Devon History Society

2012-01-24T13:35:00.000Z

The Devon History Society aims to promote the advancement of the study of history within Devon by:

Organising meetings, seminars and visits that aim to promote and stimulate interest in Devon's history amongst the membership, including its corporate members and affiliated societies;
Regularly publishing a scholarly journal and other publications to be made available to the Society's membership;
Encouraging and co-ordinating historical research amongst the membership.

As part of the Society’s contribution to the encouragement of local history it awards an annual Book of the Year Prize and when thought to be of sufficiently high standard a Dissertation Prizeis awarded for a final year undergraduate dissertation on a topic related to any aspect of Devon's history by a student of a Devon university.

See here for details of the 2008 winners.

Membership is by subscription, the rates per annum (until May 2012) being £10 for individual members, £15 for family membership, £10 for affiliated societies, and £15 for corporate membership. Life membership is available for £100. Affiliated local history societies and other relevant organisations are welcome to use this website to publicise their events.

See our Contact page for contact details, including a downloadable application form.

Devon History Society Programme 2012

2012-01-24T13:30:00.000Z

Wednesday 7 March 2012 - Seminar. Reverend Dr Andrew Jones, priest-in-charge of the Oakmoor group of parishes: ‘Victorian North Devon – antecedents and descendants’
Saturday 21 April 2012 - Spring Meeting hosted by Kenton Past and Present group
Saturday 12 May 2012 - Devon History Society Conference: The Reformation in Devon
Wednesday 27 June 2012 - Valerie Belsey: The Green Lanes of Devon
July 2012 - Summer Meeting.
Thursday 6 September 2012 - Introduction to the Devon Rural Archive
Saturday 13 October 2012 - The Devon History Society AGM
Thursday 8 November 2012 - Seminar. Jane Bliss: Local History and Biography: A case study.

Full details:

Wednesday 7 March 2012:
Seminar. Reverend Dr Andrew Jones, priest-in-charge of the Oakmoor group of parishes: ‘Victorian North Devon – antecedents and descendants’
2pm - 4pm. Henry Williamson Room, North Devon Record Office, Barnstaple (second floor of Barnstaple Library building). Tel: 01271 388619 (pay and display car park next to library).

Saturday 21 April 2012:
Spring Meeting hosted by Kenton Past and Present group. Programme and booking form with DHS spring newsletter.
10.15 – 4pm. Spring Meeting Kenton Victory Hall, Kenton, Nr Exeter, EX6 8JA

Saturday 12 May 2012:
Devon History Society Conference. THE REFORMATION IN DEVON.
First in a series of 3 annual one day conferences on religion in Devon.
Speakers include:
Professor Alexandra Walsham, University of Cambridge.
Canon Professor Nicholas Orme, Prof. Emeritus University of Exeter.
Dr Elizabeth Tingle, University of Plymouth
Mr John Allan, Exeter Archaeology.
10am – 4pm. Boniface Centre, Church Lane, Crediton, EX17 2AH.
PRINTABLE FLYER AND BOOKING FORM (1 A4 PDF page - right-click to save)

Wednesday 27 June 2012:
Valerie Belsey: The Green Lanes of Devon
The seminar will be followed by a visit to Teignmouth Common: how to recognise ancient hedgerows and see their place in the landscape in relation to present day road systems.
Exploring green lanes and the stories they tell: South and South-East Devon, fifty walks, by Valerie Belsey, was highly commended in DHS Book of the Year Awards 2009.
Meet at Teignmouth Museum at 11am. Members are invited to bring a picnic lunch. NB: maximum of places number, 20.

July 2012: Summer Meeting.
Venue and date to be announced in spring edition of the DHS newsletter.

Thursday 6 September 2012:
Introduction to the Devon Rural Archive, followed by a house history case study.
Optional tour of house and garden £8. Bring your own picnic lunch.
Archaeological features in the garden can be viewed. Look at fixtures and fittings in the refurbished house and see how they relate to the original Domesday manor on the site.
Devon Rural Archive, Shilstone, Modbury, PL21 OTW. T: 01548830832 (Booking form in spring edition of the DHS newsletter.)

Saturday 13 October 2012: The Devon History Society AGM
Venue to be decided.

Thursday 8 November 2012:
Seminar. Jane Bliss: Local History and Biography: A case study. Using sources to uncover a life story.
11am – 1pm. Venue and booking details with next DHS newsletter.

BOOKINGS: jbhistory@hotmail.co.uk

Historical Association, Plymouth: Spring 2012

2012-01-24T13:25:00.004Z

The Plymouth branch of the Historical Association has sent us its Spring 2012 programme.

HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, PLYMOUTH BRANCH
PROGRAMME SPRING 2012

Tuesday 21st February
Britain and the Olympics: the case of the 1980 Moscow boycott
Professor Kevin Jefferys, University of Plymouth

Tuesday 28th February
Pirates and Utopia: How the Western Indian Ocean has been narrated as a Pirate Haven
Dr Stephanie Jones, University of Southampton

Tuesday 6th March
The Battle of Plymouth Hoe: Victorian science, the Mechanics' Institute and a Flat Earth theorist
Doug Watson, Plymouth University MA History research student.

Tuesday 13th March
Richard III Society Lecture: “Richard III - a bloody tyrant?”
Dr Philip Stone, Richard III Society

Tuesday 20th March
Christopher Durston Memorial Lecture: The Origins of the English Reformation Reconsidered
Professor Peter Marshall, University of Warwick

This is a joint programme in collaboration with the History Department at the University of Plymouth. All meetings start at 7.00 p.m., and are held in Theatre 2, Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth.

Meetings are open to all, and are free for national or local members of the Historical Association, for University of Plymouth staff & students. Visitor tickets £5, concessions £3. Local membership rates: Individual membership: £6; Family membership: £10; Student membership: £3

For more details, see the Historical Association, Plymouth, website: www.ha-plymouth.org.uk

- RG

Wembury Local History Society: 2012 Programme

2012-01-20T12:57:00.002Z

Wembury History Society has sent us its programme for 2012.

WEMBURY LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY
PROGRAMME FOR 2012

Thursday January 19th: UPDATE & ‘GEMS’ FROM THE RECORD OFFICE’
TONY DAVEY, Community Engagement Officer - Plymouth Public Records Office
Followed by AGM

Thursday February 16th: ‘ INVENTORS & SCIENTIFIC HEROES OF DEVON’
ADAM HART-DAVIS, Photographer, Writer, Broadcaster
Members of the Public welcome - £2 entry

Thursday March 15th: ‘THE TAMAR BRIDGE’
DAVID LIST, General Manager Tamar Bridge & Torpoint Ferry Joint Committee

Thursday April 19th: ‘MURDER MOST FOUL - DID HE DO IT?’
JILL DRYSDALE, Member of Friends of Devon’s Archives

Thursday May 17th: ‘PUBLIC HEALTH IN VICTORIAN PLYMOUTH’
IAN HODGINS, GP, Researcher for Ford Park Cemetery

Thursday June 21st: WALK - ‘KNIGHTON TO WEST WEMBURY’ (information later).
ROBERT ROWLAND, Local Farmer & Historian

Thursday July 19th: WALK - ‘SUTTON HARBOUR’ (information later)
NIGEL OVERTON, Maritime Heritage Officer - Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery

Thursday September 20th, ‘WEMBURY DOCK - THE PORT THAT NEVER WAS’
DAVID PINDER, Wembury Local History Society

Thursday October 18th ‘NEWSPAPERS & FAMILY HISTORY’
JANET HENWOOD, Member of Devon Family History Society

Thursday November 15th: ‘CHRISTMAS IN DEVON 1500 – 2012’
TODD GRAY, Chairman of Friends of Devon’s Archives

ALL MEETINGS are held in the War Memorial Hall (Village Hall), Barton Close, Wembury.
Starting at 7.30pm. New Members welcome - £7 per year. Visitors – £2.00 entry.

Coordinator: David Pinder, Ramoulhaus, Traine Road, Wembury,PL9 0EW, (863304) david.pinder3@googlemail.com
Secretary: Sue Johnston, 11 Highfield Drive, Wembury PL9 0EX (863252) laurenceclass1@aol.com
Treasurer: Robert Rowland, Traine Farm, Traine Road, Wembury PL9 0EW (862264) traine.cottages@btopenworld.com
Programme Sec. & Enquiries: Anne Tolley, 5 Brownhill Lane, Wembury PL9 0JQ (862445)
Membership Sec.: Peter Tolley, 5 Brownhill Lane, Wembury PL9 0JQ (862445)

Museum of Dartmoor Life: Oral History Day

2012-01-17T13:22:00.000Z

The Museum of Dartmoor Life in Okehampton sent us details of its Oral History Training Day on Tuesday 24th January.

Oral History - Getting Started and Next Steps
Tuesday 24th January, 10.30am - 3.30pm,
Museum of Dartmoor Life, 3 West Street, Okehampton EX20 1HQ.

Training day with Oral History specialist Marilyn Tucker and professional recording technician Paul Tucker including how to interview, how to document interviews, legal and moral issues, what to do with recordings made, modern recording equipment and how to use it. The day will be of particular interest to those working with older people, and to those wishing to research particular communities, working practices, agricultural change, or lifestyles and experiences. No prior experience is needed, and the training day is open to all adults. The venue has disabled access.

£60 per person includes hot drinks and lunch - advance booking essential. PayPal / cards at www.wrenmusic.co.uk or cheque to Wren, 1 St James Street, Okehampton EX20 1DW. Please notify any dietary or access requirements, tel: 01837 53754 or email admin@wrenmusic.co.uk

- RG

DRA: Escot talk, 2nd February

2012-01-17T13:20:00.013Z

The Devon Rural Archive sent us news of its forthcoming talk Escot: The fall and rise of a country estate, to be held on the evening of Thursday 2nd February.

Escot: The fall and rise of a country estate.
An illustrated talk by John-Michael Kennaway
Thursday 2nd February 2012 @ 7pm

Escot House, in the midst of a twelve hundred acre estate in East Devon has had an extensive but dramatic history stretching back many hundreds of years. Although the earliest reference to Escot is from the mid thirteenth century little is known about the estate until the late seventeenth century when the renowned architect Robert Hooke constructed a new house for Sir Walter Yonge. During this time the extensive parkland was also laid out by Capability Brown. Uninsured, the house burnt to the ground in 1808 and was not rebuilt until 1838 when the Kennaway Family engaged Henry Roberts to design a new house. War, the intrusion of the Exeter to London Railway and the creation of the A30 took their toll on the estate but in spite of its turbulent past it is now a flourishing centre of rural enterprise.

In this illustrated talk, John-Michael Kennaway explains how, over the last 30 years he and his wife Lucy have resurrected Escot from near metaphorical ashes, through diversification whilst restoring and preserving the history of the Estate.

Booking is advisable, tickets are £5 and available in advance from the DRA, the price includes refreshments available from 6.30pm when doors open.

The Devon Rural Archive is at Shilstone, Modbury. For further information and directions, see the DRA website.

- RG

Wistman's Wood

2011-12-31T17:38:00.002Z

The Western Morning News on December 27th carried an interesting article by Martin Hesp on Wistman's Wood, near Two Bridges, Dartmoor.

Continuing our series on the region’s forests, Martin Hesp has been to magical Wistman’s Wood.

If for some reason I could only visit one single woodland while researching this entire series about the region's forests, I'd choose Wistman's Wood.

- Bouldery wilderness has mysterious qualities, WMN, December 27th 2011.

Wistman's Wood in winter, by Alex Jane
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.

Wistman's Wood is a remarkable stunted oak copse on Dartmoor, one of a handful of relicts of the moor's original high-level woodlands. As you can see the from image, the trees grow between moss-covered boulders, and the wood is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and National Conservation Review site. I fancy visiting in the summer, when it does look just about feasible to make a day trip by cross-Dartmoor bus (it's a short walk from Two Bridges). Check out Wistman's Wood ("A study of this ancient miniature oak woodland on Dartmoor, by Andrew Westcott") for a good overview.

It's deservedly much-photographed - see Google images - but has been a site of interest for centuries, in large part due to its unusual landscape attracting a deal of folklore about druids and fairies. The Wistman's Wood page at the Legendary Dartmoor site summarises, with a sampler of historical accounts and the literature it has inspired. It appears in hundreds of 19th century accounts; the one in a letter to Robert Southey in Anna Eliza Bray's 1838 Traditions, legends, superstitions, and sketches of Devonshire is probably the most comprehensive exposition of the 19th century view on its mythology.

