Presidential Address: A review of the Fortescue Family from the mid-eleventh century to the mid-twentieth century

The Transactions of the Devonshire Association for 1875 contain a biographical notice on Thomas Fowler in which his son, Hugh Fowler, describes how, from humble beginnings as a fellmonger's assistant, his father became 'a man of high attainments, especially in mathematics and natural science'. Hugh Fowler describes three of his father's inventions: the Patent Thermosiphon, a unique set of binary and ternary tables to facilitate easier calculation, and a mechanical calculating machine. The first tow are described in full but there is very little detail on the latter despite Hugh Fowler's comment that, 'Mr Fowler's belief, I know, was that his fame would mainly rest on his calculating machine'. This paper describes the ongoing research into Thomas Fowler's unique calculating machine.

The Cornubian Island was a palaeogeographical feature of South-West England during the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. As a result of major global fluctuations in sea level, the Cornubian Massif, which largely comprises the counties of Devon and Cornwall, became separated from the remainder of the UK during the earliest Jurassic and was only reconnected when sea level fell during the latest Jurassic. In the mid-Cretaceous rising sea levels again separated the area from the UK 'mainland' although, in this case, sea level continued to rise and the island was submerged in the mid- to late Cretaceous. As sea levels fell during the very latest Cretaceous the area may have, temporarily, regained its island status. Little is known of the terrestrial vegetation and fauna of these islands as there is no sedimentary record remaining in which fossils could have been preserved.

The results of a detailed survey on a Dartmoor river valley are presented, and current themes in landscape archaeology are explored. The prehistoric landscape is discussed as are the medieval and early post-medieval agricultural earthworks, and the relationship of the siting of the latter with respect to the former is considered. The tinworking remains within the valley are covered, with a particular emphasis on the pre-nineteenth-century remains. The relationship between early tinworking and agricultural practices in the medieval and post-medieval periods is also discussed and contrasted to other south-western case studies; the traditional historical relationship between the two activities is also briefly reconsidered.

The unexcavated field remains of four recently-discovered deserted medieval settlements on common land in the parish of Buckland Monachorum are described, with plans. Each site contains a probably longhouse, plus ancillary structures. At one site (Downlane Plantation NE) a probably corn-drying barn with kiln/ovens has been identified. A brief discussion is included.

Three French monks came to Modbury from Normandy in the early part of the twelfth century to take over the local church an establish a new priory in England. At first they prospered with local help. In 1189 they appointed a parish chaplain/vicar. When King John lost Normandy in 1204 the monks became aliens. In the second half of the thirteenth century the vicar's stipend and clerical taxation were increased. Priory income was reduced and the cost of living was rising. In 1294, King Edward I declared war on France and the monks became potential spies sending money to the enemy. Thenceforth they had to cope with increasing local and national hostility, crippling financial burdens and the division of the Catholic Church schism. Nevertheless, the priory survived.

The manor of Ilsington, like many others in Devon, has nearly 1,000 years of recorded history. It lacks, unfortunately, known manorial court rolls for much of this time. Any attempt to trace the descent of lordship of the manor and the related dispersion of the manorial estate has to rely on other data often unpublished, or published but in a different context. This paper makes such an attempt from the earliest times when the lord had major estates and the right of gallows to the present day when the title in one of courtesy only and divorced from associated land-ownership.

The disputes pursued in the Court of Chancery under Sir Nicholas Bacon (1558-79) surprisingly include no less than ten about property in the thinly populated parish of Rackenford. The protagonists were mainly resident in the parish, and of largely middle class status; they included three women. The pleadings and depositions which have survived give apicture of preoccupations in a Devon village in the years around 1570. They illustrate the problems of a society half-way to a free market in land and to modern documentation, and the unchanging attraction of litigation to certain individuals.

After a gap of two centuries for which no records of theatre connected with Dartmoor have yet come to light, William Crossing, Eden Phillpotts, and John Galsworthy ushered in the modern era in which theatrical activity once more has become widespread on the Moor.

Unlike those in some other parts of Devon, the limekilns of Exeter and the parishes bordering on the Exe estuary have received relatively little attention. By pooling information from many sources, the majority unpublished, it has been possible to identify a number of limekiln operators based in the lower reaches of the Exe. Despite this being a major centre of limeburning, many kiln owners met with limited success and some became bankrupt. Although general climatic and economic factors may have played a part in this, it appears more likely that the major determinant was an inability to counter the ambitions of the Davy family of Topsham.

This paper explores the situation of women in Torquay in 1851. It is based on data elicited from a 10% sample of addresses in the Enumerators' Books for the 1851 Census. This sample, representing 10.5% of the population, shows that one quarter of the households were headed by women; they were of all ages, single, married and widowed, and of all social classes. They are linked with information from, for example, the Poor Rate Books, the local newspaper and some wills. Some families, together with something of their accommodation and occupations, can be reconstructed from these sources.

The nineteenth-century pioneers of electricity made it possible for the setting up of electric lighting systems by the 1880s. On 22 September 1899 such a system was inaugurated in the borough of Plymouth, and on the same day the first trams were put into service. The inability of the three towns, Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse, to agree on a common system in 1889 was certainly a major factor in them being several years behind comparable towns such as Bristol and Exeter. Devonport and Stonehouse together set up their own system, incompatible with that of Plymouth, in 1901. The amalgamation of the Three Towns in 1914 could not result in an integrated system for many years. But the enlarged Plymouth Corporation Electricity Undertaking was a successful and profitable enterprise, until it ended with the nationalisation of the electricity supply industry in 1948.

Donald Hannaford (1918-1992) farmed at Longdown, Devon, for most of his life. He practised traditional healing by laying on of hands, absent healing and curing animals and people with a variety of ailments. A seventh son, his methods of healing were very similar to those attributed to seventh sons for hundreds of years in Britain. Possibly, he was the last truly traditional healer in Devon. This article outlines his life and healing work.

Twelve hedges were surveyed in Exeter in 1998. The approximate ages of these hedges was estimated from the number of species counted per 30m stretch. Hedge age ranged from 200 to 820 years old (Hedge 8, Bridleway 51, Pinhoe). The most commonly found species were elm, dog rose and hawthorn. A total of 29 species was found in the twelve hedges, with one hedge (Hedge 3, Belvidere Raod) containing sixteen different species

A review is presented of the Devonshire Association's time at its office in Cathedral Close between 1954 and its removal to Bowhill in November 1997. Before 1950, the Association had no headquarters but, in that year, the Council began to meet regularly in Exeter City Library and, from about 1952, a small office was provided there for the use of the secretary. From 1954, along with the large office rented by the Association at the rear of the Devon and Exeter Institution premises at 7 Cathedral Close, Council meetings could be held in the Institution's Library. The first of these took place on 16 March 1955. The article briefly recounts forty-five years of running the Association from its Cathedral Close office.

The address outlines elements in the traditional picture of the relationship between church and community in the parochial context, particularly the roles of the parish church and the parson. It then identifies factors in the nature of communities in contemporary Devon and the structures of the Church which call this picture into question. It then suggests ways in which the Church is currently seeking to be of service in local areas and on a wider basis, and notes that there still seems to be a place for its symbolic role alongside involvement in community projects.

The global climate is changing. Researchers are confident that most of the warming is due to increasing concentrations of greenhouses gases in the earth's atmosphere. Concentrations of these gases have risen by some fifty per cent in less than 200 years, largely through the burning of carbon-rich fossil fuels and deforestation. Regional climate scenarios for the South West were produced which showed warmer annual average temperatures, with drier summers and wetter winters. Stronger wind speeds and higher wave heights are also expected, as are sea level rise, increased storminess, and more frequent storm surges. The Climatic Challenge Conference (St Mellion, Cornwall, October 1999) was held to assess the effects of climate change on regional economic development in the South West and to highlight the impacts and business opportunities associated with these changes in climate. A number of key sectors were addressed such as climate change issues related to tourism, leisure, health, demography, agriculture, land use, utilities, infrastructure, business, finance, insurance, and coastal and fishery resources. Consequences for the South West were found to be far-reaching and further research is required to quantify the impacts at a scale appropriate to advise businesses, utilities and planners.

This paper summarises briefly the rich marine life of the waters of Devon, particularly the less formally studied north coast including Lundy. It provides an opportunity to reflect on past work and studies to date, log current activities at the turn of the [new] century, and make predictions of future trends. Two major themes for the future are considered: the application of new techniques and the engagement of the public and interested amateur scientists in the study of marine life.

The mineral deposits of Devon are reviewed using the geological framework to emphasize the important link between the nature of the county as we see it today, and the underlying rocks. A short historical account of mineral workings provides a background for an account of present-day mineral production. Consideration is given to future market trends and the desirability of striking a balance between economic wealth and environmental factors

Devon's agricultural and forestry industries have been shaped by government policies for many years. Although remarkably successful over the past sixty years in increasing its productivity, agriculture now faces multiple challenges particularly for environmental and trade policy reasons. The scale of the current farming crisis is certain to increase the pace of adjustment which is currently taking place, as are the challenges posed by biotechnology and the integration of environmental goals with food production. Forestry, too, has adopted broader objectives over recent years and the new South West Forest will bring significant changes to the landscape and economy of north-west Devon. While it is certain that the beginning of the new millennium represents, in a very real sense, a time of major change in both agriculture and forestry, policy implementation may well be more evolutionary than revolutionary.

Existing and potential sources of renewable energy in Devon are explored in this paper. The technologies have developed fast and major changes can be expected soon. Wind-power, recycling, arable coppice, waste incineration and fuel cell technology are among multi-faceted options considered.

Since the Devonshire Association was founded in 1862, historians and archaeologists have made major advances in furthering our understanding of Devon's past. During the same period, personal and public attitudes towards Devon's heritage have changed as the pace of modern society has quickened. In this paper, the advances made in archaeological and historical research in the twentieth century will be examined against the background of earlier achievements. Future challenges are also identified in expectation that members of the Devonshire Association will play as key a role in the coming century as they have done in the last one.

Work by Arthur Conan Doyle, Eden Phillpotts, John Trevena, Henry Williamson, Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath and Tim Pears is compared. The influence of the gothic tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and of the New World, is discussed in the way all these writers treat the natural world. The provincialisation of Devon dating back to the seventeenth century has led to the dominance of a rural myth and the best-known Devon writing in the twentieth century has generally not dealt with its cities and towns, leading to a lack of balance.

