esquire.

William Courtenay, 1st Viscount Courtenay

William Courtenay, 1st Viscount Courtenay (11 February 1709–16 May 1762), also de jure 7th Earl of Devon, was a British peer.

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).

William Samuel Furneaux

William Samuel Furneaux (2 June 1855, Devonport – 1940) was a British science teacher and nature writer.

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.

Berry Castle

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

Brad Green

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

British NVC community MC10

This community is found in coastal areas on the west coast of Britain from Devon and Cornwall north to Shetland, with outlying examples in southeast Scotland and Northumberland.

Budoc

Budoc is reputed to have sailed across the Plymouth Sound, until he found an inlet on the Devon side of the River Tamar.

Burgage

In South Zeal in Devon burgage plots were known as "borough acres".

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).

Coplestone Bampfylde

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

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 Sharks

Just 10 days later again in Tiverton, Sharks lost the RLC South West Grand Final to East Devon Eagles 37-32.

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.

Estancia Harberton

The estancia was named for Harberton, Devon, the home of his wife, Mary Ann Varder (1842-1922).

Francis Palmer Selleck

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

Frederick Arthur Challinor

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

Gorley Putt

He was the son of Poole Putt and Ellen Blake Gorley of Brixham, Devon.

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.

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.

Liber Exoniensis

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

Lifton, Devon

Lifton is a village and civil parish in Devon, South West England near the confluence of the rivers Wolf and Lyd, 1¼ miles south of the A30 trunk road and very near the border between Devon and Cornwall.

Mary Gillham

She lectured in the universities of Exeter (Devon), Massey (New Zealand), Melbourne (Australia), Kano (Nigeria), and worked in the Adult Education Department at University College Cardiff from 1961 until her retirement in 1988.

Mike Zito

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

Milton Damerel

When William the Conqueror arrived in England in 1066 he gave Milton and Gidcott and thirteen other manors in Devon, to a man named Robert de Alba Marla.

Peril at End House

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

Peter Pindar

Peter Pindar, a pen name of John Wolcot (1738–1819), satirist, born in Dodbrooke in Devon

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 Denys

Anne Denys, who married Sir Henry Rolle (d.1616) of Stevenstone in Devon, an ancestor of John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (d.1842) and Barons Clinton, the latter of whom restored Livery Dole after the WWII bomb damage.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Trwyn Du Lighthouse

One of the many Lighthouse keepers was Joseph Steer, born in 1831 at Bovey Tracey, Devon.

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.

Walter Blount, 1st Baron Mountjoy

Edward conferred on him in 1467 rich estates in Devon forfeited by the Earl of Devon; and in 1465 Blount was made lord high treasurer and created Baron Mountjoy.

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).