One celebrity visitor was the Lympstone-based author Eden Phillpotts, who described its autumn scenery in his 1903 My Devon Year:

Guarded by great hills that fold each upon the other and fade into distance; set in granite and briar, brake-fern and the nodding wood-rush, Wistman's Wood lies basking under September sunshine to the song of Dart. Upon a south-facing slope the hoary dwarfs that go to make this forest grow, and each parent oak of the ancient throng was old before the Conquest. Time and fire have slain, yet the little forest plays its part in the spring splendour of every year, in the leafy and musical hours of high Summer, and in autumnal pageants as the centuries roll. Here, under the Dartmoor hills to-day, sunshine kisses the granite to silver, brightens each withered and distorted trunk, makes the leaf shine, and sets rowan berries glowing through the ambient green. These aged oaks lack not virility, for I see their ancient crowns besprinkled with bright leaflets of the second Spring, with tufts of ruddy foliage, like smiles on the face of frosty age.

Fruit, too, is borne, and the acorns, flattened somewhat within their cups, are healthy and sweet enough; so the legend that Wistman's harvest is sterile may be easily disproved from the place itself; for quick eyes, peering here within the tangle of undergrowth, or amid the deep interstices of the stony avalanche from which this forest rises, shall find infant trees ascending to the sapling stage, in full vigour of promise. Others there are of larger growth, and one may discover oaks at all ages, from the tiny seedling sprung of last year's acorn to the patriarch that was a sapling when the she-wolf made her home here and killed the stone-man's cattle by night. Mice and birds convey the acorns to great distances from the wood, and upon adjacent heaths, a mile from their birthplace, I have found the husks of the fruit.

Granite and oak are clothed with lichens of a colour exactly similar, and to the imagination, seen thus jagged and grey together, one appears as enduring as the other. The old trees, whose average height is scarcely fifteen feet, are distorted, cramped, twisted, and knotted by time. Their mossy limbs, low spread, make a home for the bilberry, whose purple fruit ripens beside the acorns; for the polypody that fringes each gnarled limb with foliage; for the rabbits, who leap from the stones to the flat boughs spread upon them; and for the red fox, who, sunning himself in some hollow of moss and touchwood, wakes, as a wanderer assails his ear or nose, and vanishes, like a streak of cinnamon light, into the depths of the wood. Here, too, the adder rears her brood; the crow, with intermittent croak, flies heavily; a little hawk, poised in the sky, seeks the lizard below, or the young plover in the marsh upon the hills.

A great hush and peace brood over Wistman's Wood to-day. As yet, but one pinch of Autumn has transformed the leaf, reddened the briar, or powdered the fern with gold. In the hollows a diamond dew still sparkles though the hour is noon, and the sweet, sharp breath of September whispers along the wood. Still every ancient crown wears the deep green of Summer, and a stray honeysuckle blossoms, though its berries are turning scarlet; but the tender, white corydalis and other flowers of Summer have vanished; the wood-rush has its sharp leaves amber-pointed; the heather fades; and the wrinkled wood-sage likewise wanes away.

Below there races Dart, cherry-coloured after a freshet. Her foam flashes and twinkles, her glassy planes image the sun in stars and beams, and she signals to the old wood above and laughs, herself older than the oaks yet blessed with the eternal youth of flowing waters. Far away, beyond the granite mass of Crow Tor moorwards, a darkness lies upon the hill and moves not. There Western Dart is born, and bubbles and trickles through the sponges of peat from wells deep hidden beneath them. Very musical amid these echoing gorges she winds by granite stairways; and above her, on the huge hillbosoms of grey and sunlit green, acres of dead grassblades weave a veil over the living herbage—a veil that changes with every magic light from dawn or midday, from sunset, or the radiance of the moon. Here great cloud-shadows roll and spread, deepen and die, climb the steep, breast the stone, and adorn each undulation with flying garments, that vary in their texture from opacity of royal purple to the film and dream-colour of brief hazes drawn between earth and sun. Now the distance shines golden in a frame of shade; anon darkness spreads to the blue horizon, and the river and adjacent hills are all aglow; then light and shadow dislimn and interlimn upon the great heaths and hills. Detail, invisible in sunshine, wakes over the scattered stone, and sphagnum-clad bogs gleam under cloud-shadows, while elsewhere, as the veil is torn away and the light bathes all again, new visions of rounded elevations, wild places, and solitary stones start into sight upon each sunny plane. Detail of the spring gorse, now jade-green; flame of the autumnal furze; light of the ling; feast of tones and undertones; mosaic of all tawny and rufous colours are here; and the scene changes its hue beneath each shadow, even as the river's song changes its cadence at the pressure of the breeze, waxing and waning fitfully.

The wood of Wistman partakes of these many harmonies—adds its sudden green to the hillside— lies there a home of mystery, a cradle of legend, a thing of old time, unique and unexampled, save in Devon itself, all England over.

View Larger Map - the wood is about mile north of the map pin.

- RG

Hugh Downman, Exeter doctor and poet

2011-12-22T12:17:00.006Z

A testimonial about Dawlish in 19th century travelogues leads to an interesting Devon character, Dr Hugh Downman.

I was recently interested in a section of verse by a Dr Downman in praise of the curative properties of Dawlish ...

O Dawlish, though unclassic be thy name,
By every muse unsung ; should, from thy tide,
To keen poetic eyes alone reveal'd,
From the cerulean bosom of the deep,
(As Aphrodite rose of old) appear
Health's blooming goddess, and benignant smile
On her true votary; not Cythera's fame,
Not Eryx, nor the laurel boughs that wav's
On Delos, erst Apollo's natal soil,
However warm, enthusiastic youth
Dwelt on these seats enamour'd, shall to me
Be half so dear. To thee will I consign
Often the timid virgin to thy pure
Encircling waves; to thee will I consign
The feeble matron ; or the child on whom
Thou mayest bestow a second happier birth
From weakness into strength. And should I view,
Unfetter'd, with the firm sound judging mind,
Imagination to return array 'd
In her once glowing rest, to thee my lyre
Shall oft be tun'd, and to thy Nereids green,
Long, long unnotic'd in their haunts retir'd.
Nor will I cease to prize thy lovely strand,
Thy towering cliffs, nor the small babbling brook,
Whose shallow current laves thy thistled vale.

... that's quoted in a number of 19th century gazetteers such as Feltham's 1813 A guide to all the watering and sea-bathing places; with a description of the lakes; a sketch of a tour in Wales; and itineraries, by the editor of The picture of London; Cooke's 1817 Topographical and statistical description of the county of Devon; Dugdale's 1819 The New British Traveller;and Woolmer's 1821 A concise account of the city of Exeter: its neighbourhood, and adjacent watering places, being an interesting companion for all persons residing at, or resorting to this ancient city : presenting a familiar narrative of its history from the earliest period, together with a variety of particular occurrences and anecdotes, compiled from the best authorities.

None of these books explain the context of the source, the 1776 poem, Infancy, which turns out not to be a work of topographic or romantic poetry, but to be a medical treatise on baby and toddler care in verse - Infancy, or, The management of children: a didactic poem in three books - by Hugh Downman, MD, a well-respected Exeter doctor. It's online at Google Books or the Internet Archive, which has the 1809 six-book edition printed by Trewmans of Exeter (ID infancyormanage00downgoog).

It's not easy reading as a poem, but there's a good summary in this paper: Hugh Downman, MD (1740–1809) of Exeter and his poem on infant care (P M Dunn, Arch Dis Child Fetal Neonatal Ed 2003;88:F253-F254 doi:10.1136/fn.88.3.F253). From the account of the author, Professor Dunn of the Department of Child Health, University of Bristol, Infancy looks a sensible and enlightened work, that stresses breastfeeding, proper examination, avoidance of superstition, and the importance of smallpox inoculation. The paper also has a brief biography of the Devon-born Downman, whose family included his admiral nephew Hugh Downman and the artist John Downman A.R.A. WHK Wright's 1896 West-Country Poets has a fuller biography and bibliography:

HUGH DOWNMAN, M.D. was the son of Hugh Downman, of Newton House, St. Cyrus, Exeter, and was educated at the Exeter Grammar School. He entered Balliol College, Oxford, 1758, proceeded B.A. 1763, and was ordained in Exeter Cathedral the same year. His clerical prospects being very small, he went to Edinburgh to study medicine, and boarded with Thomas Blacklock. In 1768 he published The Land of the Muses; a Poem in the Manner of Spenser, by H. D. In 1769 he visited London, for hospital practice, and in 1770, after proceeding M.A. at Jesus College, Cambridge, he practiced medicine at Exeter, where he married the daughter of Dr. Andrew. A chronic complaint, in 1778, compelled him to retire for a time. His best-known poem, Infancy; or, The Management of Children, was published in three separate parts, in 1774, 1775, 1776; a seventh edition was issued in 1809. In 1775 appeared The Drama, An Elegy written under a Gallow, The Soliloquy, etc. During his retirement he also published Lucius Junius Brutus, in five acts (1779); Belisarius, played in Exeter Theatre for a few nights; and Editha, a Tragedy (1784), founded on a local incident, and performed for sixteen nights. These plays appeared in one volume, as Tragedies by H. Downman, M.D., Exeter, 1792. He also published Poems to Thespia (1781), and The Death-Song of Ragnar Lodbrach, translated from the Latin of Olaus Wormius (1781). He was one of the translators of an edition of Voltaire's Works, in English. In 1791 he published Poems, second edition, comprising the Land of the Muses. He was also a contributor to Polwhele's Collections of the Poetry of Devon and Cornwall.

Downman seems to have resumed medical practice at Exeter about 1790, and in 1796 he founded there a literary society of twelve members. A volume of the essays was printed [Essays by a society of gentlemen, at Exeter, 1796], and a second is said to exist in manuscript. In 1805 Downman finally relinquished his practice, on account of ill-health, and in 1808 the literary society was discontinued. He died at Alphington, near Exeter, September 23, 1809, with the reputation of an able and humane physician and a most amiable man. Two years before he died, an anonymous editor collected and published the various critical opinions and complimentary verses on his poems, Isaac D'Israeli (1792) being among them.

- pp 158-159, West-Country Poets, WHK Wright, 1896: Internet Archive ID westcountrypoet00wriggoog

- RG (finding credits to Weird Materialism)

North Devon Athenæum press photo archive online

2011-12-17T12:46:00.005Z

The North Devon Journal recently carried news of the completion of the North Devon Athenæum's project to digitise 6000 images from its 1950s North Devon Journal collection.

Taking a digital trip down memory lane (December 15th) reports:

For decades a treasure trove of photographs of North Devon has lain untouched in cupboards and store rooms.

They are the surviving record of an age of photography receding fast in the new digital age.

Some were accidentally dumped, others have suffered from breakage and damp.

But thousands were preserved, more were rescued, and now they are seeing the light of day again.

...

Now the North Devon Athenaeum has opened a collection of 6,000 digitised pictures made from the negatives covering a decade from 1949.

Thanks to a grant from the Bideford Bridge Trust, the entire collection has at long last completed the digital process.

Massive interest in archive of negatives reports briefly on the response. The collection of press photos, digitised from glass slide negatives, is searchable from the North Devon Athenæum home page, and returns medium-resolution index images.

As its site describes, the North Devon Athenaeum was founded in 1888 by the local philanthropist William Frederick Rock to replace the Barnstaple Literary and Scientific Institute he had set up in 1845, and designed to be a free library and museum for the local area. It has since diversified to become a wide-ranging research resource and service for local and family history, with a large general collection, with specific archives including the North Devon Journal Archive, the Harding Collection (left by the antiquarian, Lt. Col. Harding), the John Gay Collection, and the William Richard Lethaby Collection.

The Athenæum's full catalogue is also online.

- RG

RAMM reopens

2011-12-16T02:45:00.003Z

After four years in refurbishment, Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery reopened to the public on Thursday, December 15th 2011.

RAMM's news release, The wait is finally over, announced the reopening by Council Leader Pete Edwards and special guests Maisy Arthur and Frank Potter.

The project, which required the construction of an off-site storage facility, the Ark, for storage of the collections during renovation, ran two years over schedule, and considerably over-budget, due to the discovery of a badly-filled Norman ditch threatening the stability of part of the building.

Fully refurbished, the Museum has new displays showcasing the collections and collectors that have helped RAMM to become one of Britain’s finest regional museums. They tell the story of Exeter and Devon from the prehistoric to the present but, more than a local museum, its internationally important world cultures and natural history collections also tell a story of global exploration and collecting in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The splendid Victorian building has been repaired, refurbished and extended preparing it for the 21st century. RAMM is open 10am to 5pm every day except Mondays and bank holidays and entry is still free!