The nature of regional and locally distinctive music is discussed. The very concept is challenged, and its historical source is analysed. The importance of creative individuals in pushing the frontiers of music forward is stressed.

The work of twenty contemporary artists, all practising in Devon, is described, with particular attention being given to the relationship of their art to the surrounding environment, whether human or natural.

The nature and changing state of rural tradition are covered in this paper, drawing on a lifetime of experience and enquiry in Devon. Topics such as 'deference' to 'superiors', rural poverty and the importance of 'locality' are explored, using material gathered in conversation with country men and women, as well as the writing of other scholars.

This paper investigates the relationship between communities and decision-making processes, with a particular focus on West Devon, at a time when our system of local government is being questioned and reviewed. Agenda 21 in West Devon has demonstrated the advantages of allowing the community the freedom to develop a process that responds to locally important issues.

It is arguable that Devon looked its handsomest in Edwardian times. The paper considers the effects of industrialisation on the landscape. Prospects for future change in terms of local governance, community, food production, agriculture, energy production, tourism, transport, employment, rural housing, towns and cities and consumerism are commented upon.

The address traces the Seymour family from the thirteenth century until the present day. Particular attention is paid to the era of Queen Jane Seymour and Sir Edward Seymour (later Earl of Hertford, then Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector during the reign of Edward VI).

The last page of Exeter Dean and Chapter MS 3522 bears a hitherto unrecognised itinerary apparently made by a late-fifteenth century confessor throughout the parish of Bere Ferrers, Devon. When decoded, the itinerary reveals that the confessor visited all the parish's tenements but for three: the rectory whence he set out, the Great House, and one other, probably church property. The document, apparently without parallel, offers a unique glimpse of penitential pastoral care in a wealthy parish, the itinerary perhaps being explained by the presence of large numbers of itinerant and other mine workers employed in the royal silver mines. If this is so, the confessor may have been a deanery penitencer appointed by the bishop to hear confessions under special circumstances: four such appointed in the period were rectors of this parish. In addition, the document offers evidence, sometimes the earliest known, for the late medieval existence of the forty-eight listed tenements, the sites and names of all but one of which survive to this day. In a very few cases, buildings survive which may have been seen by the confessor. The parish preserves its original layout to such a remarkable degree that thorough archaeological investigation of the area would be worthwhile. The confessor's route as deducted from the written itinerary is here overlaid on an Ordnance Survey map of the parish, modified by OS to present late-fifteenth century conditions as far as possible. The itinerary also provides early provenance for MS 3522, indicates its use in the fifteenth century, and throws light on the group of Westcountry manuscripts to which 3522 belongs. Finally, the piece is significant as an example of verbal map-making and of medieval mnemonic skills.

See also:
Orme, N. 'Confession in a Fifteenth-Century Devon Parish', Volume 134 (2002) pp. 57-68
Henry, A. 'A Reply to Confession in a Fifteenth-Century Devon Parish', Volume 134 (2002) pp. 69-75r> Orme, N. 'A Note on Professor Henry's Reply', Volume 134 (2002) p. 75

Gabriel Dunne, the last medieval abbot of Buckfast (1535-9), has traditionally been regarded as a disreputable figure. He is alleged to have been a tool of Thomas Cromwell, acting as his master's agent in the betrayal of William Tyndale to the Netherlands authorities, receiving Buckfast as a reward for his treachery and obediently surrendering it to the crown four years later. Modern research disproves most of this characterisation, and establishes Dunne as a more positive and substantial figure, who brought distinction to Buckfast on the eve of its dissolution.

With the exception of Anne Welsford's two articles in the Transactions (1974 and 1975) on the Newte Library at Tiverton, little has been written on private libraries in Devon. The following work is an introduction to what is largely an unresearched area in the study of private libraries: the eighteenth-century library of Powderham Castle, ancient home of the Courtenay family, earls of Devon. Primary sources, supported by secondary sources, show Powderham Castle library to be typical in its accommodation, formation, organisation and content, yet, at the same time, to possess individual features.

Presents five new poems marking the life and career of Thomas Fowler (1777-1843) a gifted inventor who was a cooper, a fellmonger and a printer before beginning his inventions, which included a calculating machine and the 'thermosiphon'.

This paper was inspired by a series of Exeter political posters printed in 1864 in connection with the election of a Poor Law Guardian. These attacked one of the candidates, a High Church clergyman, and three of his supporters among the Exeter priesthood. All were accused of wishing to extend the influence of the Tractarian movement, and thence the Roman Catholic Church, into English secular affairs. The divisions which affected the Church of England for much of the nineteenth century are described, and reasons given why the reaction in Exeter was particularly violent. The surplice riots of the 1840s are noted; as are the responses to Henry Phillpott's appointment as Bishop of Exeter, to the 'Papal Agression', to the publication of Essays and Reviews and to the appointment of Frederick Temple as Phillpott's successor. Accounts are given of the lives and works of the four parish priests denounced in 1864. Although the attacks made were within the spirit of the times, they turned out to be misjudged. Sackville Lee, John Galton, Alfred Buckeridge and Henry Bramley can be numbered among those who saved the nineteenth century Church of England from almost certain self-destruction

Much attention has been focused on class divisions inherent in society. This paper, however, examines the symbiosis that existed between three prominent Devonian aristocrats and the middle classes in furthering secondary education not only in Devon but also on a national scale. The mid-Victorian period was a time of increased governmental interest in improving society at large in the interest of national efficiency. Although this goal was almost universally accepted, the means of attaining it were highly disputed. One interesting point that emerges from this study is the struggle between bureaucratic centralisation and the interests of the localities based on the counties.

An early outpost of the successful Clewer Sisterhood, based at Windsor, the Devon House of Mercy at Bovey Tracey took in 'fallen' women perceived to be at risk from prostitution and other vices. The 'inmates' of this Victorian institution were originally known as 'penitents'. Using documentary records and oral recollection, this paper explores the history of this Anglican reformatory which was also dedicated to education and industrial training.

Rainfall statistics, collected over an unusually long period of 100 years, from Teignmouth, are presented. Analysis, especially of Summer (April - September) and Winter (October - March) figures, reveals no obvious effect of global warming.

Changes in Wistman's Wood, a depauperate, high altitude, pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) wood, were recorded in a permanent plot established in 1921 and expanded and recorded again in 1965, 1987 and 1997. The oldest (A-) tree generation comprised sprawling oaks. These appeared to be 200 - 400 years old, probably having originated within a degenerating oakwood, and having survived in scrub form during two centuries of cold climate. A second (B-) generation developed after c. 1900 around the old oaks. It comprised mainly oak with few roawan (Sorbus aucuparia), and occupied marginal, boulder-covered, former grassland. The latest (C-) generation represented marginal seedlings present in or after 1965. In the 76 years since 1921, the number of A-generation oaks declined slowly. Several were damaged by a heavy snowstorm in February 1978. The B-generation developed best in the lee of the old trees and thinned out strongly due to competitive exclusion. The stature and height of both generations increased steadily, but by 1997 the B-gneration oaks had generally grown taller than the older oaks. This trend to a taller and more erect growth form began in the mid-nineteenth century when the climate started to ameliorate. Livestock have long had access to the plot: grazing, browsing and destructive debarking episodes during heavy snowfalls reduced rowan, eliminated holly (Ilex aquifolium), and prevented expansion after 1965 via the C-generation.

Recounts briefly the history of the founding of the Western Morning News and its development until the present. Touches on campaigning local journalism and the difficulties facing agriculture in the Westcountry.

A mint operated with in the Anglo-Saxon burh at Lydford between the years AD c.973 and AD c.1050. No archaeological trace of it has been found, and all the conclusions which can be drawn about it arise from a study of its surviving coins. About 400 or more such coins are known, principally from finds in Scandinavia, especially Sweden. The mint was highly productive in the reigns of �thelred II (AD 978-1016), when its output can be estimated to have been in excess of a million coins, but subsequently it declined sharply. The paper considers some of the factors which may have lain behind its fluctuating fortunes, the moneyers' names and movements between mints; patters in the supply of coin dies, and the impact of the raid on the burh in AD 997.

The Priory of Saints Peter and Paul at Plympton was one of the wealthiest religious houses in Devon in the Middle Ages. Founded in 1121 by William Warelwast, Bishop of Exeter, it attracted support from a wide variety of prominent barons of Devon and their tenants. This study examines the identities of these lay benefactors and the nature of the grants they made to Plympton Priory in the first few decades after its foundation. It also discusses patterns in the benefactions as well as difficulties Plympton Priory experienced in holding on to some of the gifts it received.

In the previous issue of these Transactions, Professor Avril Henry drew attention to a fifteenth-century text laying down a procedure by which the parishioners of Bere Ferrers, Devon, should make their confessions. She interpreted it to mean that the clergymen of the parish made a journey for this purpose around the nearby settlements and farms, following a prescribed itinerary. The following article affirms the importance of the text, but shows that the medieval English procedure for hearing confessions (other than those of the sick and dying) involved visiting one's parish church, not being visited by one's parish priest. The article concludes that the document lays down the order in which the people of the parish were expected to go to church for this purpose.

In 'Confession in a Fifteenth-Century Parish' Professor Nicholas Orme responds to my 'Silver and Salvation: A Late Fifteenth-Century Confessor's Itinerary Throughout the Parish of Bere Ferrers, Devon' (Exeter Dean & Chapter MS 3522 in Transactions, 133. He suggests that the paragraph at the back of MS 3522 records not an itinerary but 'an arrangement for the inhabitants of the parish to come to the parish church'.

Deals with differences of opinion about how to reconstruct a document (Exeter Dean & Chapter MS 3522) that is not fully legible.

Ingsdon, in Ilsington parish, is first recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) where it appears as two manors under different lords. There are no known manorial court rolls to help confirm the passage of ownership. Other records, however, many of them unpublished, have enabled this to be done from early times to the present day.

It is well known that French prisoners-of-war were held captive in Devon during the Napoleonic Wars. What is little recognised is that prisoners-of-war were housed in the county during earlier Anglo-French conflicts. The paper describes a hitherto unreported facility for treating sick French prisoners-of-war at Glasshouse, Countess Wear, Exeter. It describes also the staff of the hospital and provides early examples of accusations of medical negligence and managerial chicanery.

