DEVONSHIRE. 



DEVONSHIRE. 



7*0 



ran* off from it to Tiverton. The main line in continued by the South 

 DcTon line, which runs along the valley of the Ex to it* mouth, whence 

 it U carried by the coast to Teiinimouth, then tip the valley of ill- 

 Teign to Newton Bushel, where a branch 6 miles lout; runs off to 

 Ti'rquiv, while the main line proceeds by Totnes t<> Plymouth: ita 

 whole length is S3 mile*. A short line runs from Exeter to Crediton. 

 [CHEDITOX.] There U a railway from Dartmoor, near tin- pri*>n, 

 originally built for prisoners of war, to the river Plyin near Plymouth : 

 a branch from Catdown and Sutton Pool, clone to Plymouth, join- this 

 railway at ita termination on the Plym. The length of the railway 

 and branch together ia about 25} mile.*. A tram-road, 8 miles long, 

 formed of granite block*, extends from the Haytor quarries to the 

 Teigngraco Canal 



There are four roads between London and Exeter, which were 

 prior to the construction of the railways traversed by the mails. 

 The Devonport, Exeter, and Bath mail-road enters this county between 

 Wellington and Collumpton, and passes south-west through Bradniuch 

 to Exeter, and thence by Chudleigh, Newton, and Totnes to Devouport. 

 The Exeter mail-road euters Devonshire between Chard and Honiton, 

 from which place it runs to Exeter. The Penzonce, Falmouth, and 

 Exeter mail-road enters Devonshire between Bridport and Axmiuster, 

 an-! proceeds by Honitoii to Exeter, and thence by Okehampton, 

 skirting the north side of Dartmoor, to Poulston Bridge, where it 

 < ionium the Tamer into Cornwall. The Falmouth, Devonport, and 

 Exeter mail-road enters the county between Ilminster and Honiton 

 and runs to Exeter, and thence by Chudleigh and Ashburton to 

 Plymouth and Devonport, whence the mail is conveyed across the 

 actuary of the Tamer into Cornwall. There are several other roads 

 of inferior importance. 



Geological Structure. A few spots occur in the eastern portion of 

 the county and along the coast between Sidmouth and the border 

 of Dorsetshire, which ore occupied by outlying portions of the chalk 

 formation. The sections of these portions on the coast present the 

 last chalk cliffs toward the west. In the cliffs eastward of the Axe, 

 the chalk occupies only the upper portion of the cliff; the central 

 part of the cliff is composed of green-sand and the lower part of the 

 lias : for the chalk and green-sand in their extension u outward overlie 

 the other formations, which elsewhere are found beneath them and 

 rest immediately upon the lias. Westward of the Axe, where the 

 chalk cliff* reappear, the chalk dips rapidly towards the west : a 

 portion of the upper part of the cliff has been detached and has 

 subsided toward the beach, the shattered mass of chalk exhibiting a 

 variety of picturesque forms. 



The green-sand formation presents on the confines of Dorsetshire 

 and Devonshire many outlying masses forming considerable hills. To 

 this formation belong the Bat-topped hills of Blackdown, the range 

 connected with them which separates the valleys of the Otter and 

 the Axe, and the branches of tins range which separate the smaller 

 valleys watered by the tributaries of the Axe and by the Sid. A range 

 extending westward from the Blackdown hills, and bounding the valley 

 of the Culm on the north, also belongs to the green-laud formation : 

 and beyond Exeter the range of the Haldon hills, divided only by 

 the valley of the Teign from the granite of Dartmoor, is capped by 

 green-Hand ; thus affording u remarkable instance of the approximation 

 of primitive rocks and those of much later formation. The green- 

 land heights in Devonshire are for the moat part in the state of 

 unreclaimed heath. 



On the eastern side of the Blackdown and connected ranges, the 

 green-sand rest* upon lias, the lowest of the oolitic series of forma 

 tiona, Lias occupies the valley of the Axe above Axminster, and the 

 upper part of the valley of the Yart On the western and southern 

 side* of Blackdown the green-sand overlies all the oolitic formations, 

 and rests immediately upon the red marl, which, with tho accompany- 

 ing sandstone and conglomerate, constituting the formation designated 

 the new red-sandstone, occupies the tract from the Blackdown hills 

 westward to the valley of the Loman and the Ex : it constitutes the 

 bed of the Loman, but extends not quite to the bank of tin- Kx, 

 which flows for the most part over a bed of transition rocks. Between 

 Silrerton and Exeter the n-.l marl is found extending westward across 

 I'.x and the Greedy, and along tho valley of the Yco, nearly to 

 the valley of the Taw. It extends southward from the Blackdown 

 hills along the valley of the Otter, and across tho country between 

 the Otter and the Ex to the coast j crosses the Ex immediately below 

 Kxeter, and extend* along the coast with some interval to Torbay ; it 

 forms the valley of tho Sid and the Coly, and the lower part of the 

 valleys of the Axe and the Yart, and the picturesque cliffs about 

 ihkbacombe R*y. The green-Hand which caps the Haldon hills rests 

 chiefly on this formation. 



The district occupied by the various formations enumerated above 

 is small, compared with that which consist* of the rocks of th 

 transition claw. These, the carbonaceous series of De la Beche, th. 