See the official RAMM website: rammuseum.org.uk.

- RG

Weblog update

2011-12-07T17:09:00.001Z

A brief update on our links to weblogs, chosen by our site maintainer for their Devon historical interest:

Literary Places (Writing on the map) is a well-presented and well-researched site by Angela Williams devoted to connections between writers and locations. It has a strong focus on Devon: Keats in Teignmouth has been an ongoing topic.

Torquay's Other History is a topic section of the People's Republic of South Devon site. It covers lesser-visited topics in Torquay's history such as modern history, social and countercultural history, little-known celebrity connections, and so on.

Wayland Wordsmith (Discourser on the Exe estuary) is by the Lympstone-based poet and writer Ralph Rochester. Among general observations, he frequently covers East Devon historical topics such as the works of Eden Philpotts, and little-known history of the Exe and East Devon.

Scrapblog: a Writer from the South-West ("Notes and thoughts towards a gathering book dreaming through the web-mirror") is a run by author Julie Sampson, and focuses on connections between women writers - well-known and otherwise - and Devon locations.

JSBlog (Journal of a Southern Bookreader) is a literary/regional weblog run by Ray Girvan, Topsham. Although broad in scope, it frequently contains topics on the literary connections, history and landscape of East Devon.

If you run, or know of, a weblog connected with Devon history, let us know.

- RG

A la Ronde

2011-12-07T14:35:00.004Z

The regional/literature weblog JSBlog has recent historical posts about A la Ronde, Exmouth, that may be of interest to our readers.

A la Ronde looks at the basics of this unusual house, built in the late 18th century for the spinster cousins Jane and Mary Parminter, and introduces critical commentaries about some aspects of its history. The Oaks of A la Ronde takes a particular look at the well-known story of Jane Parminter's will and a grove of oaks.

- RG

Great Torrington glovemaking: enquiry

2011-11-15T15:50:00.000Z

We have had an interesting research request from Lisa Herdman of the BBC1 genealogical programme Who Do You Think You Are? concerning the glovemaking industry in the Great Torrington area in the latter half of the 19th century.

I am currently researching a lady who was gloveress in the Great Torrington area in the latter half of the 19th century. This seems to be a family concern, as both her mother and sister were also employed in gloving - rather interestingly they cite themselves as working 'silk gloves', as opposed to kid, which I believe was the predominant material worked in north Devon.

I understand that Great Torrington had a thriving glove making community in the 19th century - 60% of women and children in the 1861 census being employed in this form of labour.

I am really keen to find someone who might have a knowledge of this glove making industry in relation to Great Torrington and could paint a picture of what it would have been like, day to day as a gloveress e.g. how much she would have been paid and exactly how the gloves were made etc.

It would be brilliant if you can think of anyone who might be able to speak with me on this matter. We are currently in contact with Torrington museum and Barnstaple museum in relation to this research, so any suggestions for alternative avenue of enquiry would be really helpful.

If you can help with this request, please could you contact Lisa at lisa.herdman@walltowall.co.uk

(It is to be assumed she already knows about HW Strong's 1889 Industries of North Devon - reprinted by David & Charles in 1971 - which contains probably the most exhaustive account of the industry in that period, even down to listing the individual factories).

- RG

Branscombe Project: - winter events

2011-11-15T02:00:00.000Z

The Branscombe Project has a number of winter talks for 2011-12, starting with Branscombe in the Middle Ages on November 28th.

November 28th: John Torrance: Branscombe in the Middle Ages (Winter Lecture & AGM). 7.30pm, Branscombe Village Hall. Admission free: donations welcome!
January 30th: Chris Chippindale: Echoes and prehistoric rock art in the Italian Alps
February 27th: Phil Planel: In the footsteps of Orlando Hutchinson
March 26th: Andrew Burton: Cow Pats, Untouchables, and Installation Art in India
April 30th: Barbara Farquharson, Elsie Mayo, John Torrance: Drama documentary: Literary Visitors to Branscombe.

See the Branscombe Project website for further information.

- RG

5th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment

2011-11-04T02:14:00.000Z

Dave Dycher has contacted us regarding research into the 5th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment.

I have been researching the 5th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, for a number of years. As you probably know the 5th Devons maintained 8 companies across the region prior to and then after the first world war as part of the Territorial Force. Over the years as part of my research I have traced the battalion from its establishment in 1908 through the war years. I would be more than happy to share anything I have on these men or on the 5th Devons in general with yourself or any like interested local historians.

Being based in Hong Kong with little opportunity to get back to the UK, I would love to connect locally with anyone who has a similar interest and would greatly appreciate any connections you could recommend.

If you are interested in contacting Dave, contact the DHS site maintainer (webmaster@devonhistorysociety.org.uk) who will forward your message.

- RG

National Trust English Riviera

2011-11-04T02:12:00.036Z

Sabina Collier of the National Trust sent us details of the NT's English Riviera portfolio, which comprises a number of interesting properties and sites.

The charity's South Devon holding has been known since May 2011 as English Riviera Properties (see the WMN) and locations include Greenway House (Agatha Christie's holiday home); Coleton Fishacre (holiday home of the D'Oyly Carte family); Compton Castle; Bradley Manor; and Overbeck's house and garden.

The Devon National Trust properties have an excellent range of activities, such as woodworking courses and themed events, before and after the Christmas period. See Twitter (www.twitter.com/ntriviera) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/NTEnglishRiviera) for an ongoing schedule.

- RG

Devonport Column secures funding

2011-11-04T02:10:00.032Z

The Real Ideas Organisation (RIO) has secured a Heritage Lottery Fund Grant of £685,000 to restore the iconic Devonport Column.

Last year, I wrote a piece here - Devonport Column and Foulston's Devonport - that mentioned the Real Ideas Organisation's funding application to restore and reopen the Column, which was one of the structures at the heart of architect John Foulston's civic redevelopment of Devonport in the early 1800s. Now the RIA's application has been accepted.

From the press release:

DEVONPORT SETS SIGHTS HIGH WITH SECURED FUNDING TO RESTORE COLUMN

The Real Ideas Organisation (RIO) has secured a Heritage Lottery Fund Grant of £685,000 to restore the iconic Devonport Column.

Part of an £800,000 funding package, the Grant will enable RIO to fully renovate and develop the Column to become a heritage and tourist destination, giving the public access to the top of the viewing platform for the first time in 50 years.
124 feet above street level, the viewing platform will command some of the best views across Plymouth, but it won’t be the only attraction at the site. Plans also include establishing a nature reserve, creating a rose garden and building a public plaza, framed with a two year strategy of marketing, training, learning and participation.

What’s more, in line with Devonport’s history as a hub for science and innovation, an integral part of the Column redevelopment scheme will be the introduction of new digital technologies and a wireless internet system into the Column. In partnership with Plymouth’s strong creative technology sector, this will allow the use of mobile-based games, augmented reality and interactive 3D building projections to bring heritage learning to new and wider audiences.

...

The Column restoration project is the second phase of a wider regeneration programme led by RIO, which follows the award-winning redevelopment of the Devonport Guildhall as a social enterprise and cultural centre in 2010. Already established as a key business and cultural venue in the City, the Guildhall has served and supported the local community while bringing over 30,000 new visitors to Devonport in its first year.

...

The project will now enter a more detailed planning stage with LePage Architects with work due to begin on site in the new-year. It is planned that the project will be completed and open to the public by October 2012, in time for a Halloween celebration to remember.

See the Real Ideas Organisation site for further information; the Column's progress can also be followed on Twitter (@DevonportColumn) and Facebook (Devonport Column).

- RG

HA Plymouth: 2011/12 programme

2011-10-11T02:10:00.002+01:00

The Plymouth branch of the Historical Association has sent us its programme for 2011/2012.

2011

1 November
Wonderful Self-Reliance: Abraham Lincoln's Leadership
Professor Richard Carwardine, University of Oxford

8 November
The Levelling Sea: Falmouth, Britain and the Age of Sail
Philip Marsden, author

15 November
Britain and the American Civil War
Dr Richard Huzzey, University of Plymouth

22 November
Thank God It's Over: The Civil War Centennial of 1961-1965
Professor Robert Cook, University of Sussex

29 November
Did Democracy Cause the American Civil War?
Dr Adam Smith, University College London

2012

21st February
Britain and the Olympics: the case of the 1980 Moscow boycott
Professor Kevin Jefferys, University of Plymouth

28th February
Pirates and Utopia: How the Western Indian Ocean has been narrated as a Pirate Haven
Dr Stephanie Jones, University of Southampton

6th March
Spain’s Civil War and Public Memory since 1996
Dr Michael Richards, University of the West of England

13th March
Richard III Society Lecture: “Richard III - a bloody tyrant?”
Dr Philip Stone, Richard III Society

20th March
Christopher Durston Memorial Lecture: The Origins of the English Reformation Reconsidered
Professor Peter Marshall, University of Warwick

Meetings are open to all, and are free for national or local members of the Historical Association, for University of Plymouth staff & students. Visitor tickets £5, concessions £3. Local membership rates: Individual membership: £6; Family membership:£10; Student membership:£3

This is a joint programme in collaboration with the History Department at the University of Plymouth.
All meetings start at 7.00 p.m., and are held in Theatre 2, Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth.

For further details and contacts, see www.ha-plymouth.org.uk

- RG

Bicton Hill

2011-10-09T23:22:00.007+01:00

Richard and Tess Wiltshire kindly sent us some photos taken from Bicton Hill, Mission Beach, Queensland, Australia, named after Bicton in Devon.

A plaque at the summit explains:

You are standing on the summit of Bicton Hill, named by the Cutten brothers after the town in Devon, England. The Cutten brothers arrived on 1st April 1882 and were the first permanent European residents. They used Bicton Hill as a ship lookout.

As explained in NE Stork's Living in a dynamic tropical forest landscape (pp 74-75), James, Leonard, Sidney and Herbert Cutten (who had experience with tea-growing in India) cleared tropical forest and ("aided in no small way by the efforts of local aborigines") established tropical fruit crops, followed by tea in 1885, leading to their reputation as founders of the still-extant Australian tea and coffee industries. Though the Cutten plantation was largely destroyed in a cyclone in 1918, there are still remnants in what is now a World Heritage nature reserve and tourist destination.

The name Bicton may have come from Bicton House rather than Bicton the parish (Devon has no town of that name). According to Edwina Toohey's 2001 book Before the aeroplane dance: the Torres Strait and Cape York : islanders, aborigines and adventurers from the 1860s to 1914:

To their estate the brothers gave the name Bicton, after the elegant country house of their friend Lord Rowles [sic] in England.

... but the chronology of this doesn't work, since Lord Rolle died in 1842 and can't have been a contemporary of the Cutten brothers, two of whom were in their mid-70s in 1930 (see Part C, Chapter 4, They Came As Strangers).

- RG

Invergordon Mutiny: 80 years on

2011-09-21T14:42:00.001+01:00

The Plymouth Herald for Saturday, September 17, 2011, carried an interesting article on the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931, when Royal Navy sailors of the Atlantic Fleet mutinied in protest at pay cuts.

Although the events largely played out at Invergordon, on the Cromarty Firth, the story has a strong Devon connection, as the affected ships of the Atlantic Fleet were based at Devonport, and a Plymouth journalist, Joe Pengelly, was central to reinvestigating the story in the 1970s, when the mutiny was still politically sensitive.

BRITAIN is in a financial crisis. The coalition Government announces cuts to the military as public spending is slashed.

The parallel with today is uncanny – but 80 years ago the response wasn't limited to mutterings about strikes by trades unions.

Instead there was anger by men in uniform.

And there was action – mutiny.

Plymouth sailors were at the centre of one of the most notorious episodes in Royal Navy history.

The Invergordon Mutiny lasted two short days in September 1931 and there were no ships sunk, no shots fired, not a single person hurt.

But the rebellion led to panic on the London Stock Exchange, a run on the Pound and a radical and permanent change in the UK's monetary system.

- The bloodless mutiny that shook nation

- RG

Torquay mystery photo

2011-09-21T02:08:00.005+01:00

Stuart Bissell has sent us a school photo - 1920s, probably Torquay area. Could any readers help with identifying the location?

