A HISTORY OF DEVONSHIRE 



In a paper contributed in 1899 to the Devonshire Association by 

 Mr. A. Chandler, the temperature, rainfall and sunshine were investi- 

 gated ; he divided the county into the coast, the inner lands and the 

 highlands, and showed that these zones exhibit three types of climate. 

 First, on the coast there is an equable climate, warm in winter and cool 

 in summer, and that in this zone the mean temperature is the highest, 

 the mean range of temperature the least, the rainfall the smallest, and the 

 sunshine the greatest. Secondly, in the zone of the inner lands the mean 

 temperature, the rainfall and the amount of sunshine are intermediate 

 between those of the other zones, while the mean range of temperature 

 is greater than in the others. Thirdly, the highlands of Dartmoor have 

 the lowest mean temperature, are intermediate in mean range of tempera- 

 ture, enjoy the greatest rainfall and, so far as cloud measurements prove, 

 the least sunshine. The following table supplies the summary of the 

 records : — 





Mean 



Mean 



Mean 



Mean 

 annual 









annual 



annual 



annual 



Percentage 



Mean 





tempera- 



range of 



rainfall, 



of 



daily hours 





ture in 



tempera- 



depth 





possible 



of 





Fahrenheit 



ture in 



in 



hours 



sunshine 



sunshine 





degrees 



degrees 



inches 







Coast zone .... 



507 



10-9 



35-63 



1,671 



38 



4i . 



Inner land zone . . . 



49-6 



147 



42-81 



1,582 



36 



4i 



Highland zone . . . 



48-6 



12-5 



5 7 "94 



1,491 



34 



4 



Average for Devon . . 



49-9 



12-6 



44-35 



1,581 



36 



4i 



Devonshire is remarkably well watered and has an immense num- 

 ber of streams ; ' it has in it abundance of rivers, more perhaps than 

 any other county in England ' (Gibson's edition of Camden's Britannia, 



1695)- 



The following is a list of principal rivers, mostly on the authority 

 of De la Beche : — 



Name 



Miles 



Tamar 59 



Exe 54^ 



Torridge 53 



Taw 48 



Dart 36 



Teign 33 



Otter 26 



Culm, a tributary of the 



Exe 



Mole, a tributary of the 



Taw 



Avon 



Tavy 



Axe 



Yeo (east), a tributary of 



the Taw .... 



Total length Tidal for 



Miles 



i7i 



7 



9 



"i 

 10^ 



H 



Name 



25i • - 



23* 



23 

 23 

 23 



3i 



3 



If 



Miles 

 Okement, a tributary of 



the Torridge ... 18 



Plym 16 



Bray, a tributary of the 



Mole 15^ 



Little Dart, a tributary of 



the Taw 15 



Erme 14^ 



Yealm 14 



Yarty, a tributary of the 



Axe 14 



Lyd, a tributary of the 



Tamar 13^ 



Lyn II 



Total length Tidal for 



Miles 



2i 

 3f 



19 



For botanical purposes a suitable and convenient division of the 

 county into districts is required. This matter was discussed by Jones and 



56 