John Morris, 1742-1828, was a builder and contractor in South Molton. In his Rent Book he records the properties he bought or built, the tenants and the rents they paid, from 1792 to 1826. During this time the number of his properties increased from 13 to 28, and annual rental income rose from £48 4s. 0d. to £135 10s. 0d. His properties were mainly in South Street, Cooks Cross and Parsonage Lane. The properties have been tabulated together with their tenants, rent, dates of occupation, major conditions of tenancy and present address where known. Also listed separately are the 140 tenants and 30 non-tenants named in the book.

The Island of Lundy long enjoyed exemption from tithes, taxation and rates. This arose from the island's extra-parochial status and isolation, and was extended by some owners to claim that it was a free island, independent of mainland authorities. The course of Lundy's exemptions, the claims for special status, and their loss are examined.

Chulmleigh's fine church has one unusual and generally unnoticed feature, that all the three east windows are dedicated to the memory of a single person, the Revd George Hole, LLB. Two of the windows were designed by John Powell, Augustus Pugin's son-in-law and colleague. This article gives some account of the Hole family in Chulmleigh and the tribulations which they suffered in employing the renowned firm of glaziers, John Hardman & Co., of Birmingham, to install these two windows.

The duties of lords lieutenant and the experiences of holding office are explained and described. Comparison is made with High Sheriffs.

A transcript is given of the earliest tin coinage roll for Devon, dating to 1302-3, with a discussion of its significance. More than one hundred persons presented a total of nearly 45 tons of tin metal at Chagford, Ashburton and Tavistock on twenty-one separate coinage days. The roll records many places of residence - in several instances these are the earliest known mentions of specific Dartmoor settlements.

This paper draws out from the text of Ethelred us charter of 981 the circumstances around the foundation of Tavistock a few years earlier. It focuses upon the king, Ordulf (the founder) and his family, the Saints to whom the abbey was dedicated, the kind of monks who lived there, the lands and privileges given to them, and the steps taken to protect them in the future. It does not systematically argue the case for the authenticity of the charter, which the author hopes to do elsewhere, but notes some contemporary evidence pointing to its trustworthiness.

A number of carved keystone masks of human faces are illustrated and described. It is argued that they came originally from the ruin of Tavistock Abbey, and suggestions are made as to how they reached their present location at the estate of Kilworthy, near Tavistock.

The social bonds linking the medieval south-west of England to adjacent communities in the lowlands of south Wales, and south and east Ireland - manifest in patterns of trade and religious patronage, ownership of land and networks of lordship - are an important, yet under-explored, aspect of regional identity. The current paper focuses specifically on Devon, mainly in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and considers the role of the sea in facilitating the movement of peoples across three different shores. In particular, it examines the intricate web of personal relationships and interests within this transmarine province, forged over centuries, which survived into the later middle ages and which could, on occasion, exhibit considerable potency.

This paper traces the ownership of Bagtor manor in Ilsington parish, and that of its manor house and barton, from early times to the present. Manorial court rolls are mostly lacking and there are consequently gaps in the record which are unlikely ever to be filled. However, other sources, both unpublished, and published but in a different context, have gone some way in helping to create a coherent account.

About seventy farmhouses were built or rebuilt during the period 1800 to 1913 upon the Maristow Estate in West Devon. These farmhouses show a clear variety of design and development of styles. Exceptional surviving documentation relating to the estate allows for precise dating and a clearer picture of what influenced the design of these farmhouses: national trends and influences, location, acreage of the holding, leasing, date of the work, influence of stewards, etc. Details are presented of building work on these farmhouses.

An historical investigation and archaeological survey is presented for Druid Mine, Ashburton, which operated between 1852 and 1874. A rare abundance of documentation has resulted in a detailed narrative for a small, mid nineteenth-century Devon copper mine, together with valuable insights into the personalities, share dealings, management and methods of prosecuting the underground work. The large-scale archaeological survey has provided a record of the remains surviving on the ground which when analyzed in the light of the historical record has resulted in a detailed understanding of the mine and its story.

The A38 Expressway is the main road communication between Plymouth, which is Devon's largest town, and the north and east of England. The alignment of the road around the south and south-east of Dartmoor is discussed and the need for bridges to separate its traffic from that moving from the coast to Dartmoor and returning is noted. The varying geology along the route is recorded. The influence of geography on river gradients and torrential flow, and the effect of geology on foundation design is described with reference to the design of individual bridges during 1969-1972.

Using a range of archaeological sources, this paper outlines the history of Little Haldon near Teignmouth from the earliest known human activity to the twentieth century. The paper highlights the wealth of archaeological remains on the heathland plateau and the surrounding hillslopes, which provide evidence for a range of activities during virtually all periods of human history in south Devon from the Neolithic onwards. After a synthesis of the archaeological data relating to the prehistoric and historic periods, the paper concludes by outlining how Little Haldon's history might be better appreciated in the future, both through improved public presentation and further archaeological research, for which some options are suggested.

The personal pronouns of south-western dialects are a source of confusion for outsiders and, judging by a well-known regional saying about tom-cats, of interest and speculation for their neighbours. In this essay, we show that there is nothing particularly exotic about (h)er for Standard 'he'. We go on to discuss other questions, such as 'pronoun inversion' and the frequent omission of subject pronouns. Here and elsewhere a historical approach can prove useful. The signs are that the western pronominal system was once radically different from that of Standard English, the dominance of which can itself be a source of confusion.

Roots, I. 'Presidential Address: Past Presidents and the Past', Volume 136, 2004, pp. 1-12

Aspects of the lives and interests of a select number of past Presidents who were or are historians are considered, with some reference to their [presidential] addresses

Ratification of the Treaty of Paris, which brought an end to the Crimean War, was followed by the hope that 29 May 1856, Queen Victoria's official birthday, would be a day of national celebration. Thanks to the survival of an apparently hitherto unrecorded souvenir publication it is possible to describe in detail the festivities in a Devon market town. On the other hand, the enthusiasm shown there was not seen throughout the county. The mixed response of Devonians to the terms of the Treat of Paris is described and possible reasons for this are discussed.

By the time of his death in 1302, Andrew Kilkenny, dean of Exeter, had accumulated a substantial fortune, which he had acquired in the course of a successful career in the service of the archbishop of Canterbury and the bishops of Exeter. The chance survival of the accounts of his executors reveal a great deal about his wealth and possessions, including an extensive library, and his lifestyle resident in the deanery at Exeter. They also record in detail how his estate was dispersed after his death, what provisions were made for his soul and the large-scale almsgiving that this entailed.

Representations of sibyls are known on rood screens in four churches in Devon, at Ipplepen (dated c. 1485), Bradninch (1528), Ugborough and Heavitree (both c. 1540). The style of these paintings is compared with earlier depictions of sibyls in art and books. Possible reasons for the inclusion of these female figures in the Devon churches, and rarely elsewhere in England, are discussed. Appendices provide descriptions of the screen paintings.

The following list is a comprehensive index to known or suspected practitioners of medicine, surgery or midwifery whose names are known from the papers relating to diocesan licensing created by the diocese of Exeter and now held in the Devon Record Office. It provides the names and details which were used in writing an overview of licensing in the diocese, published in the journal Medical History. It is not a comprehensive guide to early medical practitioners in itself, by provides by far the most extensive list of such practitioners working in the period in Devon and Cornwall.

Surviving indentures show that at least 124 children were bound apprentices by the Overseers of the Poor for Rackenford during the last hundred years or so of the parish apprenticeship system. Ages ranged from seven upwards and almost all the children went to farmers. This article uses the Rackenford church registers, the Land Tax records and other poor law information to put the indentures into context. It identifies individual causes of poverty among the children and their parents, looks at the distribution of the apprentices between large and small farmers, and considers what the system actually meant on both sides of the contract.

This article illustrates a phase in the career of the Revd William Grey, when he became Principal of St John's Theological College in Newfoundland in 1849. The topographical descriptions in his letters home were occasionally accompanied by ink sketches, and these in turn were followed by a volume of sketches published in 1857 in a very limited edition after his return to England. The two together give a colourful picture of life in Newfoundland in the early 1850s and the closeness of the connection with England and, specifically, Devon.

The transformation of the structure of landownership since the end of the nineteenth century has attracted much attention amongst historians. However, the primary source material available limits the scope of detailed empirical enquiry. This exploration of the fate of the largest landed estates in Devon turns for help to the commercial directories published by Kelly between the years 1883 and 1939. Data from successive directory volumes are employed to produce an overview of change, which sheds light on the rate and extent of landed estate decline in the county. The research also draws attention to the wider potential of commercial directories for the study of characteristics of landownership change from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.

It is probable that some of the megaliths on Dartmoor were used to observe the motions of the Sun and Moon, and possibly of some bright stars, for the purposes of establishing a calendar and the prediction of eclipses. The sundials on many churches are reminders that apparent solar time was used to regulate civil life until the middle of the nineteenth century. There are a few recorded examples of the use of telescopes for studying the heavens from the late seventeenth century onwards until the establishment of the Hill Observatory at Salcombe Regis in 1912. This had several telescopes and a small number of professional staff. It became the Norman Lockyer Observatory and is now operated as an educational charity. After the Second World War there was an upsurge of popular interest in astronomy and amateur societies were set up in many towns around the county.

An analysis is given of certain key trends and events which affected public houses in Exeter in the twentieth century. The outcome of these processes has resulted in an overall decline in the total number of public houses distributed across the city. However, in more recent years this decline in the number if inns and hotels has been arrested and a small increase recorded.

Since the autumn of 2001 the Dartmoor National Park Authority's 'Moor Memories' oral history project, undertaken by the author, has been recording and archiving the memories of the people of Dartmoor and has proved to be highly successful in capturing, in the spoken word, a record of twentieth-century Dartmoor. These recollections of a way of life which has now largely disappeared have increased our knowledge of some of the more intangible aspects of Dartmoor's cultural heritage and its dissemination at listening points across the moor has proved to be an extremely evocative way of revealing Dartmoor's recent past.

When geologists look at the rocks of the Earth's surface and the processes which shape our landscape, they 'see' a range of phenomena that the untrained may, or in some cases will, miss. To the casual observer, the Earth appears an un-changing entity and, within an average life-span, this may certainly appear to be the case. Geologists, however, always seek to understand the time dimension and are trained to be able to detect both minor and major changes to the Earth system. Many of these changes (climate change, sea level rises, exhaustion of natural resources, etc.) impact on the population at large and there is a need for geologists to communicate their knowledge and concerns to a wider, non-specialist audience. What needs to be communicated, and how it is done, is explored in this paper. In S. W. England, we are fortunate to have a geological World Heritage Site and a large number of National Nature Reserves that can be used to assist in this communication process.