Mystery photo - click to enlarge

Stewart writes:

I am trying to gain information about a previous relative now deceased. In her effects I found a photograph in a card holder with the heading; "An Enlargement by The Lightning Studios, Croft Road, Torquay." I am thereby assuming that the photograph enclosed is from the Torquay area. I am attaching the photograph. The interior certainly looks like a school. It is evident that the girls outnumber the boys and as the relation was involved in Sunday Schools in Birmingham and may have been visiting, it may have some bearing on this. Could you through your contacts throw any light on this please?

A couple of minor points from the photo: 1) from the light clothing and that it's still bright at 4pm, the picture was taken in the summmer; 2) the cross logos in the upper panes of the entrance doors suggest it might be a religious establishment.

If you have any ideas, please contact webmaster@devonhistorysociety.org.uk and I'll forward them to Stewart.

- RG

Who killed Sir Walter Ralegh? Sep 17

2011-09-08T19:35:00.005+01:00

The historian Richard Dale will be signing his new book Who Killed Sir Walter Ralegh? at Waterstones, New George Street, Plymouth, on Saturday 17th September.

One of the extraordinary turnarounds of fortune in the Elizabethan era was the execution for treason of the Devon-born national hero Sir Walter Ralegh (the spelling he used most consistently, though the modern convention is "Raleigh"). Richard Dale, an emeritus professor of the University of Southampton and a visiting professor at the University of Reading, draws on his legal background to offer a new explanation in terms of political gaming in the last months of Elizabeth’s reign and the first weeks of James’s succession. From the flyer:

Was Ralegh deliberately set up by the brilliant but untrustworthy Sir Robert Cecil?
Why did Ralegh’s friend Lord Cobham denounce him at his trial?
And how could this towering figure of the Elizabethan age be accused of conspiring with his old enemy Spain to overthrow the king and his government?
Elementary game theory is used to throw new light on Ralegh’s trial.

Richard Dale claims to have found the key to how political genius Robert Cecil destroyed the greatest figure of the Elizabethan age—but in the eyes of posterity, who was the real victor?

The Waterstones signing is from 11am to 1.00pm. Who Killed Sir Walter Ralegh? (Richard Dale, The History Press, hardback, ISBN 978-0-7524-5666-9) was published in August 2011.

- RG

Heritage Open Days: Devon 2011

2011-08-31T14:37:00.002+01:00

This year's Heritage Open Days events are being held 8th-11th September. Here's the full listing for Devon. If you live elsewhere or want to do a more specific search, the Heritage Open Days website has a general listing by county, as well as a search engine.

- RG

History of Exeter's drinking water

2011-08-31T14:36:00.002+01:00

On Friday August 26th, the Exeter Express & Echo carried an interesting article on the history of Exeter's drinking water, in association with the forthcoming national Heritage Open Days visits.

How city tragedy led to the clean-up of water supplies, by Richard Birch, tells of the general history, as well as the initiatives that led to the building of Pynes Water Treatment Works, near Cowley Bridge, after a cholera epidemic killed 440 people in Exeter in the early 1830s.

Pynes is one of several South West Water installations offering Heritage Open Days tours. Places are limited, so call as soon as possible. To book places, contact South West Water's Communications Team on 01392 443020. Sites are:

Mary Tavy hydro electric power station, West Dartmoor: Thursday 8 Sep, Friday 9 Sep.
Pynes, Exeter: Friday 9 Sep.
Brokenbury Waste Water Treatment Works, Churston, Torbay: Friday 9 Sep, Saturday 10 Sep.

- RG

Westcountry Studies Library: Open Days

2011-08-31T01:08:00.000+01:00

We have just received news of forthcoming Heritage Open Day tours of the Westcountry Studies Library in the second week of September.

Staff at the Westcountry Studies Library are offering behind the scenes tours of the collection as part of The Heritage Open Weekend. Dates are Thursday September 8th and Saturday September 10th. Details from www.devon.gov.uk/libraries or by calling 01392 384216. Places are limited so booking is essential.

The tours are part of the wider Heritage Open Days event held nationally, from 8th-11th September this year. Heritage Open Days celebrates England’s architecture and culture by allowing visitors free access to interesting properties that are either not usually open, or would normally charge an entrance fee. Heritage Open Days also includes tours, events and activities that focus on local architecture and culture. See the website http://www.heritageopendays.org.uk and associated blog for further details.

- RG

Newsletter: Issue 8, Aug 2011

2011-08-23T12:51:00.002+01:00

The eighth issue of Devon History News, the newsletter of the Devon History Society, is now in print or available here: Devon History News 8, August 2011 (PDF format). Contents:

Contents:

1. Cover image: broadsheet of Widdecombe Great Storm, 1638.
2. Editorial - Ann Bond.
2-3. Chairman's introduction - Shirley Purves.
3-4. Programme Secretary's comments - Jane Bliss.
4. Membership update - Gerald Quinn.
4. Apportionment transcription project update.
5-7. National Meteorological Archive feature - Glynn Hughes.
8. Affiliated Society Corner - Dawlish History Group - Tricia Whiteaway.
9. Out and about with DHS - recent events.
9-10. Plymouth History Centre update - Louisa Mann.
10-11. Exeter Royal Albert Museum (RAMM) news - Rob Mackenzie.
11. Obituary, Professor Joyce Youngs.
11. New DHS logo - Chris Jago.
12. Official DHS contacts list.

- RG

DRA Newsletter, Summer 2011

2011-08-21T13:18:00.000+01:00

The Devon Rural Archive's latest newsletter (#2, July 2011) is now online.
Visit www.devonruralarchive.com: the current issue includes reports on recent DRA events and a diary for the remainder of 2011. For a brief overview of the DRA's work, see the previous post here.
- RG

Agatha Christie: surfing pioneer

2011-07-31T12:06:00.006+01:00

A number of newspapers have reported the discovery of evidence that the Torquay-born author Agatha Christie was among the first to adopt the modern style of surfing standing up on the board.

See, for instance, the Guardian story Agatha Christie's surfing secret revealed, which reports research by Pete Robinson, founder of the Devon-based Museum of British Surfing - mentioned previously - that Christie and her first husband Archie became keen surfers during their world tour organised as part of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition.

In Agatha Christie: An Autobiography, posthumously published in 1977, Christie recalled:

Oh, the moment of complete triumph on the day that I kept my balance and came right into shore standing upright on my board!

For more surfing history, see the Museum of British Surfing. As yet the museum only has a web presence, but according to the website, it's currently on target for its planned opening at Braunton, Devon, in the near future.

- RG

Torquay Pottery

2011-07-06T15:48:00.002+01:00

Michael Mapps sent us a link to his new site, Torquay Pottery (www.torquaypottery.co.uk).

Created by collectors, its aim is "to increase further the knowledge of all pottery made in the Devon area between 1860 and 1980". Apart from a nice gallery of photos - which will rapidly dispel the stereotype of Torquay pottery as focusing on low-grade "Mottoware" souvenir knick-knacks - the includes a brief history of Torquay Pottery and a variety of articles and news useful to collectors.

The site augments the Torquay Potter Collectors Society site we mentioned previously.

- RG

The wreck of the Tehwija

2011-07-01T12:04:00.006+01:00

The weblogs Wayland Wordsmith and JSBlog have posts on the wreck of the Tehwija, a schooner that ran aground near Exmouth in 1907.

The Tehwija, called the Viga by some local newspapers, was a Riga-registered three-masted schooner carrying timber from the Baltic to Exmouth. It was wrecked in stormy conditions at Orcombe Point, fortunately without loss of life due to a successful rescue of the crew by the Teignmouth lifeboat. The Devon Local Studies Library has a photo of the wreck, which you can see is on the Exmouth side of Orcombe Point, as well as one of the captain's Pomeranian dog, which had to be left aboard but survived the wreck.

See Wayland Wordsmith for The wreck of the schooner 'Viga', an account from Pulman's Weekly; and JSBlog for The wreck of the Tehwija, which contains the text of a 1956 Nautical Magazine article by Anne Walsingham.

- RG

Kings Nympton History Society

2011-06-27T05:30:00.005+01:00

Marigold Badcock kindly sent us details of an affiliated group, the Kings Nympton History Society, of which she is Secretary.

I am writing on behalf of Kings Nympton History Society to let you know a little about what we have been doing during recent years. We meet bi-monthly and have an open day every other year. We have transcribed births, deaths and marriages from church records dating back to 17thC and now have quite comprehensive spreadsheets available for anyone who is looking for their family history. We are in the process of listing and deciphering gravestones. Our latest and biggest project to date has been to research virtually every property in the village to ascertain the construction and the properties current and previous use (it is amazing how many were shops etc, as we do not have any now) We have also listed present and previous owners and anything of historical interest that we could unearth. We have produced a 71 page booklet entitled The Changing Face of Kings Nympton which has proved very popular with residents and their families. Would you like us to send you a copy?

We are only a small parish, approx 150 properties in all. We have now embarked on doing the same research for the farms in the parish. This will be a much bigger job as many of them are very old. It will probably require a small booklet for each one!

We are a small society in a small village but we thought you might like to know about us.

Kings Nympton is in North Devon near South Molton and Chulmleigh (see Google Maps and the village website www.kingsnympton.org.uk).

The Kings Nympton History Society meets in members' homes on the third Wednesday of every second month at 7pm. Membership is £5 per annum. For further information, contact Geoff Keegan, Chairman (01769 580007 / knhs@fhsinternet.com).

We've updated the details on our affiliates page.

- RG

DHS Summer Meeting, 23 Jul 2011

2011-06-27T05:00:00.000+01:00

We now have the full programme for the DHS Summer Meeting 2011, hosted by the Lustleigh Society on Saturday 23rd July.

DEVON HISTORY SOCIETY SUMMER MEETING
At Lustleigh Village Hall

Programme

10.15 - Coffee/Tea and Biscuits on arrival.
10.45 - Welcome and introduction to the Lustleigh Society - Peter Mason, Chairman
10.55–11.10 - Introduction to the LUSTLEIGH COMMUNITY ARCHIVE
11.15–11.55 - "A PERFECT DEVON VILLAGE" - The history of tourism in Lustleigh, 1866 – 2001. Talk by Peter Mason
12.00–12.15 - Introduction to the KELLY MINE, LUSTLEIGH. Nick Walter of the Kelly Mine Preservation Society.
12.20–13.00 - "GROWING UP IN LUSTLEIGH" - Talk by Len Harvey.
13.00–14.00 - Lunch served in the Hall and a chance to view the Lustleigh History Society exhibition.
14.00–16.00 - A CHOICE OF GUIDED TOURS:
Groups to be arranged according to numbers)
16.00–16.30 - Tea and Biscuits in Hall.

LUNCH £7.50 per person. A choice of Ham or Cheddar Westcountry Ploughmans (Please specify: Ham / Cheddar) followed by Homemade Apple Crumble and custard.The cost also includes morning coffee/tea and afternoon refreshments. Soft drinks will be on sale.

N.B. There will be a charge of £2.00 for those attending who only wish to have morning coffee/tea and afternoon refreshments.
Meeting Fee: Free for DHS and Lustleigh Society Members. £2.50 for members of affiliated societies or non-members of DHS

Email the Hon. Programme secretary for bookings: jbhistory@hotmail.co.uk

Branscombe plats

2011-06-09T16:16:00.005+01:00

The 2011 Summer issue of East Devon Coast & Country 1 has an interesting article - The Platts at Branscombe - on coastal potato farming at Branscombe.

I've mentioned previously how the slopes of the Hooken Undercliff were used to raise early young potatoes. This extended to the "plats" - the more usual spelling than "platts" - on the other side of Branscombe Mouth, which also produced early daffodils, crocuses, tulips, broad beans and strawberries. The Branscombe Project has in its postcard archive - here - views of these fields, described by the Sidmouth historian Peter Orlando Hutchinson in 1858 as "a beautiful undercliff, a sort of stage, half way down to the sea, well cultivated with corn, potatoes, etc". By 1945, potato production there had been badly hit by potato eelworm, and cheap imports have long since made obsolete this arduous and precarious use of the sheltered cliffside; see the modern view.

The East Devon Coast & Country article, which has a photo, is linked from here: page 72: The Platts at Branscombe. The author is Ted Gosling, curator of Seaton Museum and secretary of the Axe Valley Heritage Association.

1. I don't normally pay much attention to the glossy regional promotional magazines; what little historical coverage they have is prone to recycling local factoids. I notice, however, that this quarterly magazine carries historical articles worth reading.

- RG

Exmouth at War walks

2011-06-06T15:25:00.003+01:00

Arthur Cook just sent us news of his popular Exmouth War Walks, which he is continuing this summer.

