Devon

Contemporary content

Abstracts of papers published in our Transactions

• Abstracts since 1999

Book reviews

Over the years we have published many reviews of Devon-related books in our Transactions and in DA News. A selection can now be read here.

Section Reports

Our annual conferences are held in a different town in Devon each year (though we do occasionally stray into Cornwall or Somerset). Our Sections produce reports on the town and its surroundings and collectively these provide a useful introduction to the place:

• Axminster (2011): Botany – Buildings – Entomology – History –  Geology – Literature
• Torquay (2012): Botany – Buildings – Entomology – Geology – Literature & Art
• Kingsbridge (2013): Botany – Buildings – Entomology – Geology – Literature & Art
• Barnstaple (2014): Botany – Buildings – Entomology – Geology – Literature & Art
• Tavistock (2015): Botany – Buildings – Entomology – Geology – History – Industrial Archaeology – Literature & Art
• Cullompton (2016): Botany – Buildings – Entomology – Geology – History – Industrial Archaeology – Literature & Art – Music
• Buckfast (2017): Botany – Buildings – Entomology – Geology – History – Industrial Archaeology – Literature & Art
• Dartmouth (2018): Botany – Buildings – Entomology – Geology – History – Industrial Archaeology – Literature & Art
• Launceston (2019): Botany – Buildings – Geology – History – Literature & Art

Other contemporary content

Mostly copies of papers from our Transactions which the authors have kindly allowed us to republish, but some other work is also included.

• The Records of the Bishop of Exeter’s Consistory Court. A paper by J. A. Vage (1982).
• Devon’s Farm Labourers in the Victorian Period: the Impact of Economic Change. A paper by Greg Finch (1987).
• A Re-appraisal of the Erratic Suite of the Saunton and Croyde Areas, North Devon. A paper by P. A Madgett and E. A. Inglis (1987).
• The Rural Manor in South-West Devon in the Nineteenth Century. A paper by Brad Scott (1997).
• The Landscape around Chulmleigh in 1711: A Reconstructed Map. A paper by Martin Ebdon (2008).
• Anne Edgcumbe/Dowriche and The French Historie. A pair of related papers by Dr Julie Sampson (2009).
• The Husbandry of Devon and Cornwall. A paper by Robin Stanes (2009).
• The Hudson Transparencies. A summary, list and illustrations that complement an article by Dr Robin Wootton in Transactions volume 143 (2011) pp. 61–90.
• Evidence for a Twelfth-Century Community of Benefactors in a North Devon Charter. A paper by Dorothea Rowse (2011).
• The Geodiversity of Torbay. A paper by Prof. Malcolm Hart (2012).
• The Poetry of Anne Born: an Appreciation. A paper by John R. Cole (2013).
• The History and Hydrogeology of Laywell, a Celebrated Ebb and Flow Spring at Brixham, Devon. A paper by Prof. John Mather (2013).
• Facing sin: late medieval roof bosses in Ugborough church, Devon. An article by Dr Susan Andrew (2015).
• Trojans at Totnes and Giants on the Hoe: Geoffrey of Monmouth, Historical Fiction and Geographical Reality. A paper by John Clark (2016).
• Bronze Age Geometry: the layout of the Ceremonial Site at Merrivale. A paper by John Morgan (2016).

Buildings Section Reports

These are reports of detailed surveys of individual buildings undertaken by members of the Buildings Section since 1988.

Blagdon Cider Barn, near Paignton, 1988

A typical early title page

Historical content

From our Transactions

• A list of titles of all papers. Those that we have transcribed (see below) are linked.
• Links to scanned copies 1862–1920. These are hosted on the Internet Archive and/or Google Books, but a couple are missing. The missing volumes are: XLI 1909, and L 1918.

Over 1,300 papers and hundreds of Reports from various Sections and Committees were published before 1921.

We are building up a series of accurate transcriptions of papers and reports published in these early volumes. These few examples, ordered by publication date, give an indication of the wide range of what is available:

19th century

• On Some Recent Additions to the Fauna of Devon (1864)
• On the Traces of Tin Streaming in the Vicinity of Chagford (1866)
• North Devon Customs and Superstitions (1867) – biting teeth from corpses, etc.
• On Prison Discipline (1867) – we’ve come a long way since then …
• Stones found at Swincombe (Dartmoor), Probably Connected with Ancient Mining There (1870)
• Exmouth Warren, and its threatened destruction (1872) – we now call it Dawlish Warren.
• Bronze Celt found near Sidmouth (1872)
• Is there evidence of Glacial Action in the Valleys of Dawlish and Ashcombe, South Devon? (1872)
• On the Progress of Electro-therapeutics (1872) – by J. N. Hearder, Medical Galvanist, Plymouth.
• Notice of supposed Acoustic Jars found in the Parish Church of St. Andrew, at Ashburton (1873)
• Relics of the Past observed at Torquay, Devonshire (1873) – wassailing, the ashen faggot, and May-dolls
• Memoranda (1875) – a miscellany of short notes and reports collected by William Pengelly.
• Lydford and its Castle (1879) – including a copy of Browne’s poem “I oft have heard of Lydford Law…”
• John Lethbridge and his Diving-Machine (1880)
• The Font in Christ Church, Ilfracombe (1880)
• The Black Assizes in the West (1884) – outbreaks of typhus, or “gaol fever”.
• On Earthquakes in Devonshire (1884) – documenting 33 events, including tsunamis.
• On Earthquakes in Devonshire – Supplement (1885) – the January 1885 earthquake.
• Changes in Travelling on the Road between Exeter and Plymouth during the last Sixty Years (1885) – includes a personal recollection of travelling on Brunel’s atmospheric railway.
• Second Supplement to Paper on Earthquakes in Devonshire … (1887)
• A Gold-Washing Apparatus (1888) – Baring-Gould describes a small device found on Dartmoor.
  
• Wills, The Australian Explorer (1893) – The ill-fated Burke & Wills expedition. Wills was born in Totnes.
• Dartmoor For Devonshire (1894) – arguing that the County Council should purchase Dartmoor.
• Professorial and Amateur Research in South Devon (1895) – Arthur Hunt’s extended rant, mostly against Professor Bonney.
• Some changes in the County Ornis, noticed particularly in the South Hams (1896) – starlings, lapwings up; buzzards, goldfinches down.
• Twelve Months’ Notes on Birds in the South Hams District (August, 1898–1899) (1899)

20th century

• Botanical Notes No. III. (1906)
• Supposed currency bars found near Holne Chase Camp (1906)
• First report of the Botany Committee (1909) – species recorded in Devon’s eight botanical districts.
• Ralegh Miscellanea (1909) – Wine licences; spelling: Ralegh, Raleigh &c; place-names; his “Epitaph”.
• Ornamental lime-plaster ceilings and the plasterer’s craft in Devonshire (1909)
• Wembury: its bay, church, and parish (1909)
• An inclusion of culm grit in coarse granite (1909) – found near Lustleigh.
• On some boulders of pseudo-jasper found near Newton Abbot (1910)
• An Ancient British Trackway (1911) – Honiton, Starcross, Newton Abbot, Ipplepen, Ivybridge, Saltash.
  
• A Short Account of the Origin of the Association (1912)
• William Pengelly, F.R.S., F.G.S., Father of the Devonshire Association (1912)
• The Exeter and Dartmouth Road (1912)
• Twelve Months’ Notes on Birds in the South Hams District (1912) – and still shooting most of them!
• Some Devonshire Field-Names… (1913)
• Mines and Mining in the Tavistock District (1914)
• Prudum, Produm etc., of Exeter and the first city seal (1915)
• The Secret of the Fosse Way (1915) – a speculative continuation through Devon to Launceston.
• The Walrond Screen in Seaton Church (1915)
• 34th Report of the Barrow Committee (1915) – excavations at Drizzlecombe.
• Berry Pomeroy Castle (1915)
• Churchyard and wayside crosses in the neighbourhood of Exeter (1915)
• The Athelstan Myth (1916) – J. J. Alexander refutes earlier versions of history.
• Some Old Farm Implements and Operations (1918)
• The Original Main Road West of Exeter (1918)
• A Lost Lake (1920) – Baring-Gould on Lew Trenchard Valley, and beavers.
• The Old Devon Farm House. Part I. Its Exterior Aspect and General Construction (1920)
• The Hill Observatory, Salcombe Regis (1920) – known today as the Norman Lockyer Observatory.
• Joseph Pitts of Exeter (?1663 – ?1739) (1920) – said to be the first Englishman to see Mecca.
• The Earliest Southern Way from Exeter (1927)
• Early Printing in Devon (1928) – Lady Radford’s Presidential lecture
• Goatpath (1931)
• Devonshire Calendar Customs: I. Movable Feasts (1936)
• Westward from Dorchester (1936)
• Exeter Roads and Streets (1943) – T. J. Joce’s last paper, published posthumously.

Note that in view of their age we make no claims about the accuracy of the conclusions drawn in these articles. We are making them available for several reasons, including: to form a basis for further research; to bring possible overlooked information into the light; to improve on the often poor quality text available from the automatically scanned volumes on Google and the Internet Archive; and lastly just to enjoy learning about how things used to be, what we used to do, what we used to believe – and how we used to write!

Source information

See the source clouds page for lists of the most common authors, locations and topics for all the Devon content on this site.