Ports were an integral part of the economy of the ancient world, as they have been ever since. Seaton may appear to be a rather modest port, but its role in sea-borne trade in early Britain, along with trading settlements on the coasts of south-western Britain, specifically in Devon and Dorset, is not to be underestimated. This paper attempts to set Seaton and its analogues in its appropriate context and to suggest, however tentatively, and explanation for the early, mainly Roman, remains which have been recorded at Seaton and in its environs.

The Dorset and East Devon Coast was designated a World Heritage Site in 2001 because the cliffs and foreshore record one hundred and eighty five million years of the Earth's geological history in just ninety five miles of coastline. Since the successful designation, Dorset and Devon County Councils and the Dorset Coast Forum have established a wide range of partnerships to promote conservation, education and sustainable tourism. The approach is working. The designation promoted conservation and understanding of the earth sciences and the work has been recognised through awards such as the Tourism for Tomorrow destination category winner for 2005 from the World Travel and Tourism Council.

Although not in the 'front line' of the Second World War, Seaton had its share of privation. It was home to many evacuees, some of whom stayed in the area after the war, and the town was the site of an internment camp, and also home to soldiers from many lands, some of whom were killed fighting for the British cause. Seaton families also lost sons to the war, many of them in heroic circumstances. It was a time when the community came together in a way which had not been seen before or since.

Following a short history of the village of Beer, an account is given of the various forms of fishing used from the days of the sailing trawlers to more modern times. Details are also given of the marketing of the fish. Local names used for some of the fish caught are included.

The boundary clauses of two Anglo-Saxon charters granting land in South Devon are re-evaluated and linked to the distribution of selected place-name elements. Using data from Domesday Book, the pattern of pre-Conquest estates is outlined and examined. A basis is proposed for the development of settlement in the area between the ninth and eleventh centuries, and the establishment of fortified places at Kingsbridge, Halwell and Totnes is considered.

The rising fortunes of the Courtenay family and its efforts to establish and maintain itself amongst the upper echelons of the English peerage, are the themes of this paper. They are of interest not only for the light they shed on the fluctuating and often turbulent relationships between Plantagenet kings and their subjects, but also for what they reveal of the functioning of power and authority in the localities and in particular of the characteristics of territorial lordship in this remote part of the late-medieval realm. A contemporary example with notable similarities, concerning the Pomeroy barons of Berry Pomeroy, is drawn upon for comparison. Reference is made also to the material conditions of magnate lordship and the problems likely to have been faced by a 'self-made' earl trying to establish a dynasty in a period of acute economic stress.

English medieval churches were built with their nave-chancel axis on a wide range of compass bearings. No explanation of the often considerable deviation from true east has so far been generally accepted. The author reviews some of the ideas published in previous surveys before discussing the implications of his survey of 252 Devon churches. He suggests that the 'patronal sunrise' theory, which claims that churches were aligned on the sunrise on the day of their patronal festival, has not been properly addressed by most previous research, despite the fact that it can successfully explain some puzzling features of church alignments.

The Lundy Granite Company Ltd was set up in 1863 and operated quarry workings on Lundy between 1863 and 1868, when it went into liquidation. This paper examines the causes of the company's failure, and its effect on the island.

This paper brings together, for the first time, a complete listing of all the newspapers published in Devon for the year 1879, by which time the industry in the county was approaching its peak. The newspapers of Devon had benefited from the advent of the railways, which had facilitated the supply of news, particularly foreign intelligence, and the lapse of Stamp Duty had allowed the industry to benefit from an increased circulation. This paper is thus important as a unique reference tool for researches of the nineteenth-century provincial press. By examining the ownership of the Devon papers, both dailies and weeklies, it is established that the Devon industry was extremely diverse, yet the majority of newspapers were sole-ownership, and the paper illustrates the number of different occupations that some of the Devon proprietors held in order to make a living. This is, of course, in complete contrast to the situation prevailing today with ownership restricted largely to corporations, external to the county. Finally, this paper is important in that it gives reasonably accurate distribution/sales figures for the Devon papers in 1879 and thus, once again, it is a unique reference tool.

The Devonport Royal Dockyard School was a remarkable institution. Created originally in 1844 to give a rudimentary education to the dockyard apprentices, it soon developed into a first class technical college and offered a wonderful opportunity for a young boy. He could enter the Yard as an apprentice at age 15 and, after attending the Dockyard School for four years, he might be selected for the School of Naval Architecture with the dream of becoming a Master Shipwright. And this was what made the School so special throughout its existence. A boy, whatever his background, could, by sheer ability and hard work, reach the pinnacle of his chosen career. And so it continued into the first half of the twentieth century: many bright apprentices from working-class backgrounds were enabled to realise their potential, and go on to university and/or careers leading to the highest posts in the Admiralty, in Industry, in the Civil Service, or in Academia. The School survived until 1971, by which time changes in UK tertiary education had made it unviable. Its development and achievements are here recorded.

Following a major change in the governance of the Association under the revised Rules that came into force in 2004, the Council that had been the Association's governing body since its inception has been replaced by a smaller Executive Committee. This therefore seemed an appropriate time to provide a listing of all those who have occupied posts at the centre of the Association's administration since its formation, although no attempt is made to list all those who have served upon the Council throughout its existence.

The Entomology Section was founded in 1948, primarily to study the insects of the county, and to record their distribution and changing fortunes. These are still the principal Section activities, with conservation an increasingly important addition. Alongside the Devon-based section activities, several members, some with international reputations, are actively conducting independent research on broader aspects of insect biology.

The 2001 outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease was a cataclysm for the county of Devon: a convulsion in the normal pattern of rural life that shook the community to its foundations. But what has been its lasting impact? How has the county's political and economic landscape changed, for better or worse? Although for many individuals and businesses, the damage inflicted was irreparable, was this perhaps an 'ill wind'that blew some good? This address examines the ways in which the crisis stripped away layers of preconceptions, assumptions and prejudices that had come to overlie the reality of what was happening in the Devon countryside. It laid bare the workings of agriculture and the rural economy, enabling us to appreciate and cherish what was good and right, and to identify and address what was bad and wrong. It has left us with an infinitely deeper understanding of what makes farming and the countryside tick; and this represents the surest possible foundation on which to build for the future.

The United Kingdom Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) has recently published data that suggest that the coastline of Southwest England is sinking at a rate of 1 mm per year faster than other coasts in Britain. This paper reviews the data on which this estimate is based. It is shown that the rate of 1 mm per year represents relative (not absolute) land motion and is subjected to several assumptions which, if incorrect, all lead to over-estimations of the supposed subsidence rate. Furthermore, the rate is based on questionable geological data. Geophysical models predict a rate of absolute vertical land motion of only ~0.5 mm per year. This difference is important for coastal planning as it would significantly lengthen the return period of extreme water levels. New geological data are needed to produce more accurate predictions of relative sea-level and land-level movements in Southwest England and to test and validate geophysical model predictions of crustal movements.

Our estuaries boast similar biomass productivity levels to tropical rainforests but are often, at best, valued only for their bird-life or as safe anchorage for boats. Unfortunately for some of these estuaries, their true worth is hidden from view and grossly misunderstood; in most cases, their riches are microscopically small and, in the Salcombe-Kingsbridge estuary, too deep under the water to be easily seen. To conserve our estuary we must value it but, to value our estuary, we really need to understand something of its ecology and dynamics. This paper argues that since most of the major issues affecting the Salcombe-Kingsbridge estuary are the accumulated results of the majority of the community having (individually quite tiny, but together very significant) impacts upon it, it is very important that we engage with members of the local community in conserving the estuary through a greater understanding of it.

Although no literary celebrities were born or spent long periods in Salcombe, and not many (apart from historians) have written about, or taken inspiration from, the place, two great poets did make its acquaintance and their visits produced memorable work. They are Alfred Lord Tennyson and John Masefield. In 1889, after a long and serious illness, and after convalescing at home, Tennyson travelled westwards along the south coast in a friend's yacht, Sunbeam. On his return voyage, he visited his friend, the historian James Anthony Froude, then residing at The Moult, the Salcombe mansion belonging to Lord Courtenay. Masefield's link with Salcombe and the South Hams was through his friend, Jack Butler Yeats, who owned Snail's Castle, a cottage located high above the valley of the Gara River, which winds through woodland towards Slapton Ley and the sea. The associations between Salcombe, Tennyson and Masefield are explored in this paper and the work that was influenced by the local landscape is discussed.

Different breeds of livestock make important but often neglected contributions to farming, landscape character and local identity. This paper focuses on the breeds of livestock associated with Devon and plots their current distributions. Seven of the eleven breeds discussed in this paper are now classed as rare. Moreover, it emerges that although some Devon cattle and sheep breeds have become widely dispersed across the rest of the country and even abroad, others have remained remarkably confined within the Westcountry. It is argued that the geographical patterns of Devon livestock breeds revealed in this paper reflect differences in climate, landscape, farming practice, economic change and local culture. Our distinctive local breeds are increasingly recognised and cherished both within the county and elsewhere as important symbols of the county's farming history and heritage.

As pressures upon Devon's countryside intensify, and with certain controversial developments posing threats to the valued established natural scene, the work of two of the county's leading conservation bodies is of increasing importance. Some aspects of this work, and its relevance to that of the Devonshire Association, are here considered.

In 1136, under the patronage of Richard fitz Baldwin de Brionne, Sheriff of Devon, Cistercian monks from Waverley Abbey in Surrey established a monastery at Brightley, 1� miles north of Okehampton. After only five years, probably due to the physical constraints of the location, the community moved their monastery to Forde in Dorset. After briefly discussing the foundation of Brightley and the circumstances of its removal, this paper examines the evidence of its remains in the wooded valley of the river Okement. Brightley today is a private property, not accessible to tourists or visitors, but its special significance and history should not be overlooked.

The poet Cecil Day-Lewis (1904-1972) found his true voice during the crucial decade when he lived in Devon. So argues his biographer and eldest son, Sean Day-Lewis, in this paper adapted from a 2005 talk to the Devonshire Association Literature Section. The future Poet Laureate brought his family to Devon, and the Axe Valley village of Musbury, in 1938. As C Day Lewis he had previously made his fashionable name with left-leaning political and intellectual verse. In Devon he was turned by his place, its people and the approach of war, to the accessible and lyrical tradition of Thomas Hardy which he served with distinction for the rest of his life.