I will once again be guiding tourists and local residents this year on my war walks and talks this year as they proved so popular last year. The talks will be running from Wednesday 25th of May to Sunday 2nd of October. This year they will be on Wednesday’s and Sunday’s, leaving from the Imperial Hotel at 11.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. on fine days only. The walks have also been included of part of the Exmouth Festival programme this year

I have put these talks together, to compliment my book Exmouth at War which was published by Halsgrove in October 2010 and the walks reflect the text of the book covering evacuees and children’s lives, anti-invasion defences, the Civil Defence and the bombings, specifically looking at how the shape of the town has changed over the years due to the direct effect of the bombings of 70 years ago.

The walks cost £4.00 per (adult) and £1.00 per child (must be accompanied by and adult) and follow a simple route through the town, starting at the Imperial Hotel and finishing at the war memorial approx one hour later.

Unscheduled group bookings and tours can be made by arrangement. For further details, contact Mr Cook (07773160739 / blitzandpeaces@hotmail.co.uk). His website Blitz and Pieces is also worth a visit. Mr Cook specialises in 1930s-40s themed musical entertainments, but this is associated with his considerable historical research - see Exmouth People - into the wartime history of Exmouth: topics such as the destructive air raid in February 1943, the Home Guard, children in wartime, the Exmouth Civil Defence, the role of women in war, and the American presence.

- RG

Woodbury LHS: 2011/ 2012

2011-06-06T15:20:00.001+01:00

The Woodbury Local History Society sent us its schedule of events for 2011/2012.

15th June: Tour of the Cathedral and its Roof. Cathedral 11am
1st September: Crime and Punishment - the criminal system and Woodbury. Gillian Selley. Woodbury Village Hall 7.30 pm
6th October: Informal meeting - subject to be announced later. Woodbury Church Rooms 7.30 pm
3rd November: The Great Woodbury Jigsaw Puzzle of 1839. Roger Stokes. Woodbury Village Hall 7.30 pm
2nd February 2012: AGM and Society party. Woodbury Village Hall 7.30 pm

For further information, see our Affiliates page or contact the Secretary, Gillian Selley (gillianselley@lineone.net)

- RG

Devon Rural Archive: May-Jul 2011

2011-04-16T16:39:00.000+01:00

The Devon Rural Archive sent us its events listing for May-July 2011.

Events coming up at the Devon Rural Archive
May – July 2011

House History Surgery
Thurs. 12th May, 11.30am – 3pm
Help with researching your house history with our in-house experts. Admission: free

Morning talk & photography workshop
Tues. 17th May, 10.30am – 12.30
‘The Dartmoor Photographs of Chris Chapman’ with Chris Chapman.
Talk, film showing and photography workshop. Ticket price: £7

Local History Day - for all Local History Societies in Devon
Tues. 7th June, 10am – 3.30pm
Speakers include Phil Planel of the East Devon AONB and the Heritage Lottery Fund,
also case studies, Archive tour, displays, expert advice & lots of networking opportunities.
Places limited so book early.
Admission: £15 (includes lunch, refreshments, handouts, workshops, tour, etc)

House History Surgery
Thurs. 9th June, 11.30am – 3pm
Help with researching your house history with our in-house experts. Admission: free

Morning talk & creative writing workshop
Tues. 21st June, 11am – 12
‘The Literary Delights of Devon’ a talk by Myfanwy (Vanni) Cook. Ticket price: £4

Followed by: a Midsummer Day’s creative writing workshop with Vanni: ‘Shilstone -
transforming historical fact into historical fiction’. All participants will get a work-pack,
tuition, creative guidance and support to create their own unique piece of writing.
Limited places so please book early. 1 – 3pm.
Workshop cost: £6 (Both talk & workshop: £10)

Devon Picture Day
Sat. 2nd July, 11am – 2pm. Admission: free
Have you got some old photographs, postcards or prints of Devon? Not sure how to look
after them? Not sure of the location? Not sure who else might be interested in seeing
them? Come meet the experts: DRA Archivist Diana Gower, John Bouldon, and staff from
the Totnes Image Bank, the South West Image Bank and the Dartmoor Archive.

Morning talk
Tues. 19th July, 11am - 12noon.
‘What did Women do all Day?’ A look at women’s work in the rural Westcountry from
1500 - 1800 by Dr. Jane Whittle of Exeter University. Ticket price: £4

Don’t forget our evening lectures: 1st Thursday of the month.

Please see our website or contact us for more information about our events.

Devon Rural Archive, Shilstone, Modbury. Devon. PL21 0TW
www.devonruralarchive.com 01548 830832 ian@dra.uk.net

The Devon Rural Archive is part of The Fenwick Charitable Trust. Reg Charity: 1007957

DEVON RURAL ARCHIVE
Evening Lecture Programme 2011

7th April 2011
‘Sir Edward Pellew and the wreck of the Dutton in Plymouth Sound’
Martin Read, Lecturer in Maritime Archaeology at Plymouth University.

12th May 2011
‘A brief history of time’
Adam Hart-Davis, Photographer, writer, and broadcaster
(Booking advisable)

2nd June 2011
‘A glimpse at 19th Century Garden History’
Letta Jones, Horticulturalist and Garden Historian.

7th July 2011
‘The church in Devon’
Rev. Dr David Keep, Trustee of the Devon Historic Churches Trust.

4th August 2011
‘Plympton’s Past in Pictures’
John Boulden M.B.E.

1st September 2011
‘The joy of archives’
Felicity Goodall, author and broadcaster.

6th October 2011
‘Poltimore House and Gardens’
Dr Claire Donovan, Poltimore House Trust &
Dr Penny Cunningham, Poltimore Landscapes Project.

3rd November 2011
‘From Parterres to Cowpats:
Aspects of the archaeology of designed landscapes in south-west England’
Rob Wilson-North, Exmoor National Park Authority.

1st December 2011
‘The story of some West Dartmoor Farms’
Dr Tom Greaves, Cultural environmentalist

Evening Lecture Programme for 2012 coming soon!

All lectures will be held in the lecture theatre of the DRA building at Shilstone at 7pm.
Refreshments available from 6:30pm.
Admission £5

ALL WELCOME

To book in advance please contact Abi on 01548 830832 or email abi@dra.uk.net.

A part of the Fenwick Charitable Trust – Registered charity no. 1007957

- RG</span>

Memories from the South Devon coast: Jun 19

2011-04-16T15:37:00.002+01:00

The Underwood Discovery Centre at Beeson, near Kingsbridge, sent us summer event news.

Memories from the South Devon Coast
at the Underwood Discovery Centre, 19th June, 6.00-6.45pm.

Stephen Pedrick, author of the ADHS award winning work, A Century of Memories, will be playing illustrated audio extracts from people he recorded in this area. This is part of the Beesounds Midsummer Festival. For further details see the Underwood Discovery Centre website or contact valeriebelsey@gmail.com

A Century of Memories - Recollections of life in the South Hams of Devon in the early 20th century - preserves the memories of 100 men and 100 women interviewed over five years by Stephen Pedrick, a member of the Kingsbridge History Society.

- RG

Avocet Line: 150 years of railway history

2011-04-15T15:06:00.000+01:00

Sunday 1st May 2011 marks the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Exeter-Exmouth railway (now known as the Avocet Line). See the Avocet Line Rail Users Group website www.avocet150.co.uk.

Among general themed events, the line's history is commemorated in a number of specifically historical talks and exhibitions: see the calendar. There's a good overview at the ALRUG site here.

If you have access to the 19th century British Library Newspapers archive, Trewman's Exeter Flying Post or Plymouth and Cornish Advertiser for Wednesday, May 1, 1861, is interesting reading. Events took place all along the line, and that in Exmouth was one of the largest celebrations ever seen in the town. The four-column front-page spread begins:

OPENING
of the
EXETER AND EXMOUTH
RAILWAY

May Day, 1861, will for the future rank as one of the brightest Red Letter Days in the annals of Exmouth. It is the day on which the long-deferred hope of the principal of its inhabitants has at last been realised—the day on which, after more than sixteen years' patience and struggling with a series of rare difficulties—difficulties such as few lines have had to contend with—the wild expectations of 1845 have been consummated.

- RG

Feniton History Group - May/June

2011-04-13T23:01:00.002+01:00

The Feniton History Group sent us news of two forthcoming talks at Feniton Church.

6th May 2011: 7.30pm Feniton Church. The story of mediaeval Malherbes, given by Professor Gordon Reeves Admission £3.00 to include tea and coffee.

2nd June 2011 6.00pm Feniton Church. Medieval Transi or Cadevar Tombs: talk given by Miss R E Brown and Dr Christina Welch of University of Winchester. Admission £3.00 to include Tea and Coffee.

For more information about either event, contact Christine Gibbins 01404 850713.

- RG

Who was Charles Vivian?

2011-04-06T14:10:00.006+01:00

An enquiry revealed an Exeter connection to the founding of an American fraternal organisation.

Nick Hamzij just sent us an interesting enquiry about "Cork Clubs" (see Pending enquiries):

I am interested in any information regarding Cork Clubs. These existed in public houses from Victorian(?) times and have been described as a working men's freemasonry. One such club still exists in The Cider Bar, Newton Abbot and I have references to clubs in Greenwich and Rushden. Any info would be appreciated.

This isn't specifically Devon history, so I've blogged about these clubs at JSBlog. But following the topic found a Devon connection to the founding of a similarly-named organisation, the Jolly Corks, in 19th century USA.

As described at Charles Vivian & The Jolly Corks, the organisation was originally founded in New York City in 1867 by a group of musicians and entertainers, who organised private variety shows to get around the "blue laws" forbidding Sunday drinking. They rapidly affiliated on a more formal basis as a benevolent organisation, rebadged in 1868 as the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, which still exists as one of the the leading US fraternal organisations.

A biographical sketch of the life of Charles Algernon Sidney Vivian, founder of the order of Elks : together with anecdotes and reminiscences of his work and travels (Imogen Holbrook Vivian, 1903, Internet Archive ID biographicalsket00vivirich) mentions that the main founder was an English émigré born in Exeter in 1846, the son of "a clergyman of the Established Church". The book says:

He never tired in describing to me the long walks by the sea he used to take in boyhood days by his father's side, near Exeter, in fair Devonshire, always alluding to him in the most affectionate terms, with fond remembrance of those delightful hours spent in pleasant and instructive conversation as they walked the sea-girt shores of old England.

I haven't yet tracked who his father might be; some accounts say "Vivian" was a stage name, and that Vivian's real name was Charlie Robertson. Accounts also differ as to his birth date.

- RG

DRA House History Surgeries

2011-04-01T09:27:00.001+01:00

The Devon Rural Archive sent us details of its forthcoming "House History Surgery" days at Shilston, the first on 7th April.

Uncover the secret history of your house

The Devon Rural Archive at Shilstone near Modbury in South Devon is running a series of ‘House History Surgeries’ for all those people hooked on the history of their home. The first ‘surgery’ starts next week and is completely free. DRA Historian Diana Gower says: ‘Whether you are just beginning to look into the history of your house, or a seasoned researcher, anyone with a question about their property’s past is welcome to come along. You can come and spend some time with one of our resident experts, explore the archive and get advice for where you go next. There is no charge for this. The DRA has set aside three days in April, May and June especially to support your house history research: the first one is on Thurs. 7th April, 11.30 – 3pm. After that it is Thurs. 12th May, 11.30 -3pm and Thurs. 9th June, 11.30 – 3pm. Why not come along and see what secrets you can uncover?’

For more information on all upcoming events, see www.devonruralarchive.com.

- RG

Missing Exeter paintings sought

2011-03-22T17:04:00.006Z

The Exeter Express & Echo reports on a plea to find a missing batch of official paintings of pre-Blitz Exeter.

From the Express & Echo, March 22, 2011, Historian's plea for help over missing paintings:

The mystery of the missing Exeter paintings has prompted a city historian to ask Nostalgia readers for help.

Next year will be the 70th anniversary of the Exeter Blitz of 1942 and it is an anniversary that has prompted local art historian Dr Anthony Kelly to try to trace a number of missing paintings of Exeter which showed the city as it was just before the devastation of the German air raids.

The paintings were made by fine watercolour artists, who were employed by Kenneth Clark's wartime Recording Britain scheme.

The scheme was designed to ensure that even if enemy bombs could demolish ancient streets and buildings, an artistic record would still be passed on to posterity.

Two of the missing paintings
(scans from the contemporary book).