 Devonian system of Sedgwick and Murchison, occupy ill the count; 

 northward and westward of the new red-sandstone, except the 

 primitive district of Dartmoor. Tho western side of Great ll,M"t 

 (green-land) rest* upon the transition rocks. These transition rock 

 consist of an argillaceous slate, grauwacke, which in the neighlxnir 

 hood of Dartmoor does not attain to an average elevation of more 

 than 600 feet ; except on the western flank of the moor, where i 



orms a steep eminence of more that 1100 feet In tho north of 



;i rises considerably higher, and the height- "f Kxm...r (whii-h 



are in some piirU 1800 feet high) consist of it In this part of th'- 



ounty tho rocks which compose the formation differ materially in 



belr mineralogical characters: they have for the most part the 



tnicturc of sandstones, and are essentially composed of quartz and 



lay, l.tit in different proportions ; quartz predominating in the coarser 



ml clay in the finer grained varieties; these last graduate into a fine 



late, tho lamina- of which are as thin as paper. The strata of grau- 



in ke near ('Welly incline in every direction, and describe the most 



pricious and picturesque forms. The undulating surface of the 



luntry may be partly ascribed to the predominance of the argillaceous 



lute, which is, of all the rocks of earlier formation, the most subject 



o decomposition. These slate rocks ore quarried for roofing-slates ; 



hey are metalliferous, affording ironstone and veins of tin, copper, 



ind lead ; the veins or lodes which yield tin or copper, run, ss in 



'oniwall, from north-east to south-west (approaching more or less 



o east and west), and those which afford lend run nearly at right 



angles to these. Tho strata in the mining field about Tavistock which 



ields tin, copper, lead, and manganese, are traversed by porpli . 



el van) beds, bearing nearly east and west A few lead and > 



nines are wrought in North Devon : the lead is combined with silver. 



n many parts of the transition district, beds of limestone and """*m 



of greenstone occur. The limestone rocks in the vicinity of Plymouth, 



["or Bay, Ashburton, Newton Bushel, and Chudleigh, as containing 



organic remains and alternating with argillaceous slate, may be referred 



o the transition series ; the limestone is quarried for buildin 



burnt for manure ; beautifully veined marble is worked in different 



places. The limestone of the north of Devon which crosses the 



county in parallel courses east and west, may be referred to the same 



series. 



It is in the transition district that the imperfect cool or lignite, 

 called Bovey coal, is found. It occurs at Bovey Heath field, on the 

 right or south-west bank of tho West Teign or Bovey River, in a plain 

 where the strata of it rise to the surface. It lies in parallel seams 

 rom 4 to 1 6 feet thick, at or 8 feet distance from each other, to the 

 depth of 60 feet, and exhibits a gradation from the most perfect 

 igneous texture to a substance nearly approaching the character of 

 jit coal. Potters' -cloy and pipe-clay are found in the same neighbour- 

 hood. These various substances are of a later formation, and are 

 deposited with intermingled beds in a basin formed of older rocks. 

 The Bovey coal is used for fuel in the potteries on Boven heatl.. 

 by the poorer people of the neighbourhood ; but its difficult and 

 imperfect combustion, and fetid gas, render it unfit for domestic use. 



Mica and chlorite slate form the bold rocky coast from Start Point 

 to Bolt Tail. Granite forms the mass of Dartmoor. Numerous] 

 rocks, called tors, are scattered over the surface of this moor : they 

 appear to occupy their primitive sites and to owe their present figure 

 to the resistance which their more perfect crystallisation has enabled 

 them to offer to the influence of the atmosphere. The Dartmoor 

 granite is remarkable for the size of the felspar crystals which it 

 contains; it is much valued for its durability, fineness of texture, and 

 the size of the blocks ; it is quarried and exported to a considerable 

 extent, especially to London. It is metalliferous, containing veins 

 of tin, even the rock itself being sometimes impregnated with this 

 metal. (Conybeare and Phillip's 'Outlines of the Geology of England 

 and \Valesj' 'Geological Transactions;' De la Beetle's ' Report on 

 the Geology of Cornwall and Devon;' Murchison's 'Silurian 

 System ;' 'Geological Map of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful 

 Knowledge.') 



Climate, Soil, Agriculture. The climate of Devonshire is generally 

 humid ; the temperature however varies considerably in different 

 parts of the county. Along the south coast it is mild and equable, 

 and this part of the county is in consequence much resorted to by 

 invalids, especially such as have a tendency to pulmonary disease!. 

 The south coast is moist, being very subject to light misty rains, 

 known as the ' Devonshire drizzle ; ' it is also liable to gales. Myrtles 

 and other tender plants grow freely in the open air ; and snow seldom 

 lies long on the ground. On the north coast the winds are very keen, 

 and the climate is generally colder. The moorland countcy about 

 Dartmoor is also cold and very bleak, but healthy. 



The lower hills which occupy so large a part of the surface of this 

 county are covered with grass; the higher with moor and rock. 

 The county contains along ita numerous riven many fertile mead. . . -. 

 some of which arc only imperfectly irrigated, and others not at all. 

 Grass seems to bo the natural product of a mild moist climate, like. 

 that of Devonshire, in which corn is everywhere a secondary object 

 The improvements in the cultivation of arable land which have been 

 rapidly introduced into other counties, especially in the north, have 

 not been so generally received in Devonshire. The oldest system of 

 Devonshire cultivation is a rude species of convertible husbandry, 

 very different from what is called by that name in tlr mirth !' 

 England nnd south of Scotland. When grans land begins to wear 

 out by injudicious management, or from a natural defect in the soil, 

 the surface is pared thin, and tho sod when dried is bunit in heaps. 

 The ashes thus produced stimulate the soil and enable it to bear a 

 few crops, frequently three corn crops in succession. When the laud 

 is thus nearly exhausted, it is laid down again in grass, and is 