A database of the rock-types used for houses and other buildings in East Devon and adjacent parts of Somerset and Dorset is described. Approximately 6500 records of buildings of which the great majority have a stone-built element are included in the database and about 1000 stone pits and quarries mainly taken from the Ordnance Survey First Edition Six Inch maps have been located. The database complements previous studies of building stone in the area by providing details of a large sample of buildings and in some cases relating the building stones used to their source quarries. The variety of rock-types underlines the importance of building stone in giving local character to the regions where each occurs. Preliminary results are presented including brief descriptions of the main local building stones of the area and their broad distribution. The descriptions include the characteristics that help to distinguish each kind of stone from similar rock-types and are intended to help the interested visitor identify each. The ways in which the database might be used are illustrated by examples. These include an analysis of the kinds of building in which Beer Stone is used externally and their distribution; a geographical comparison of buildings incorporating Blue Lias limestone and the quarries from which it was extracted; lithological variations in Upper Greensand sandstone; and a comparison of the numbers of different kinds of stone used for each class of building surveyed. The analyses show that stone, as well as being used near the site of extraction, could be transported tens of kilometres within the area of study, depending on its quality in comparison with the local stone of the destination. There is a continuum of uses of local stone from the lowest quality, chert, used entirely locally to the highest, Beer Stone and Ham Stone, which were transported throughout the area and beyond.

This paper examines the mechanisms by which foreign news was reported to the London and provincial press during the nineteenth century. To this end a brief description is given of the importance of the Reuters news agency for the supply of foreign news. Furthermore the use of telegraphic technology, and the cost of news transmission via this medium, is highlighted. However, the main importance of the paper is that it illustrates the role and significance of the port of Plymouth during the nineteenth century for the receipt of foreign news items from across the Empire. Particular emphasis is given to the receipt of news into Plymouth from the conflict zone of the Anglo-Zulu war in 1879. This conflict was to be the last major foreign news event that the newspapermen of this west Devon port were to cover. Finally, the paper places Plymouth into the global imperial communications network which existed in the 1870s and which was to change as a direct result of the Zulu conflict with the introduction of a direct telegraphic link between South Africa and London.

Bhanji, S., 'Exeter, New Hampshire: A Brief History of her Early Days and a Comparison with Exeter, Devon during the Middle Years of the Nineteenth Century', Volume 138, 2006, pp. 241-270

A number of North American communities share their name with Devon's capital city. The one of greatest historical importance is Exeter, New Hampshire (NH), once the state capital and for many years the county town of Rockingham County. The paper presents a summary of her early history, based on published sources not readily accessible in the United Kingdom, and compares the two communities. The latter is carried out with particular emphasis on the middle years of the nineteenth century, and draws in part on a collection of forty-one issues, dating from 1857 to 1869, of a newspaper, the Exeter News-Letter, published weekly in Exeter NH. Using content analysis, the subject matter of the News-Letter is compared with that of nearest-date editions of Devon's Exeter Flying Post. A number of statistically significant differences are demonstrated regarding the space devoted to various type of article. Overall, however, both communities appear more interested in general material rather than in reports of local, national and international events. Differences in the opinions expressed are particularly marked during the American Civil War. The News-Letter felt that the British government was doing too little to assist the Unionist cause, the Flying Post that it was doing too much. The war marked the end of the cosy conservative ways of Exeter NH, and coincided with Devon's capital having to come finally to terms not only with her glory days being long over, but also with the social, educational and political aspirations of Victorian England. The 1860s were a time of great change for both communities, although for different reasons.

This paper reviews the work on botany carried out by members of The Devonshire Association since the 1860s. The kinds of topics studied and the importance of the work carried out in the field of botany are described. A Botanical Committee was established in 1909. Miss Clara Ethelinda Larter was the Chairman and W. P. Hiern served as Secretary. This committee was the forerunner of the Botany Section, formed in 1930. Almost immediately, the task of producing a new Flora for Devon was commenced (the existing work was by then a century old). The new Flora was published in 1939. Further volumes and up-dates followed. In 1965, a prominent Section member, the Revd W. Keble-Martin published his internationally acclaimed Concise British Flora in Colour. The Atlas of the Devon Flora by Brian Ivimey-Cook was published in 1984. Together with a very large number of papers published in the Transactions and elsewhere, these major works are a testament both to the vitality and to the significant contribution of Devonshire Association Botanists in a period spanning almost 150 years.

Founded in 1922, the BBC is one of the UK's greatest institutions. Its history, evolution and current challenges are set within a Devon context. The Corporation has been broadcasting in Devon since 'Station 5PY' opened in Plymouth's Athenaeum Chambers on 28 March 1924, thereby beginning ten memorable years of local output that included news programmes, music recitals, and programmes for women and for children. Though contributing to national BBC output from 1934, local programming ceased until the 1960s. In fact, regular local radio programmes did not return to Devon until 1970 with the introduction of Midday Parade, followed in 1973 by Morning Sou' West. The Second World War Blitz forced the BBC from Athenaeum Chambers to newly purchased premises in Seymour Road, where it has been ever since, but plans are now being made to relocate. Spotlight owes its origins to a ten-minute bulletin known as News from the South West, read for the first time in 1961 by Tom Salmon. Doubling in length within a year and renamed South West at Six, it became Spotlight in 1963. Many of Britain's most popular broadcasters began at BBC South West: Hugh Scully, Angela Rippon, Sue Lawley, Fern Britton and Jill Dando. BBC Radio Devon was launched on 17 January 1983 and now attracts a weekly audience of 285,000. Its format provides a means for debating issues and staying in close touch with the audience. BBC broadcasting of some of the most memorable major local news stories of recent years, such as the 2001 Foot and Mouth crisis, the 2004 Boscastle flood disaster, and the grounding off Branscombe of the container ship the Napoli in 2007, is recounted. Public participation in broadcasting is reviewed and plans to make material more accessible on-line are considered. The notion that the BBC's archive is the nation's museum and gallery of the airwaves is asserted. Issues such as the license fee and new forms of communications media are considered and prospects for the future of the BBC are reviewed.

Impressions of seventeenth and early eighteenth century Ilfracombe are conveyed through the comments of Risdon, Swete and Defoe, but the lengthy visit by Fanny Burney in 1817 provides a particularly rich account of the place before commercial development as a resort commenced in earnest. It was, however, during the 1820s and 1830s that Ilfracombe began to build on a significant scale to accommodate visitors, and it did this in the form of elegant terraces, clearly imitating those of places like Bath and Cheltenham and, though not on their grand scale, they commanded superb prospects of the coast and the sea. Work on the famous Tunnels Beaches began in the 1830s. When Charles Kingsley visited in 1849, he noted that Ilfracombe had 'white terraces' rambling up the hills, the Capstone sea walk, and the finest marine parade in all England. Both fashionable and select, by then Ilfracombe had all the features of a spa town and resort: glorious scenery, refined accommodation and all that was needed for health and recreation. In 1860 the Ilfracombe Joint Stock Land and Investment Company began to lay out Torrs Park. Major development of this estate occurred in the 1870s and 1880s but already the era of the large hotels had begun. Steamships, turnpike roads and especially the coming of the railway to north Devon were crucial in stimulating the prosperity of the town. The first train steamed into the station on 20 July 1874 and banners proclaimed: 'Waterloo to Ilfracombe'. But, despite massive protests, the Ilfracombe line was closed in 1970. The rich architectural heritage of the town and its recent fortunes as a seaside resort in times of changing fashion and demand are discussed.

The history of the De Marisco family, as owners of Lundy, is traced from the twelfth century to 1334. Written records of Lundy in medieval times are scarce, and mainly concern the course of ownership and title to the island. They tell us only a little about the state of the island and even less about the people who had their living there; neither is there an entry for Lundy in the Domesday Book. Archaeological remains suggest that the island was well-populated in medieval times.

This paper explores the extraordinary story of how over 3,000 Jews came to be in North Devon during the Second World War. They were refugees from Germany and Austria who had fled Nazi persecution and volunteered for the British Forces. Amongst them were also non-Jewish political refugees (Communists and Socialists) and the so-called 'degenerate artists'. They were sent in their thousands to train in Westward Ho! and Ilfracombe in the only unit of the British Army open to them at that time: the non-combatant Pioneer Corps. Amongst their ranks were the intellectuals of German and Austrian society; lawyers, musicians, dentists, surgeons, architects and artists. Amongst them was the journalist and author Arthur Koestler; Viennese lawyer Martin Freud, the eldest son of Sigmund Freud; Coco the Clown (Nicholai Poliakoff) and the actor Peter Ustinov. Around 90-100 other younger refugees were housed in Bydown House, near Swimbridge, approximately five miles from Barnstaple. There they set up a self-sufficient community and worked the land in readiness for eventual emigration to Palestine. The refugees were not the only Jewish presence in North Devon during the war. Evacuees from London settled in the area, some of whom brought their businesses. Highgate School was evacuated to Westward Ho! and Hartland Abbey; and Dagenham School to Ilfracombe. The Hollywood actress Joan Collins and her sister Jackie were evacuated to Ilfracombe, as was the comedian and actor Peter Sellers. For the duration of the war, local Jewish families held religious services in Barnstaple and Ilfracombe where numbers of worshippers swelled to over a thousand during High Holy Days. For a short period, Ilfracombe had its own temporary synagogue in a converted room in the Capstone Hotel. This rich, diverse history is explored in some detail in this paper.

The father of Jerome K. Jerome was the non-conformist minister, Jerome Clapp, who resided in Appledore between 1840 and 1855. Advantageously married to the daughter of a Swansea solicitor, Clapp acquired property locally, yet espoused political causes that supported the plight of the less well-off. Prominent in the anti-Corn Law League, he also opposed the 1847 Education Act. In 1848 and 1849, he travelled to Brussels and Paris to attend peace conferences that followed the 'year of revolutions' in Europe. He was involved in the temperance movement and played an exceptionally prominent role in the community for almost fifteen years. Suddenly, however, following a series of troubles involving the finances of the United Reform Church, he left Appledore and went to Walsall. His departure in 1855 appears to have been the result of scandal and a 'dark cloud'. This paper draws on an array of documentary evidence to reconstruct Clapp's time in Appledore, highlighting his espousal of local, national and international concerns. The circumstances that led to Clapp's disgrace are also explored.