Recording Britain was a morale-boosting project involving the commission of 1500+ watercolours of British life and landscape. After the war, the Victoria & Albert Museum lent six Exeter paintings to Devon County Council. But when it attempted to recall them in 1990 for its permanent Recording Britain collection, the paintings, "believed to have been kept in Larkbeare House on the Topsham Road", couldn't be found.

The missing paintings, all identifiably signed, include one by Gladys Best of the now-demolished Chevalier House, along with other images of lost buildings by Claud Maurice Rogers (one, I think, depicts St Mary Steps) and Stanislaus Soutten Longley.

If anyone knows the whereabouts, Dr Kelly can be contacted at akelly3945@aol.com or via his website.

Other paintings in the series (some documented in the now-rare Recording Britain: Wiltshire, Somerset, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, Arnold Palmer, Oxford University Press, 1949) are still extant at the V&A:

Street in Exeter, Claude Maurice Rogers, c. 1940.
Old Customs House, Exeter, Claude Maurice Rogers, c. 1940.
Bishop's Palace, Exeter, Stanislaus Soutten Longley, 1940.
A gateway, Exeter, Stanislaus Soutten Longley, 1940.
Topsham, from the river, Claude Maurice Rogers, c. 1940.

- RG

Peninsula Arts, May 2011

2011-03-11T14:17:00.005Z

The current University of Plymouth's Peninsula Arts programme lists two history events in May 2011: a Plymouth local history day, and a lecture on new archaeological results from the Royal Naval Hospital site.

7th May 2011:
Better one volunteer than three pressed men.
Local Studies Day: celebrating the history of Plymouth and the surrounding area with talks and exhibitions. This year's schedule is:

Ford Park Cemetery - Past achievement and future plans. Celebrating a successful community driven volunteer heritage project with Dr Henry Will, MBE and Pat Luxford.
The changing face of the National Trust. Simon Gardner explains how the organisation is evolving in and around Plymouth.
Their songs live on - the life and work of Sabine Baring-Gould. Martin and Shan Graebe perform songs from the collection.
John Foulston, Architect. Jo Cox takes a fresh look at the man and his architecture.
Plymouth's Past on Film. Footage from the South West Film and Television Archive.

9am-4.30pm, 7th May, Robbins Conference Centre, University of Plymouth. Tickets for the day cost £16 with lunch or £10 without lunch. Closing date for bookings: 1 April 2011. See local libraries or www.plymouth.gov.uk/localstudiesday2011 for further details and booking form.

Thursday 19th May:
The Excavation of the 18th and 19th-century Royal Naval Hospital at Plymouth: Surprising Results.
Talk by Dr John Pamment-Salvatore, former City Archaeologist, Plymouth. Archaeological excavation close to the present Athenaeum Theatre in Plymouth revealed part of a cemetery operating at the time of the Battle of Trafalgar. Evidence from initial study of the bone remains has provided a graphic story of the ship-board injuries whilst documentary evidence from the Hospital itself shows that it was run in the fashion of a prison.
7 pm, 19th May, Devonport Lecture Theatre, Portland Square Building. Tickets £5, concessions £3, free for Friends of Peninsula Arts, UoP students and staff, and Plymouth Proprietary Library members. See Peninsula Arts, Plymouth Proprietary Library series, for more details and booking.

Salutation Inn, Topsham

2011-03-07T12:28:00.010Z

Last week I had the opportunity of a tour of the Salutation Inn in Topsham, an 18th century coaching inn under renovation: sights included its magnificent Assembly Room, and a gruesome find in the attic.

Salutation Inn, Topsham: according to the Regional Architecture of the West of England (Sir Albert Edward Richardson, Charles Lovett Gill, 1924) the columns on either side of the coach entrance were originally Doric and made of timber.

The Assembly Room, Salutation Inn, Topsham

A particular highlight was the chance to see for the first time the inside of the Assembly Room, the large room that overhangs the coach entrance of the Salutation. This must have seen many historic gatherings: for instance, it was the venue for the after-event elite party on the day in 1793 when Tom Paine was hanged in effigy in Topsham - see previously) - as an article in the early 19th century pamphlet The Republican tells us:

The officers of the navy and army, resident at Topsham, and the Gentlemen of the town, repaired to the Assembly Room, at the Salutation Inn, to drink the King's health; and the Rev. Mr. Carrington being unanimously requested to take the chair, and having complied in a very obliging and polite manner, many loyal toasts were drank, and many excellent songs were sung, particularly one printed and dispersed amongst the company upon the occasion.
- The Republican, Volume 9, 1824, ed. Richard Carlile

The room must also have been used when the Salutation Inn was the headquarters in 1794 of Colonel Robert Hall's Devonshire & Cornwall Fencibles during the War of the First Coalition.

Exeter Memories has some history of the inn and its historical uses, but there's a deal more to be found. A skim of the British Library 19th Century Newspapers archive finds the Salutation had extremely varied use in the 19th century: for balls, public meetings, property auctions, society dinners, coroner's inquests, and even as unofficial mortuary for people found drowned in the Exe.

On the subject of mortuaries, one of the objects discovered in the renovation was this mummified cat, of unknown age, found in the attic. It has been it has been nicknamed "Tonic" because it has a gin trap on its foot; it's unknown if this is how it met its death or if it was added as a posthumous detail. Such cats very occasionally turn up in old buildings; sometimes due to accidental incarceration, and sometimes placed there ritually (Margaret M Howard's paper 'Dried Cats', Man, no 252, Nov 1951, pp149-151, documents 25 examples). Another example was found in Ugborough, near Plymouth, in 2009, as reported in the Telegraph of 22 Apr 2009: 400-year-old mummified cat found in walls of cottage.

"Tonic", found in Salutation Inn, Topsham

Addendum. There seems to be a slight mystery about the Salutation sign (left) that originally hung on the frontage of the Assembly Room. It was removed some time after the Salutation ceased trading, when it presumably belonged to the building's then owner, Punch Taverns.

It's evidently around Topsham - I photographed it when it was on display at the launch of the Topsham Museum book Topsham Inns on the Globe Hotel August 24th 2010.

Does anyone know anything of its whereabouts and ownership?

- RG

Grenville and the lost Colony of Roanoke: 7th March

2011-02-28T20:39:00.002Z

Walter Henry's Bookshop contacted us with news of a history event launching a new book, Grenville and the lost Colony of Roanoke, in Bideford on Monday 7th March.

I hope you don't mind me contacting you directly, but i wanted to let you know about a history event we are holding at Walter Henry's Bookshop in Bideford on Monday 7th March. 7pm-9pm. Tickets are £3.00 to include refreshments an a discount on the book.

Former Bideford Mayor, Andrew Powell has written the book Grenville and the lost Colony of Roanoke.

Grenville and the Lost Colony of Roanoke takes an authoritative look at how the English Nation first attempted to settle America - some thirty-three years before the Mayflower set sail.

In the 1580s Sir Walter Raleigh ably assisted by his cousin Sir Richard Grenville set out to found an English colony in America. After several voyages the colony was finally settled on the island of Roanoke, yet just three years later it had vanished and remains today, one of America's greatest mysteries.

Now, in this new account, Andrew Thomas Powell re-investigates. Using eye-witness accounts from sources never previously linked, he provides one of the most extraordinary true stories in English and American history and concludes with the current quest to find out what really happened to them.

Filled with new revelations and theories, and exposing some myths, this is the first modern attempt to use original documents to re-examine an extraordinary period in English history. Grenville and the Lost Colony of Roanoke takes an authoritative look at how the English nation first attempted to settle America - some thirty-three years before the Mayflower set sail.

I hope that you may have some members that would be interested.

Kind Regards, Lynsey Southern, Walter Henry's Bookshop

See www.walterhenrysbookshop.co.uk for further information.

Record Office funding cuts: an update

2011-02-25T16:45:00.004Z

Concerning the Devon Record Office funding cuts - see previously - we have permission to reproduce the following open letter from Dr Todd Gray, Chairman of Friends of Devon's Archives.

I would like to once more thank you for your support regarding the funding cuts to the archive service in Devon and apprise you of the current situation. I am pleased to be able to inform you that the response from Devon’s history community to Devon County Council has resulted in a significant reduction in the proposed cuts. £100,000 has been put back into the budget.We now have to address the forthcoming public consultation in which views will be formally taken on the archive service. I am hopeful that this will involve public meetings in both Exeter and Barnstaple.

The last few weeks have seen a frenetic response from groups and individuals across Devon and from far beyond. I myself have been greatly heartened by the passion with which we have all responded to the cuts. This is the first time that we have worked together in such a way and I am sure lessons should be learned.

The cuts are still higher than the regional average and I hope that Devon County councilors and officers will continue to listen. The consultation exercise will help shape the services at Exeter and Barnstaple. We have yet to learn what changes the cuts in the budget will bring and we must continue to voice our concerns. I will keep you informed of the details of the public consultation when they are available.

Again, thank you for your support – it has helped to bring us to where we are today,

Yours Sincerely, Dr Todd Gray, Chairman, Friends of Devon’s Archives

The statement from Councillor Stuart Barker, portfolio holder for Devon County Council:

On 9 February a Cabinet meeting of Devon County Council revised the proposed cut to the Devon Record Office budget from £289,000 to £189,000. This will have to be agreed at a full meeting of the council on 17 February. The change has been made to enable a fuller consideration of the issues around modernisation, restructure and the integration of other services at the Sowton site as well as potential income generation.The additional £100,000 will help to deliver any changes identified by the public and staff consultations. There will also be an application to the investing in Devon fund for project funding to carry out completing the digitization of the microfiche records and other suitable documents. A public consultation exercise will take place in the weeks following 17 February; details are currently being considered and could involve public meetings in North Devon and Exeter. The Council is committed to workingwith users, stakeholders, staff and othersto establish how best to maintain opening hours at the Devon Record Office and is committed to keeping the North Devon Record Office where the documents are held within their historical geographical context.

Newsletter: Issue 7, Feb 2011

2011-02-17T11:33:00.005Z

The seventh issue of Devon History News, the newsletter of the Devon History Society, is now in print or available here: Devon History News 7, February 2010 (PDF format). Contents:

1. (cover image) Sidmouth tithe map / John Hooker's 16th century view of Exeter Cathedral Close.
2. Editorial and contents summary from new editor, Ann Bond.
2. Apology from Dr Andrew Jackson, editor of the Devon Historian, for the problems delaying issue 79.
2-3. Shirley Purves: Chairman's Report, January 2011.
4. Anne Howard: An introduction from the new Secretary for Affiliated Societies.
5-6. Peter Thomas, Exeter Cathedral Librarian: A new chapter for the oldest library in Exeter (article about the plans for the transformation of the library).
6. DHS Anniversary Book Update.
6. Gerald F Quinn, Membership Secretary: request for member e-mail addresses.
7. Jane Bliss, Hon. Programme Secretary: The 2011 Programme.
7. Gill Selley: Publicity for the Devon History Society.
8-9. Mitzi Auchterlonie, Reviews Editor: Book reviews for The Devon Historian.
9-10. Philippe Planel: Tithe Map and Apportionment Digitization (Philippe Planel provides an update on the East Devon Parishscapes Project and writes about plans to extend the transcription of tithe maps to the whole of Devon).
10. Newsflash: Devon County Council and likely budget cuts to the Decon Record Offices and library services.
11. Upcoming events: The 70th anniversary of the Plymouth Blitz (day conference); In the footsteps of the Sidmouth Antiquary (day conference on Peter Orlando Hutchinson).
12. Official Society contacts.

Devon Record Office - funding threat

2011-02-14T18:30:00.000Z

You may have seen the Exeter Express & Echo item for January 27th 2011 - Historians' fears for the future of county's past - concerning county council budget cuts to funding for the Devon Record Office in Sowton, Exeter, as well as the associated office in Barnstaple.

The Devon History Society has sent the following notification to its members:

From Shirley Purves, Chairman,
and Council of the Devon History Society

Dear member

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT DEVON RECORD OFFICE (Exeter) AND NORTH DEVON RECORD OFFICE

We are writing to bring to your attention some crucial decisions that Devon County Council will very shortly be taking in respect of its budgeting for Devon’s record offices in 2011 and beyond. As DHS member(s), you may wish to consider how best to register your interest and concern for the future of these offices at this critical point.

