The record-union., 1891-02-08
BRITAIN'S BEAUTY-sPOT.
THE COUNTY OF DEvONsHIRE THE
FAIREST OF ALL.
A Marvellous Diversity of surface-Nu-
merous Ruins Rich in Historical
"reminiscences.

Devonshire is called the fairest country
IN England. One writer enthusiastically
says: 1.-The women are, perhaps, the most
beautiful of any; the men are taller and
less awkward than in the midland and
eastern counties; the wild flowers are
more abundant; the climate milder on
the coast and more bracing on the moors.
we have spent weeks in Devon in gen.
eral state of enchantment with the
scenery, the foliage, the sparkling Scot
tish-like burns, and the unrivaled tors,
besides being filled with enthusiasm for
the abundant remains of British camps
and circles and dolInens, to say nothing
OF that weird Wistman's wood of which
the gnarled and dwarfish oaks are said to
be coevil with the Druids.n
In size the county comes second, the
area being 1854 square miles. Its great
est length from north to south is some
seventy miles, and its greatest breadth
from east to west is about the same On
two sides it is washed by the sea-north-
ward by the Bristol, southwark by the
English Channel. Cornwall forms its
westward boundary, and Somerset and
Dorset lie on its eastward borders. About
two-thirds of its surface is under culti-
vation, and its farming and dairy pro-
duce are among the finest. Then when
it comes to history, Devonshire has fur
nished some of the most interesting
pages in English annals. There is the
Castle OF Rouguemont, now ruin, that
was one OF the strongest obstacles meet
ing the Norman invaders. The name
came from the red color of the ground on
which the castle was built, and Romans
and SaXons have in turn erected fort
resses on the site. More imposing.
however, and more charming to the eye
is the cathedral at Exeter. Edward the
Confessor made the place the seat of a
diocese in 1850, and in 1112 the cathedral
was begun. 1t was finished in l47S, so
1t can well stand as a monument of old
English architecture.
One of the largest Of the county's towns
is Plymouth, the chief seaport OF Britain's
southwestern shore. Such names as
HankinS, Drake, Cook, Frobisher and
Blake are associated with the town, and
ii was from here the Pilgrims sailed for
American shores. Formerly the harbor
was open to the full force of the sea, but
in 1917 work was started to create bar
rier to the Atlantic's waves. Thirty-four
years and 4,000,000 tons of granite were
required to secure the desired result: but
now, with a stone wall from 40 TO so feet
high, 400 feet wide at the base and about
one mile long, the most mighty pillows
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basin.
Picturesque ruins are scattered through
out the county. Those at Okehampton.
Plymouth, Tiverton, Totnes and Berry
Pomeroy are among the most striking
and most beautiful of the relies of
feudal times. They stand on the crest
of q lofty cliff, embowered in woods, and
when viewed from the valley below they
impress the beholder with sense of their
exceeding grandeur. Berry Pomeroy
Castle was erected by Rolfe de Pomeroy,
one of the chief followers of the Norman
conquerer of England. The original ex-
tent of it's buildings may be gathered
from the statement that ''it was good
days work for servant to open and shut
the easements belonging to them.a Ac-
cording to a tradition of the county the
castle was shattered by terrific thunder
storm, and its exposed position-from
which 1t towers above the highest trees of
the magnificent wood which surrounds it
would lend weight to the story of its
destruction.
There are also the remains OF many an
cient abbeys and monasteries. Of all
these, perhaps the most interesting are
the ruins of Tavistock Abbey, which was
founded in the year 961 by Ordgar, Earl
of Devon. 1t was completed in 9S1 by his
son. The abby was plundered and
burned by the Danes in 997, but later was
rebuilt.
The wild eXpanse of Dartmoor, with
gloomy forests where the Druids once ex-
ercised their solemn and mysterious rites.
furnished remarkable and interesting re-
mains in abundance. The weird '.Wist-
mans Wood" name which is believed
to be corruption of the 'swise men's'
Tor Druids') wood, still exists to attest
what has been alleged of the dark doings
of the priests of the sacred groves, of
ancient Britain. Wistman's Wood" is
distant about mile from Two Bridges ON
Dartmoor. 1t lies on the acclivity of a
steep hill, and the road to it is incum-
bered with huge blocks of granite. The
oaks which form the wood are gnarled
and stunted, their moss-covered upper
branches being strangely and fantastic
caliy twisted. These trees grow from be-
tween huge granite masses, and in the
hollows beneath lie adders and other VEN
omous reptiles.
In the neighborhood of Merriyale
bridge, on Dartmoor, there is also a very
interesting assemblage of Druidical re-
mains. In one place there is an avenue
l, 40 feet long, of rough stone, at each end
of which is Druidical circle. Near this
avenue is another, about five feet wide,
and as much as 800 feet long. In the same
neighborhood are rock pillar twelve
feet high, the ruins of cromlech a pound
175 feet in diameter, and consisting of ten
stones.
Kent's Cavern, in the vicinity of Tor
quay, is a remarkable cave, consisting OF
a great excavation in the Devonian lime
stone. 1t is entered by narrow passage
some seven feet wide and only five feet
in hight The central cavern, which is
almost GOO feet long, has number of
smaller caverns or corridors leading out
from it. Its farther extremity is termin-
ated by deep pool of water. In the bed
of this cavern research has been rewarded
by some deeply interesting discoveries.
Over the original earth bottom of the cave
is bed or layer of considerable thick
ness, in which are contained strange mix
lures of human bones with the bones of
the elephant and the rhinoceros, the hy-
ena, the bear and the wolf, intermingled
with stone and flint tools, arrow and spear
heads and fragments of coarse pottery
The animal remains testify to the pres
ence in the ancient forests of Britain of
beasts Of prey which long since have be-
come extinct.
Devonshire's northern coast line, ex-
tending from Glenthorne, which on the
east divides the country from Somerset
shire, to Marsland mouth, which is it's
extreme northwestern boundary-in-
c1udes bolder sea front than the south
eastern sea line of the country, though
the Boggy Point to Hartland there are
numerous easy sand beaches fronting
Barnstaple Bay. From Glenthorne to
Iltracombe, and from Hartland Point to
Cornwall borders it is much bolder and
in strong contrast to the gentle slopes.
In the southern lines of coast, extend
ing from the Devonshire border to Ply
mouth, the contrasts, though lovely in
the extreme, are on the whole less bold.
There is greater variety, owing to the
larger number of indentations in the sea
front, and to the more rapid alteration
from peaceful, sandy bay to jagged
shingly in the cliff. Into the waters of
the English Channel, from this southern
sea border, flow the Axe, the Otter and
the Sid. the Exc and Teign, the Dart