Well known as an acolyte of William Blake and a member of a group of artists that gathered in Shoreham, in Kent, Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) produced interpretive and idealised landscape paintings in the pastoral tradition. John Linnell was his father-in-law. Samuel Palmer drew inspiration from a lengthy visit with his wife, Hannah, to Italy where he studied the old masters and the techniques adopted by British landscape painters who had worked in Rome during the eighteenth century. Visits to Wales also influenced his work. However, as this paper shows, following an initial visit to North Devon in 1832, he returned to the county frequently during the course of the next 27 years to experience the scenery that he had come to love. He was particularly attracted to the dramatic coastal landscapes of the north and to the grandeur of Dartmoor. Several important works that depict places in these localities are described. However, Palmer did not aim to paint exact representations of a particular landscape. Instead his pictures evoke his own response to scenery and sometimes blend elements of other places that had inspired him. Touched by tragedy when his daughter and his eldest son died, Palmer spent his final years at Redhill in Surrey where he continued to work and take solace from his recollections of his tours in Devon and the splendours of the county's natural beauty.    

An account of the discovery and determination of the 'Barnstaple Zeolite', in the early nineteenth century, together with similar specimens from the Stenna Gwinn mine in Cornwall, that were first all named as Hydrargillite, but subsequently identified as wavellite, fluellite and variscite. This paper draws on the correspondence and publications of the significant British mineralogists, chemists and collectors who were involved in its study and identification and illustrates the value of such archives as a means of recovering the story of scientific research.

This paper uses the names on the 1332 and 1525 Lay Subsidy lists, 1641 Protestation Returns, 1660 Poll-tax list and 1821 census (for which, unusually, full returns have survived) to make deductions on the mobility and persistence of families in a smallish mid-Devon village. It also attempts to differentiate trends on the basis of social status. A high degree of turnover is indicated for the period between 1525 and 1821, in particular during the period 1641-1660. The 1660-1825 period showed more stability, with a quarter of the 1660 names still represented in 1825. There is only a fairly slight propensity for lesser mobility among those of higher social status. The article also briefly discusses the origin of the names and the gradual diminution in the proportion of locative names.

The display visible at Lifton and Kelly churches in West Devon during the late fifteenth century is established from unregarded or unused manuscript sources and from glass left in storage by Victorian restorers. Heraldic information assists with dating and identifies donors, benefactors, and family interrelatedness. An attempt is made to analyse and compare status and economic significance in national as well as local contexts. The status of different types of parish church is also compared. Particular attention is given to Patrick Haliburton, a hitherto unrecorded Scottish Archdeacon of Totnes, promoted by the refugee Earl of Douglas in his exercise, by right of his heiress wife, of ecclesiastical patronage of the dukes of Exeter; to relating an early Tudor mayor of London to the iconography of the new regime; and to clarifying the hitherto unrecognised arms of the merchant family of Bonaventure.

The collection of monuments to the Gould family at the parish church of Lewtrenchard, Devon, is largely the work of Sabine Baring-Gould, squire from 1872 and rector from 1881. Some of them came from Staverton, Devon, where another branch of the family had been settled; they were transferred in 1877-8. The legitimacy of the transfers was questioned by John Betjeman in 1957, and there has been controversy about this since then. Baring-Gould's methods have made it difficult in some cases to determine whether a monument is original or a copy. This paper attempts to sort out the problems, and to shed light on Baring-Gould's motives.

Demonstrating the growing problem confronting many mid-Victorian towns of finding sufficient space for burials, the controversies and disputes regarding shared cemeteries that developed between the authorities of the Church of England and the civil body responsible for urban cemeteries, and the extraordinary record provided by local newspaper evidence of how such issues played out in the local context, this paper focuses on the intriguing case of Torrington. By quarrying the exceptionally detailed reports published in the North Devon Journal, it is revealed that, in 1854, the town council was instructed by government to discontinue the use not only of the graveyard adjacent to the Anglican church, but also the burial grounds of the Wesleyans, and the Independents. So began a five-year quest to establish a new cemetery on the commons opposite the workhouse. Torrington's people were stubbornly opposed by the Bishop of Exeter in their plan for a burial ground with no physical division of the space allocated to different denominations. The tangled dispute drew in not only the home secretary, but also Lord Palmerston (the prime minister), and the archbishop of Canterbury, and was only finally resolved in 1859.

Along the South Hams coast, peat remains are the only trace of the formerly abundant woodland. Close to, and on the coastal shelf, sediments have been eroded, re-created and exposed many times during the Quaternary, but most have not been recorded. This paper focuses on lowland peat formed during the last 8,000 years within the coastal lithology of several near-shore south Devon valleys now impounded by coastal barriers. As the outcome of a research project that spanned twelve years, the paper reports findings from nine sites located in Tor Bay, Start Bay, Lannacombe Bay, the Salcombe estuary, Bigbury Bay, and Wembury Bay. In all, some 44 sediment cores were taken and subjected to pollen and macrofossil analysis. Fifteen radiocarbon dates were obtained, thereby establishing a woodland chronology for the region. The previously unrecorded Holocene valley sediments focused upon in this study reveal the changing woodland species communities that existed in settings close to the English Channel in the past. Moreover, it has been possible to identify responses in the woodland communities to environmental changes such as episodes of flooding and the increasing interference in the landscape by early human settlers such as tree clearance and farming. The findings for the South Hams are related to those published by other authors for sites elsewhere in southern England.

In a wide-ranging address, the central role of the Dartmoor hill farmer in the management of the landscape is reviewed. Far from being ‘the last wilderness’, Dartmoor is in fact an area managed by humans for the benefit of all. However, in some places, the moor is becoming inaccessible due to the intrusion of rowan, blackthorn, hawthorn, brambles and bracken (to us moorland folk: brimbles and vearns) and, as a result, a wilderness could develop. So much has altered in recent years. In the President’s opinion, it is important that the power of management of this glorious area of Devon should be returned to those with the knowledge and expertise to do the job; we must let commonsense dictate. Generations of knowledge must not be lost to the whims of politicians! An ounce of commonsense is worth a pound of brains any day! The social and economic history of moorland farms is considered: the significance of the quarter days (especially Lady Day and Michaelmas), the production of crops, the rearing of stock, the markets and fairs. The President comments on the impacts of new challenges such as climate change, recycling imperatives, fossil fuel depletion and bio-fuel pressures, food miles and food shortages. He stresses the importance of Devon’s heritage and traditions and the inspiring beliefs and values of those who founded The Devonshire Association in 1862.

Drawing on the archæological record, surviving field evidence, documentary and historical sources, photographic and oral memory, this paper examines the question of how old and how extensive has been tinworking in the Bovey Tracey area. It is revealed that the legacy of tinworking in this part of Devon is in fact one of the most important in the long history of the industry in the county. The tantalisingly elusive evidence of prehistoric tinworking is discussed. Documentary records are analysed that leave no doubt that the immediate vicinity of Bovey Tracey was busy with tinworking activity from the fourteenth century to the early seventeenth century, including streamworking and the operation of tin mills for crushing and smelting tin ore. One of the most interesting links between Bovey Tracey and the tin industry in the early 1600s is provided by Nicholas Eveleigh who was resident at Parke. His fine memorial may be seen today in the chancel of Bovey Tracey parish church. Though mainstream tinworking in the immediate vicinity of Bovey Tracey ended in the mid-seventeenth century, it is suggested that there may have been a modest revival in the 1690s and some activity continued during the 1700s. However, the only significant tin mine working in the Bovey area in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth century was Atlas Tin Mine, near Ilsington, (otherwise known as Smallacombe or Albion tin mine), which also operated a well-preserved burning house for roasting ores. Finally, it is revealed that the last episode of tinworking in Devon was by the Kester Brook in Bickington parish where, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, prompted by the rising price of tin, Western Alluvials Ltd was set up to exploit the reserves. Tin was also extracted and processed near Newton Abbot. For a brief period, therefore, the tin deposits of the Bovey Basin were being reworked after an interval of probably nearly 300 years.

The manor of Chulmleigh was surveyed for the Duke of Beaufort in 1711. The surviving documents contain maps for only a small part of the manor, but information about a much larger area is recorded in written form and this information is detailed enough to allow a more complete map to be reconstructed. This paper presents such a map and explains the method of its reconstruction in detail. The map shows that Chulmleigh had a mainly enclosed landscape in 1711, but about a third of the surveyed area still consisted of large open tracts of rough pasture. Comparison of the reconstructed map with the tithe map of 1841 and the Ordnance Survey six-inch map of 1887, together with the use of other documentary sources, gives insights into the enclosure of rough pasture in north Devon in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The study demonstrates the potential of combining archival research with computer-aided cartography to reveal historical landscapes.

Recent research has revealed that there were approximately 200 map-makers and surveyors working in Devon in the period up to 1825. For the most part details of the lives of these men are scanty but for three of them more documentation exists. Their careers were at times closely connected one with the other, at others they diverged, but taken together the lives of these three men reflect the development of the profession of surveyor, with its attendant duties of Steward, Agent, Valuer and Map-maker in the eighteenth- and early-nineteenth centuries.

From at least 1866, a campaign for women’s suffrage existed in Devon. An account is given of the arguments used for and against women’s suffrage, of the many petitions, where they were from and their frequency, and of the locations of meetings. The role of women activists and of Devon MPs is discussed, and the differing policies of suffragists and suffragettes are noted. The excitements of the Mid-Devon by-election 1907-1908 are described.

The carving of the capitals surmounting the pillars that separate the north and central aisles of St Michael’s Church in Doddiscombsleigh is exceptionally good and clean … and rather unusual. At the east end, the capital bears a conventional ‘green man’ with a spray of vine foliage coming from his mouth. Other capitals bear a variety of foliage. The last capital, at the east end, bears a man’s head with foliage coming from his mouth, but he also has little pointed ears and a hare lip. Though the author has seen many dozens of ‘green men’, and photographed most of them, this is the only one he has encountered so far with a hare lip.

The Laver Corpus consists of lists of Devonshire dialect words collected by Dr Murray Laver and published with commentaries in these Transactions in 1989. While Laver was mainly concerned with the geographical distribution and possible patterning of expressions within the county, this paper seeks to understand the origins of names for living things that feature in the Corpus. It will be shown that behind an abundance of names there are in fact often relatively few basic concepts. Thus, for example, behind numerous names for the woodlouse there are fewer than half-a-dozen basic ideas. Past work has tended to look separately at folklore and dialect, thereby missing the important connections that exist between the two, which can often help to explain the origin of a folk name or expression. Thus, for example, the paper will show that, like their foreign counterparts, some English names for the foxglove are inspired by a children’s game. The study highlights the importance of an interdisciplinary and comparative approach in shedding light on linguistic developments in the county.