At the time of writing, firm information about precise outcomes is in short supply. However, it seems certain that substantial budget cuts will be imposed. There remains some uncertainty about the future of the North Devon Record Office at Barnstaple and also about the levels of staffing and service that will be sustainable at Exeter should cuts of this magnitude be approved and acted upon. We understand that there will be little or no public consultation before these far reaching decisions are taken.

We also understand that the Council’s timetable envisages a meeting of the Council on Wednesday, 9 February, at which budget cuts will be proposed. A decision by the full Council will be made on Thursday 17th February, to be followed by a public announcement.

Time is very short. We would therefore welcome your support in this matter.

Please email, write or telephone the individuals listed below, who are involved with the decision making process. Ask for a reply and to be kept informed of any changes to the proposal as well as of the final decision.

Details of your local county councillor can be found on Devon County Council’s website.

Margaret Davidson, Principal Adult and Community Learning Officer: Margaret.Davidson@devon.gov.uk

Jennie Stephens, Interim Director Adult and Community Services: jennie.stephens@devon.gov.uk

Phil Norrey, Chief Executive: phil.norrey@devon.gov.uk

Councillor Stuart Barker, responsible for Adult and Community Services: stuart.barker@devon.gov.uk

Councillor John Hart, Leader of the County Council: john.hart@devon.gov.uk

Postal address for all these is: Devon County Council, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter, Devon, EX2 4QD

Mad about ferns

2011-02-14T18:28:00.005Z

The Western Morning News reports the rediscovery of a Victorian fern garden at Canonteign Falls.

From Historic estate reveals more of its garden secrets (Feb 12th 2011):

A fern garden has just been found at Canonteign Falls in Christow. It was documented in estate records but its location had remained hidden until recently. A spokesman for the estate, which features England's highest waterfall, said:
...
"Pteridomania, or fern fever, was widespread in Britain between 1837 and 1914 when the Victorians and Edwardians had both a passion and fascination for ferns.

"It was snow that led to the discovery of the Victorian fern garden, when branches of laurel that were close to the existing fern garden broke under the weight of snow."

The news appears to be somewhat out of date - the new area of the fern garden (described at the Canonteign website) was actually discovered in the winter of 2008-2009 - but it's now fully accessible. I admit I'd never heard of Victorian "pteridomania", but the Wikipedia article mentions that the fern craze drove a number of fern species in the Britain to the edge of extinction.

It's of Devon interest that the author Charles Kingsley coined the term in his 1855 Glaucus: or, The wonders of the shore:

Your daughters, perhaps, have been seized with the prevailing "Pteridomania," and are collecting and buying ferns, with Ward's cases wherein to keep them, (for which you have to pay,) and wrangling over unpronounceable names of species, (which seem to be different in each new Fern-book that they buy,) till the Pteridomania seems to you somewhat of a bore: and yet you cannot deny that they find an enjoyment in it, and are more active, more cheerful, more self-forgetful over it, than they would have been over novels and gossip, crochet and Berlin-wool. At least you will confess that the abomination of " Fancy work," that standing cloak for dreamy idleness, (not to mention the injury which it does to poor starving needlewomen,) has all but vanished from your drawing-room since the " Lady-ferns" and "Venus's hair" appeared; and that you could not help yourself looking now and then at the said "Venus's hair," and agreeing that nature's real beauties were somewhat superior to the ghastly woollen caricatures which they had superseded.

A spin-off inspired by Glaucus - written by Kingsley's daughter - also worth reading for Devon historical interest: Ferny Combes: A Ramble After Ferns in the Glens and Valleys of Devonshire (Charlotte Chanter, Lovell Reeve, 1856, Internet Archive fernycombesaram00changoog).

See Fern-dom at JSBlog for more about the literature.

- RG

Where in Devon? - Feb 2011

2011-01-28T23:18:00.003Z

A reminder of the Westcountry Studies Library's ongoing Where in Devon? project to identify persons and places in archival photos:

This year the Westcountry Studies Library has dug deep into its holdings again, and produced a new and exciting display of twenty-nine historic mystery pictures from the Library's collections. All the pictures feature something that we hope will help you identify the location - a bridge, a distinctive church, houses - or a mill!
...
Between January 31st and February 14th the pictures will be on display in the foyer at Exeter Central Library.

The new pictures are also online at a Flickr virtual exhibition; and previous photos in the series are archived at www.flickr.com/photos/whereindevon.

See the Local Studies Where in Devon? page for contact details.

- RG

The Misses Skinner's House of Rest

2011-01-25T11:41:00.003Z

From the Western Morning News, an interesting article about Ferny Bank, a late 19th century holiday home on Babbacombe Downs run for working women by Emily and Edith Skinner.

Holiday retreat offered women a break from urban life – and men (Peter Carroll, WMN, Nov 13th 2010) tells of

... Emily and Edith Skinner – often referred to as the misses Skinner, who had the inspiration to open an enterprising and unusual holiday home for working women on the downs at Babbacombe.
...
By giving women the opportunity to breathe in the proclaimed healthy air of Torbay and a jolly good holiday break at reasonable cost, their reputation grew through mentions in newspapers, magazines articles and advertisements directed to women nationwide.

And they called their residence Ferny Bank, described as 'A house of rest for women in business' ranging from shop-girls, dressmakers, milliners, employees in business houses, post and telegraph clerks etc.

There are several contemporary reviews, including this one from The Argosy:

WHERE SHALL I SPEND MY HOLIDAYS ?

THE above question is most important to any woman who has to maintain herself by her own exertions ; so many things must be considered. Expense is a great object to a working woman, and as a holiday is necessary to health, it is needful to be careful in selecting a health-giving air; and as solitude is not good for either health or spirits, she has also to look for congenial companionship.

Now let me tell you of a sea-side home which combines all these necessaries: where I spent a most delightful holiday last year, and where I am enjoying myself equally this year.

A friend who had passed a fortnight there told me of " The House of Rest for Women in Business," at Babbicombe, South Devon. She gave so glowing an account of it, and I had longed, so vainly, all my life to see Devonshire, that I wrote, as directed, to Miss Skinner. I received a most kind reply promising me a welcome; and early one morning started from a dull Northern town upon my long journey to the sunny South.

According to instructions I alighted at Torre Station. There I found some small omnibuses, and one of them conveyed me and my luggage to Babbicombe An up-hill ride of half-anhour brought me to my destination. The omnibus stopped at a pretty, semi-detached villa of moderate size, standing back from the road, a short carriage drive leading to the entrance With rather a quaking heart I approached the door, wondering whom or what I should meet first. In the vestibule a lady, who was, I found, the matron, greeted me very cordially —a great relief to a tired traveller—and by her I was taken upstairs to a room, in which were two beds, white dimity curtains dividing the chamber in half, so that each occupant was quite in private . Each part was provided with an ottoman, one chair, a wash-hand-stand, with a looking-glass and towel rail above and a cupboard beneath.

Here I left my belongings, and went down the broad staircase to the dining-room, where I had some supper and chatted for a few minutes with the matron. Ever since I came into the house I had heard merry voices and laughter proceeding from the room opposite the dining room : the occupants were evidently enjoying some good game . The dining-room was long and large, furnished with a couch, two long tables placed T fashion, and comfortable chairs; the walls were delicately coloured in shades of green. From the two windows I often afterwards caught delightful glimpses of the sea. As I was fatigued, the matron excused me from joining the household that night; and so I took my lamp and was very glad to go to rest .

The next morning at 7.30 a bell rang for dressing, and at 7.55 a second summons brought the " visitors " (as the inmates are called) from every room. I followed the stream into the drawing-room, where prayers were read by the matron. These were very appropriate, some being specially composed for the house. A little book containing the short service was handed to each person present . After prayers I had leisure to examine the room, and was charmed with its home-like comfort and graceful elegance. The ladies who founded and furnished this delightful home did not stop at comfort and necessaries. The eye rests with pleasure upon the delicatelytinted ceiling and walls, the latter hung with choice pictures, a gift from Bishop Fraser, of Manchester; the floor was carpeted with warm crimson floor cloth, easy-chairs were scattered about, and three inviting couches. The two long windows, which open upon a terrace, and overlook a pretty garden and lawn, held a stand of ferns in one, a low seat in the other. Flowers in pretty vases stood about on the large writing-table and upon the mantelpieces at either end of the long double room ; a large book-case, well stocked with interesting books, filled a recess, and was free to all. This completes, imperfectly, my first impression, and a closer acquaintance with its numerous comforts only increased my admiration. A piano has now been added, which is a great acquisition.

So much for the room; now for the occupants. These were women, twenty perhaps, varying in age from seventeen to sixty, as far as I could judge. Some looked ill, and had evidently availed themselves of a pleasant home and beautiful air to recruit exhausted energies. Most of these, I am glad to say, seemed quite restored before they said "good-bye." The rest all appeared very happy and full of enjoyment; they greeted me kindly, and assured me I should soon feel at home, as in truth I did. At breakfast, merry talk abounded, and as I was a stranger I had time to survey my neighbours. The breakfast-service was very pretty, of delicate blue and white; I afterwards heard it was a present to the house. After a substantial meal, the rest adjourned, whilst I remained with the matron, who entered my name and address, occupation,, and religion, and I then made my first week's payment. When this was done, as I found the others engaged in making their beds, I followed their example, and also arranged my things in the spaces allotted to them. It was a wet morning, and as out-door exercise was impossible, I started on a tour of inspection, and found that, on the same floor with my own bed-room, were four others, named respectively, from the colours of the walls, the Pink, Blue, Green, and Peacock rooms, and a tiny one over the entrance called the Nest . With the exception of this last and my own (the Peacock), they were all very large, each being divided by white curtains into three or four separate compartments, furnished like my own.

After dinner the rain ceased, and I accompanied four of the other visitors in a walk, and saw a little of the beauty of Devonshire. I feel that I am not capable of describing its wonderful scenery: but the remembrance of it is a perpetual delight, and I often pass a pleasant hour in looking over the photographic views I brought home, and in recalling my visits to each lovely spot .

The House of Rest stands at the end of Babbicombe Downs. A long zigzag path, which takes quite a quarter of an hour to descend, leads to Oddicombe Beach, from which, and also from Babbicombe Beach, parties of " visitors " embark for rowing. Here also are bathing machines, which, on fine days, are in great request. Another recreation is found in driving to the neighbouring places of interest, which seem endless.

Amongst so many fellow-visitors it could hardly be expected that all would be companionable, but I was agreeably surprised to find that all were friendly : everyone seemed eager to make new-comers happy and at home.

The ladies who originated the idea of establishing this home (the Misses Skinner) reside quite near, take great interest in the welfare of each inmate, and visit the house daily. Miss Skinner has written a little pamphlet, which gives a far better description than I can attempt, and can be obtained on application to the matron.

The House has been open for four or five years only, and twice during that time larger premises have been needed and taken. Even now bed-rooms have to be hired in the village. Twenty-eight inmates can be accommodated in the House. The work and trouble to these ladies is very great; answering the letters alone must be irksome. They conduct all the correspondence themselves, which not only saves the expense of a secretary, but also makes them feel better acquainted with each visitor by personal correspondence.

Visitors are received at 1s. a-week without, or 5s. a-week with, a subscriber's ticket. Subscribers of £1 yearly are entitled to one ticket to give to any woman who cannot afford to pay the 1s. Any person wishing to subscribe to this excellent work can do so, or can send donations of money, books, furniture, or indeed anything likely to be useful where so much is needed.

Every communication should be sent to Miss Skinner, at her private address, Bayfield, Babbicombe, South Devon.

The food supplied to visitors is plain, but good in quality and unlimited in quantity; milk is given with supper, no ale or other alcoholic drinks being permitted. In the evening games of various kinds are in vogue ; charades, draughts, proverbs, &c, &c.; thus not one minute in the day is dull; my only complaint was that the days were too short and too few.

If only this rambling attempt at description makes known to some of my fellow-women—especially those from the north, where it is not so well-known as in London—this well-named " House of Rest," I shall feel that I have done something to show my appreciation of the pleasure and benefit I derived from my visits, and of the kindness of the ladies who labour so devotedly for their poorer sisters.

One great advantage is that this is equally suitable as a winter and summer resort .

I have omitted to say that the visitors are composed chiefly of teachers of elementary schools, post-office clerks, and girls employed in shops, warehouses, &c. The visit is not limited to a special period; but, upon application for admission, intending visitors are requested to state, if possible, the length of time they wish to remain, in order to prevent disappointment. The beds are often bespoken weeks in advance, and as one visitor leaves in the morning, another fills her place at night. Some visitors remain only a week, others a fortnight, many a month; and some have stayed the entire winter, and then left reluctantly.

