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More about Devon Devonshire
Devon is a large county in South West England,
bordering on Cornwall to the west, Dorset and Somerset
to the east. Devon is unique among English counties, in
that it has two non-contiguous coastlines. Both parts of
the Devon coastline are part of the South West Coast
Path.
The name Devonshire was once common but is now rarely
used, although it does feature in some names and titles
(such as the Duke of Devonshire), and is still to be
seen on signposts in the county.
As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant
conservation charity Plantlife chose the Primrose as the
county flower.
Devon was one of the first areas of England settled
following the end of the last ice age. Dartmoor is
thought to have been settled by Mesolithic
hunter-gatherer peoples from about 6000 BC. The name
"Devon" derives from the name given by the Romans to the
Celtic people who inhabited the south western peninsula
of Britain at the time of the Roman invasion c. 50AD ,
known as the Dumnonii, thought to mean 'Deep Valley
Dwellers'. The Romans held the area under military
occupation for approximately 25 years. Later the area
became a frontier between Brythonic Dumnonia and
Anglo-Saxon Wessex, and some historians claim that this
resulted in the effective conquest of Devon by Wessex by
715 and its formal annexation around 805. However, this
is a matter of controversy. Later William of Malmesbury
claimed "that the Britons and Saxons inhabited Exeter
aequo jure" ("as equals") in 927.
By the ninth century, the major threat to Saxon control
of Devon came not from the native British but from
Viking raiders, and sporadic incursions continued until
the Norman Conquest. A few Norse place names remain as a
result, for example Lundy Island, though the Vikings'
most lasting legacy is probably the move of the cathedral from Crediton to Exeter.
Devon has also featured in most of the civil conflicts
in England since the Norman conquest, including the Wars
of the Roses, Perkin Warbeck's rising in 1497, the
Prayer Book Rebellion of 1549, and the English Civil
War. Perhaps most notably, the arrival of William of
Orange to launch the Glorious Revolution of 1688, took
place at Brixham.
Devon has produced tin, copper and other metals from
ancient times. Devon's tin miners enjoyed a substantial
degree of independence through Devon's stannary
parliament, which dates back to the twelfth century. The
last recorded sitting was in 1748.
Devon is also known for its mariners, such as Sir
Francis Drake, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, Sir Richard
Grenville and Sir Walter Raleigh, and as the childhood
home of psychology pioneer Raymond Cattell.
Like its neighbouring county to the west, Cornwall,
Devon is disadvantaged economically compared to other
parts of southern England, due to the decline of
traditional industries such as fishing, mining and
farming. Consequently, most of Devon has qualified for
the European Community Objective 2 status. The epidemic
of Foot and Mouth (Hoof and Mouth) disease in 2001
harmed the farming community severely.
The attractive lifestyle of the area is drawing in new
industries which are not heavily dependent upon
geographical location; Dartmoor, for instance, has
recently seen a significant rise in the percentage of
its inhabitants involved in the financial services
sector. Devon is one of the rural counties, with the
advantages and problems characteristic of these.
text Courtesy of Wikipedia
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