A survey of endemic Sorbus species, Whitebeams, was carried out in the woodlands of Watersmeet, North Devon. 478 Whitebeams were recorded, of which there were 28 S. vexans, 3 S. porrigentiformis, 270 S. subcuneata, 108 ‘No Parking Whitebeams’ (an undescribed species), and 69 undetermined trees. The woodlands have exceptionally good populations of Whitebeams, supporting 98 per cent of the world population of the ‘No Parking Whitebeam’, about 82 per cent of the world population of S. subcuneata, and about 30 per cent of the world population of S. vexans.

This paper draws on a private collection of Devon-related documents. The material presented concerns a hitherto unrecognised property-developer and decorated veteran of the Peninsular War, a lawyer who may have been driven to an early death, and the efforts required to secure and sustain the political success of a better-known colleague. The paper provides examples of documents available from the market place and discusses their value, or otherwise, to the histiographer.

The connection between fortunes made by those involved in the metalliferous mining industry of West Devon and Cornwall in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the building of some fine country houses with spectacular gardens around them is well known. Less familiar is the fact that the mine companies also occasionally used the money from mining profits to build gracious houses such as Tamar View, now The Horn of Plenty, for individuals of particular significance to the enterprise. An examination of the history of the house, its place in the operation of the mine and its time, can reveal much about the shifting currents within society in an era when power and money surged through the area as the mining industry grew to have a great significance in the region, followed by an epic struggle with decline.

Casting her expert eye across the heart-achingly beautiful landscapes of Exmoor National Park, our President, Rachel Thomas notes that the waste known as the ‘Forest of Exmore’ was claimed by the Crown as one England’s 67 medieval royal forests and its boundaries were fixed as early as 1204. Exmoor today is spread over the two counties of Devon and Somerset. As late as 1894 an attempt was made to transfer the whole parish of Exmoor to Devon for administrative purposes but, opposed by Somerset County Council, the attempt met defeat. In the 1950s, the National Parks Commission regarded Exmoor ‘with its lovely and majestic scenery, its renown, its romance, its extent and fascinating wild landscape as entirely falling in with the idea and forms prescribed by Parliament for National Parks’, an endorsement that persuaded the government to sign its designation order on 19 October 1954. Exmoor National Park thus came into being with an area of 176,000 acres and a population of fewer than 10,000. The Exmoor Society was formed in 1958 as a branch of the Devon Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE). The Society fought a campaign against losses of moorland through ploughing, fencing and large-scale forestry proposals. It has played an exceptionally influential role in drawing attention to the importance of moorland and National Park status. After reviewing the wider concept of National Parks and the variety of landscape designations that exist in the UK, the President describes the special qualities of Exmoor: its scenic beauty, the richness of its wildlife, its remarkable history, and the opportunities that it affords for enjoyment and learning. Challenges are identified including climate change, the decline of hill farming, and the fierce competition for land within the Park. The functions and powers of the National Park Authority are considered and the address concludes with a robust and persuasive defence of such bodies which, at their best, are the standard bearers of a more integrated approach to rural development that recognises the natural capital of landscape (including natural beauty) and how this is linked to human wellbeing.

The lecture considers changes in farming from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present day in the Exmoor parishes south of the former forest. It is based on the Victoria County History’s England’s Past for Everyone Exmoor project and was drawn from material published in: Exmoor: the making of an English Upland, by Mary Siraut (Phillimore, 2009 © The University of London).

An important part of the archaeological resource of UK uplands is the peatland-based palaeoenvironmental archive: the record of changing landscapes, climate and society-environment interactions over the last 10,000 years. This paper outlines the state of ongoing research on the value and condition of the valley and spring mires drawing on data from Exmoor and the wider region, and recognises a number of threats to the survival of this resource. Water table draw-down can be shown to relate strongly to direct precipitation, and it is possible that changes in the hydrological status of mires as a result of climatic changes, such as increased seasonality and drier summer conditions, will result in the deterioration of organic remains within these systems. Sensitive management of the peatland archive is required, implemented through a program of dialogue between stakeholder groups with an interest in upland conservation (land managers, conservation groups, archaeologists, local communities).

Jean de Grandisson, consecrated Bishop of Exeter in 1327, proved to be one of the Cathedral’s great builders, patrons of the arts and benefactors. Among the many gifts listed in his will of 1368, one particular piece of church plate is itemised. Described as ‘that precious and exceeding subtle vessel or jewel of the value of two hundred florins’, it was a ‘monstrance’ (Latin: ostensorium), used to display the Host – the living Body of Christ – especially on the festival of Corpus Christi, in which devotion is focused upon the sacrament. This paper shows that processions of the Host using such a vessel represent a revolution in devotion which was spreading from the papal city of Avignon. It is argued that Grandisson provided not one, but two such vessels. Thus, soon after his arrival in Exeter, he made a gift of a ‘crystal vessel, well decorated with silver gilded’ and this was bequeathed in his will to the church of Ottery St Mary. The second, more magnificent, monstrance may have been for Grandisson’s personal use, but his will stipulated that, after his death, it was to be bestowed upon the Cathedral. It is described in an inventory of 1506 and there can be no doubt regarding the considerable opulence of the second vessel. The paper suggests that Grandisson’s early career as a member of the inner circle of Pope John XXII, and his origins as a Burgundian nobleman, shaped his attitudes as a bishop: his effortless sense of his own superiority; his pleasure in ordering books, vestments, ivories and ‘jewels’; in compiling his Ordinale, in which he incorporated the Mass and Office for Corpus Christi; and in enforcing the new standards of devotion in Devon and Cornwall. It is not clear what happened to Grandisson’s ‘Subtle Jewel’ and other treasures bequeathed to the Cathedral. Nearly all were missing when Miles Coverdale listed the contents of the treasury in the early 1550s. Perhaps, when it became clear, in the reign of Edward VI, that the churches were to be stripped of their remaining wealth, the monstrance and other precious items of plate were either looted or sold.

The Romanesque stonecarving of South Devon is distinguished by a particular use of foliate motif (the ‘honeysuckle’ or palmette) and material (the Permian New Red Sandstone from the Torbay area). Other repeating motifs typical of architectural work are also used alongside these designs, such as the saltire cross and cable moulding. The bulk of the material consists of fonts but other fragments in this distinctive style can be identified. The success of the design repertoire and material suggests the presence of a group of stonemasons operating in the region during the mid- to later twelfth-century, as well as patrons keen to purchase their work.

This paper, divided into two parts, presents the life and introduces the long narrative poem � The French Historie � the work of the sixteenth-century Devonian woman-writer, Anne Dowriche. Part One places the author in a Devon context and summarises recent research and interest in her life, thus establishing a national significance which reassesses Dowriche in light of the recent re-valuation of forgotten female writers. Part Two introduces and discusses the poem with regard to the complex religious debates of the period; it also re-assesses the importance of the poem within the context of the lost literary history of Devon’s women writers.

Oliver Cromwell is known to have been in the Southwest for several months in 1645 and 1646. A decade later, Cromwell asserted that Devon’s husbandry was the best of any English county. This paper explains the husbandry that Cromwell may have seen when he came to Devon. Attention is focused on what was different about Devonshire husbandry that would perhaps have been strange to Cromwell’s eyes. The abundance of small fields enclosed by high hedgebanks may well have struck him as unusual. He might have seen evidence of the practice of ‘Devonshiring’ or beat burning; the use of the ley as part of the rotation of crops; the absence of fallow; the cultivation of steep hillsides; the use of catch-work channels to create meadows on steep hillsides; and the application of calcareous sea-sand to sweeten the acid soils. A century and a half after Cromwell’s day, William Marshall made a study of agriculture in the Southwest which convinced him that the region’s husbandry was different from that practised elsewhere. Writing in 1796, Marshall described in detail the customs and ways of working the land that Cromwell almost certainly encountered. Drawing on Marshall’s work, as well as works of earlier writers, the paper explores how and why the husbandry of Devon and Cornwall was so strikingly distinctive.

Sandridge Park is a small estate near Stoke Gabriel on the eastern bank of the River Dart. On an ancient estate acquired by John Dunning from the Gilbert family, a new house was built for Dunning’s widow, Lady Ashburton, n�e Baring, by John Nash in the early nineteenth century. It was one of only two country houses executed by Nash in the villa rustica style. In the absence of a direct family succession, the estate passed through the stewardship of individuals connected with a variety of Devon families. The estate was largely broken up in 1935 when the house was sold for development but it was reprieved and returned to private ownership after wartime requisition. Despite the house’s architectural distinction, the history of the estate has not attracted the attention which perhaps it merits and this article, which focuses on its nineteenth-century inhabitants, attempts to redress the balance.

Over 100 tanneries were active in the county during the Napoleonic wars. This was a major industry which for the most part has gone unrecorded. Macpherson, in Annals of Commerce (1805), has stated that the value of leather produced in England in the late-eighteenth century was only exceeded by that of woollen cloth. In the mid-nineteenth century, the three leading counties for leather production were Devon, Lancashire and Surrey, in ascending order. This paper provides a brief outline history of Devon’s nineteenth century tanners and their tanneries – their development and decline – and draws on a number of sources including contemporary notices of auctions and other reports in local newspapers. A more detailed survey is provided in the author’s book: Devon Leather, published in 2008.

The paper is presented in two parts, both based on sketch maps and documents relating to the arbitration of a dispute about highway repairs in 1728 between the East Devon parishes of Colyton, Branscombe and Salcombe Regis. Part 1 examines this dispute as an issue in local government typical of a time when pressures on the road system and the enclosure of commons were both accelerating. The arbitration process and its results are explained, and the genesis of the Lyme Regis-Exeter turnpike is discussed. Part 2 extracts from the same documents evidence of unrecorded wayside stones of archaeological interest, and of the roadside burial of a suicide. Implications for the landscape history of the area are discussed, both for the Early Bronze Age, paying attention to trackways and cemeteries, and with reference to the liminal significance of parish boundaries in the early modern period.

In 2005, the Recorders of the Devonshire Association’s Building Section began work on a detailed examination of Second World War stop line defences in the valley of the River Axe, between Colyford and the sea. While much has been written about the so-called Taunton stop line, no other study has produced measured drawings of the remains of the pillboxes. The paper describes seven structures that have been measured in detail and a further seventeen which have been explored and photographed. Second World War stop lines are an important defence relic; the elements of the system are small and easily overlooked but, as time goes by, their significance has been increasingly recognised. The structures embody not just the clinical, practical planning of civil defence, but also the spirit of defiance and resistance that characterised the wartime generation.

This study was undertaken after discovering china clay tips of various ages in Cornwall were the habitat for a diverse terricolous lichen flora which contains some nationally important species. The perimeters of several Devon tips were visited subsequently to investigate similarities and differences between the areas and between ball and china clay as environments for lichens. It became apparent that there are two main substrata, fine-grained clay and well-drained quartz sand tips. With the recent moves to landscape, fertilise and reseed mine spoil, it was considered important to discover, before alterations to the present surface quality are undertaken, if clay waste has conservation value for lichens. It has already been acknowledged that some areas of clay waste are the habitat for Red Data mosses but prior to a study carried out at St Dennis, there appeared to be no lichen records. Although many of the lichens are visually insignificant, they form the first soil-binding growth. Only a preliminary study was possible for such a vast area of clay spoil. This investigation focuses on two china clay areas in Cornwall and one in Devon; and two ball clay areas in Devon

The president draws on his expert knowledge to surveys the churches and chapels built during the reign of Edward VII in the Holsworthy area, Torquay and Devonport, and their history thereafter.

The paper presents a vivid account of farming in the Holsworthy district in the years immediately after the Second World War until 1956. It begins by recalling a career which began with a rigorous practical and theoretical training that led to a National Diploma in Dairying (NDD), and appointment in 1948 as a Milk Production Officer with the National Agricultural Advisory Service (NAAS), covering South Molton, Barnstaple, Bideford and Holsworthy. In those early days, dairy farmers faced problems concerning the keeping quality of milk in hot weather. Rejected milk was returned with prominent red labels attached. Farmers then sought the advice of the Milk Production Officer. The typically small herd sizes meant that hand-milking was common, but some of the available milking and milk-cooling equipment is described. Changes introduced under the new 1949 Milk & Dairies Regulations, and concerning Tuberculin Tested (TT) milk are discussed. At that time, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Holsworthy District comprised 33 parishes in which there were 1,100 milk producing farms. Today the number is around 150-160. Lying within the area of the Culm Measures at an altitude 400-600 feet (140-180m), the land presented considerable farming challenges. Heavy and acidic, with an annual rainfall of about 50 inches, it is conducive to the growth of rushes and, in winter, easily becomes waterlogged. Improvements could be made, and advice was given by the author’s husband, who was the Holsworthy District Agricultural Adviser, on land drainage, tackling rush infestation, ploughing, fertilising, and reseeding with grasses and clover. Government grants, including 50 per cent of the cost of approved drainage work, were available. A rich picture is presented of the life that faced newcomers to the Holsworthy district seeking a living from farming. Land was cheap and small farms were often on the market at prices of around £200 per acre or less. In return for such an outlay, a farm of perhaps 30 rush-infested acres might be secured, comprising a house badly in need of repairs, probably without electricity, unimproved farm buildings, a water supply dependent on a well, and a rough track giving access to the nearest road. By the early 1950s, however, milk producers were being systematically advised on essential improvements. Advisory demonstrations and farm walks were means by which good practices were disseminated. These years, before farm amalgamations, the establishment of much larger, high-yielding herds, increased contract farming, and income diversification radically altered the rural economy, are looked back upon with affection as an extraordinary time on the cusp of change.

Christianity in north Devon is often thought to have come from Wales, but there is little evidence for this view. The first church in the region is documented in the mid ninth century, after which there are records of a few minsters and, later, of four monasteries. Most religious activity was centred in the 117 parish churches, of which more is known including evidence about economic, social, and devotional topics. The conclusion is reached that despite the relative remoteness of north Devon, its religious culture and institutions were linked with those of the rest of Southwest England and worked in similar ways.

In 1994, the Devon and Cornwall Record Society published an edition of charters issued between the years 1090 and 1217 by members of the Redvers family, created earls of Devon in 1141. Since then, seven other such instruments have come to light. The texts of six of these are given in the Appendix below: the seventh is now available in a modern printed edition and is therefore calendared only. Evidence for the existence of a four further acta, now lost, is also cited, together with the text of two charters which contain important references to the family’s activities. A third in this latter category, to be published elsewhere in 2010, is given in calendar form only.

The introduction of the New Poor Law in the 1830s was widely resented by the poor themselves and nowhere more than in Devon. It was a time of widespread closures of local industries due to a severe economic depression. The labouring classes were suspicious of the reasons for introducing the new unions of parishes as administrative units within which relief could be sought. Poorer people were aware that financial savings that would benefit the ratepayers were expected but they saw little prospect of any benefits for paupers. The responses of the poor were arson attacks and riots. Arson was common, especially in isolated farms, but fires were a frequent hazard and suspected perpetrators were rarely apprehended. Riots broke out across north Devon and in nearby districts. The authorities responded in various ways: the yeomanry was called out; detachments of the regular army were despatched from Plymouth, and London policemen were stationed across the county. Suspected ringleaders were arrested and sent for trial at the assizes, the yeomanry sometimes escorted them because of fears of their being ‘rescued’.

This paper examines the personal story of one of those ‘hidden’ members of Devon populations in the past – the so-called ‘white witch’. The account has been put together from a variety of sources and not only relates how a ‘white witch’ practised in the community, but also reveals how they were perceived by different groups in the nineteenth century, a time during which belief in their ‘powers’ was rapidly diminishing.

Before the construction of the Launceston By-pass in 1976, Polson Bridge carried the A30 Trunk Road and was considered for many centuries as the gateway from Devon into Cornwall. Today, the bridge carries the A388 over the River Tamar, which is the county boundary. Recorded in documents dating to the fourteenth century, mentioned in the itineraries of William of Worcester and John Leland, and the target of the Royalists in 1644, who destroyed it as a means of attempting to deny passage to Cromwell’s army, the historical significance of Polson Bridge is without question. This paper traces the history of the repair and rebuilding of the bridge since the granting by the Bishop of Exeter of indulgences to those who contributed to the task in 1447. Drawing primarily on the information contained in the minutes of both the Cornwall and Devon quarter sessions, together with references to work at Polson reported in the local press, the paper reconstructs not only the history of the bridge, but also recovers details of the surveyors and engineers engaged in the works carried out upon it. Most notable amongst the latter, in the early nineteenth century, were James Green, appointed by the Devon magistrates as their county surveyor, and James Chapple, who was the bridge surveyor for the Eastern Division of Cornwall. Co-operation between the two counties was required to secure agreement on repairs and, in dues course, the design of a replacement bridge, eventually completed in 1833 to the designs of James Green, but under Chapple’s direction as clerk of works. By the 1880s, the weight of vehicular traffic using Polson Bridge was a cause for concern but it was not until 1934 that counties’ highways committees, the two county councils and the Ministry of Transport co-operated in a scheme to partially reconstruct and strengthen the central span of the 1833 bridge. The bridge today, embodying the works of 1833 and 1934, stands as a symbol of co-operation between Devon and Cornwall in maintaining the arteries of communication within the Southwest.

Cotehele occupies a 1300-acre estate, on the Cornwall side of the River Tamar and comprises an historic house, formal and informal gardens, woodlands and orchards, a mill and a river quay. Owned by the Edgcumbe family since 1353, it was transferred to the National Trust in 1947. The original Quay Museum, operated in partnership with the National Maritime Museum, was first opened in 1982 in an old building known as ‘Cap’n Bill’s Storehouse’. However, visitor numbers had slumped and, in 2007, a project called Cotehele Quay ‘By the River’ was devised to re-invent the museum and increase its appeal. The East Cornwall Regeneration Project, supported by the EU’s Objective 1, contributed £65,000 of funding, and another £10,000 was provided by the National Trust. The National Maritime Museum offered 300 hours of expert curatorial time. The aim was to redevelop the museum to tell the story of the thriving community and industrial economy of the Victorian era, and to explain the importance of the River Tamar through the ages. Considerable local participation by the local community and a range of other stakeholders in devising the new museum was encouraged and the renamed Discovery Centre was finally completed in May 2008. Within the context of the socio-cultural sustainability of heritage, this paper describes both the Discovery Centre project and an evaluation exercise to gauge its success that was carried out by the authors following the museum’s re-launch. Although further monitoring will be needed in future to test whether the Discovery Centre maintains its appeal, it is argued that the re-making and reinvention of the Cotehele Quay Museum, with its prominent emphasis on consultation and inclusiveness, is an important example of a new approach in the sustainable management of heritage.

Two centuries ago small buildings known as ash-houses were a feature of farms across a number of upland districts in the Westcountry. Their purpose was to provide a safe and dry place for the storage of wood and peat ash, cleaned out daily from the hearths of the farmstead, ready for use as a fertilizer on the land. Fifty or more of these buildings survive, the majority along the eastern side of Dartmoor, with others in Somerset and Cornwall. Drawing on national, regional and personal records, details are given of the construction of ash-houses, their distribution, and reasons for their decline. Now put to very different uses, they yet provide an interesting sidelight on life and farming practices in a largely forgotten age.

The Victorian carte de visite photograph was the first to be mass produced and readily affordable. Millions were sold between the late 1850s and the early years of the twentieth century, and were collected avidly during the 1860s and 1870s. Although the most popular subject was a personal portrait, some depict buildings and landscapes. The paper presents Devon examples of these and discusses how they may be dated and thus placed at an advantage over other contemporary photographs.

This paper uses mainly contemporaneous press reports to describe a particularly hard-fought by-election in Devon in 1891 between an official Liberal Home Rule candidate and a Unionist Liberal candidate supported by the Conservatives. It covers the varied social, economic, political and religious issues which aroused the electorate and also the campaigning techniques.

The Devon and Exeter Dental Hospital was one of the earliest institutions in England to be recognised by the Royal College of Surgeons for training pupils to enable them to sit its Licentiate in Dental Surgery examination. The Hospital performed two major purposes – the relief of dental pain for poor people and the training of dental surgeons This history is set within the background of the legalisation of the dental profession during the turn of the last century and reports its various locations in Exeter, its financing by a relatively small group of benevolent people and the voluntary professional staffing.