The railway fare from London or Bristol to Torre is reduced to one half by application to the Rev. John Hewett, vicar of Babbicombe ; and the return ticket is available for one month : this considerably lessens the expenses of the journey.

- From The Argosy, Vol 36, 1883

The Argosy review is somewhat anodyne, and it's worth reading the novelist Dinah Craik's account of her visit, originally published in Murray's Magazine in 1887, and reprinted as the chapter A House of Rest in her collection Concerning Men and Other Papers.

Miss Craik explores the workings in some detail: the variable-fee part-charitable system (no guest was told how much others paid); the tight class bracket of guests (no governesses or domestic servants); and the subtle but firm eye the "Committee" (the Misses Skinner and "Miss Roberts of Torquay" - the novelist Margaret Roberts) kept on conduct. A very enlightened aspect of the House of Rest is that despite the Misses Skinner being Christian, religious observance was optional, and proselytizing was banned. Dinah Craik, a campaigner for social justice for women, gives some harrowing case studies of the working lives of residents she met - "We all of us have something more or less wrong with our lungs," one told her - and doesn't shy away from one of the major concerns of the House of Rest being to help steer women away from "falling".

The Skinners are mentioned in Todd Gray's 2009 Remarkable Women of Devon. The premises itself, which went through various incarnations as Ferny Hollow, Ferny Bank, and the Ferny Hollow House of Rest, is still standing, and easily findable by Google Street View.

View Larger Map

- RG

Peter Orlando Hutchinson: "Victorian 'blogger"

2011-01-15T12:28:00.004Z

The Western Morning News for 14th January 2011 had an interesting article introducing "In The footsteps Of Peter Orlando Hutchinson", a cultural and landscape project based around the work of a Sidmouth diarist.

As described in the WMN - On the trail of a Victorian 'blogger' - Peter Orlando Hutchinson was a polymath: a talented flautist, stone-carver and artist with interests in politics, archaeology and geology.

But while all of this is eminently admirable, it is his work in the field of recording aspects of the local landscape that is receiving modern-day acclaim.

The East Devon Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership is leading a project to promote the region using Hutchinson's work as its base.

Project spokesman Phillippe Planel said: "He was a 19th century antiquary and well known character who spent his time drawing and recording all aspects of the local landscape – I guess today he would be considered to be a Victorian blogger.

"His geological and archaeological researches are of immense value, but above all, it is as an artist and ceaseless and devoted recorder of everything he heard and saw that he will be remembered, making his diaries an immensely valuable source of historical Devon literature. His wonderful paintings and sketches of East Devon deserve to be much better known.

See In the Footsteps of Peter Orlando Hutchinson - A Cultural and Historical Landscape Project 2010 - 2013 for further information about the project, which is supported by Heritage Lottery Fund grant as well as East Devon District Council, Devon County Council, Natural England, and the Sid Vale Association:

The Project aims to raise awareness of landscape change, help conserve and enhance historical features and continue the legacy of volunteer study and involvement in landscape heritage that has grown through the AONB Partnership. Drawing on the work of Peter Orlando Hutchinson, it will provide a detailed and fascinating account of the Victorian landscape. In doing so, we hope to create further cultural dimension around which to promote and interpret sites and locations within and about this nationally important landscape.

Focussing largely in and around the Sid Valley, the project will seek to revisit many of the historical features of the landscape that Hutchinson recorded, such as hill forts, tumuli, orchards and quarrying sites with a view to their conservation, enhancement, interpretation and public engagement therein.

The site has samples of scans from his 2000-page diaries here, including this very nice sketch of the coastline at Ladram Bay.

A Sidmouth Herald piece for 28th November 2010, Sidmouth antiquary’s diaries explored, gives a glimpse of Hutchinson himself,

- RG

1885: Dawlish "death trap"

2011-01-12T14:08:00.021Z

A look in news archives finds how a fatal accident in the 1880s shaped the present-day scenery at Dawlish.

Cliff falls are ubiquitous on the Jurassic and Triassic coast: I've previously mentioned the collapse of the Ladram Arch, the recent Pennington Point slip at Sidmouth, the formation of the Hooken Undercliff and, at JSBlog, the famous Bindon landslip between Axmouth and Lyme. They rarely, however, cause loss of life, but a tragic exception was the collapse in Dawlish I just encountered in a regional guidebook.

Lea Mount owes its formal, straight-cut outline to the anxieties that followed the falling of a portion of the cliff on August 29th, 1885, when over fifty tons of rock buried a party of seven women and children, killing three of them. To prevent further accidents, all overhanging portions were cut away.

- The South Devon Coast, Charles G. Harper, 1907

In 1885, the safe promenade that runs south from Boat Cove along the foot of Lea Mount to Coryton's Cove hadn't been built. Between the cliff and Cowhole Rock (i.e. from what is now Boat Cove, the site of the cafe, slipway and toilets here) was a path that allowed high-water access to Coryton's Cove, then designated "the gentlemen's bathing cove", via two pedestrian tunnels and a footbridge leading to a path that ran under the cliff base to the cove. The Devon Libraries Local Studies Service has this image c.1860 showing the tunnels from the Dawlish side.

It was a highly popular venue: the Times (Sep 1st, 1885) reported that "On Sunday mornings as many as 700 men and boys are taken in a bathing train from Exeter ... they go to their bath through the narrow tunnel in Indian file". However, it was also an accident waiting to happen - as the Birmingham Daily Post for September 2, 1885, called it, "a death-trap at the seaside" - as sea erosion at the foot of the cliff had produced a pronounced overhang on the Coryton side near the footbridge (the modern location is at the northern end of the line of beach huts).

On Saturday August 29th 1855 at around noon, six members of the family and household of Dowager Lady Sawle were preparing for a picnic lunch beneath the overhang, when a large mass of rock (estimated 50-150 tons) split from the cliff above them. They had a moment's warning from a seventh party member, Ellie Watson, who was standing nearer the sea and saw the start of the collapse. Three ran toward the cliff, and were buried and killed instantly: nine-year-old Violet Mary Watson; Mary Radford (lady's maid to Lady Sawle); and Elizabeth Keen (nurse to the Watson children). Three who ran toward the sea, a Miss Watts, Miss Matthews, and Johnny Watson, survived, but were seriously injured. Only Ellie Watson was unhurt.

The definite local newspaper account is probably "Shocking accident at Dawlish", Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, Wednesday, September 2, 1885. If you have access to the 19th Century British Library Newspapers archive, it's findable online, as is the The Illustrated Police News for Saturday, September 12, 1885, whose cover has a typically fanciful depiction of the incident, along with a drawing of the precarious state of the cliffs at the time.

The accident became a local, and even national, health and safety scandal when the background was revealed at the inquest. There had been previous minor rockfalls at the same location. Warning signs had been placed, but lost to decay or removed. The footbridge had been installed after the danger was known. There had been long-standing inaction over the cliff because it appeared not to be under the jurisdiction of the Dawlish Local Board, nor the Great Western Railway Company, nor the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. Further, the Reverend RHD Barham (see RHD Barham and Dawlish) revealed that he had written to the Local Board only a few weeks previously, warning them of the risk of such a fatal accident. Recording a verdict of accidental death, the coroner added a rider calling on the Local Board to ascertain the ownership of the beach, and to put up warning signs pending further action.

The Times editorial for Sep 2nd, 1885, took the view that nobody's actions in the matter reflected well on them, commenting on the lethal combination of lack of responsibility of authorities, the recklessness of the English on holiday, and lack of interest of locals in the welfare of visitors. It concluded:

... even the seaside visitor, nay even the excursionist, even the bearers of bathing tickets to and fro for sixpence, have claims on the most fastidious, and certainly have a right to be duly warned of perils by tide and current, by cliff and by drain.

The aftermath of the accident had a long-term effect on the Dawlish scenery. In November 1885 (as reported in "The dangerous cliffs at Dawlish", Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, Wednesday, November 11, 1885) the Dawlish Local Board met to consider plans, subsquently implemented, to stabilise the cliffs and remodel the beachfront. This was to build a wall - now called Early's Wall - extending the breakwater round the foot of Lea Mount, to demolish the overhanging cliff portions, and to use the debris to fill the gap between wall and cliff foot to create the broad promenade we see today. The development also included the high-level scenic path above the promenade; the tunnelled spur of rock between Cowhole Rock and the cliff foot was also removed. I must take a look the next time I visit, but I think the sealed entrance of the second tunnel, on the Boat Cove side of Cowhole Rock, is just visible behind the old winch (see Flickr).

- RG

Westcountry Studies Local History Day: 26th Feb

2011-01-11T17:51:00.004Z

From the Westcountry Studies Newsletter No. 11: news of the Local History Day on Saturday 26th February at the Westcountry Studies Library on a theme of Crime and Punishment.

Crime and Punishment is the theme of this year's event, run by the Westcountry Studies in assocation with the Exeter Local History Society.. There will be a series of talks in the morning on executions and witch trials in Exeter, a mysterious murder at Branscombe, and Devon’s villains.

Each talk costs £1.00, or £3.00 for all four.

As well as the series of talks there will also be exhibitions on Crime and Punishment. Various local history organisations will be present on the day to answer questions on all aspects of local history. Also on display for the first time, taken from the Westcountry Studies Libraries Black Archive; a book bound in human skin. This book is The Poetical Works of John Milton, bound in part of the skin of George Cudmore who was convicted of the murder of his wife Grace Cudmore and hanged on March 25th 1830.

Programme

The event runs from 10.00am-3.30pm on Saturday 26th February.

10.30 am The Exeter Witchcraft Trials -- Frank Gent.
11.30 am Shooting at Branscombe Old Pit -- John Torrance and Barbara Farquharson. 12.30 pm Executions and the sites of the Gallows -- David Cornforth and Sue Jackson.
1.30 pm Devon Villains -- Mike Holgate.

Refreshments will be available all day.

Tickets are available from the Westcountry Studies Library or Exeter Central Library. For further information please contact westcountry.library@devon.gov.uk or call 01392 384216.

House research workshop: 18th March

2011-01-11T13:22:00.002Z

The Devon Rural Archive sent us news of a forthcoming workshop, Research Your House's History, on Friday 18th March 2011.

A DAY TO RESEARCH YOUR HOUSE'S HISTORY
LECTURES AND WORKSHOP at the DEVON RURAL ARCHIVE,
Shilstone, Modbury, PL21 0TW
Friday 18th March 2011 10 - 3.30

We hope you may be interested in attending this day to help you research the history, significance and development of your house whether it is in the countryside, a market town, the outskirts of a city or a village in Devon. Our specialist guest speakers who will deliver short talks in the morning and then in the afternoon session we can make use of our spacious archive room to further individual research using the knowledge on hand.

Please bring any photographs, documents or references which might help with this
and, if you like, a laptop as our building has WiFi. Please feel free to circulate this invitation to local history society colleagues or newsletters.

10.00 Registration
10.10 The process of how to research the history of your house by Josephine Brown
10.50 Using maps, how to use resources in our archive and on the internet by Sarah Daligan
11.30 Coffee
11.50 Typology of domestic architecture and the significance of your house including dating by architectural features by Linda Watson
12.30 Lunch
1.45 Introduction to Archive and our research work by Diana Gower
2.00 Workshop session with speakers from the morning acting as tutors.
...
Josephine Brown is an Historic Environment Consultant specialising in the research and analysis of historic settlements, buildings and landscapes. As an architectural historian she uses archive research and on-site fabric analysis to understand the historic development and significance of historic structures. Based in Totnes, Josephine is particularly knowledgeable on the building styles and traditions
of the South West. Our day will commence with an introduction from Josephine on the
process of researching the history of a building. She will introduce the subject of source material and dating of architectural features, which will be covered in greater detail by following speakers. The session will include an overview of the wide variety of archives and online research sources available to the house historian.

Sarah Daligan is one of the consultant archaeologists working at the Devon Rural Archive (DRA) undertaking site visits relating to domestic architecture post 1300 in rural Devon. She worked for 8 years in the archaeology department at the University of Wales in Lampeter, latterly specializing in cultural heritage management. In addition to her work at the DRA Sarah also conducts classes in
anthropology and archaeology at several places in South Devon.

Linda Watson is a conservation architect who is currently Associate Professor and the Programme Manager for the two year MA course in Architectural Conservation at the University of Plymouth. She is particularly interested in Cob buildings and recently gave a lecture here at the DRA on the subject.

Diana Gower has worked at the DRA for several years and is responsible for a large part of the cataloguing and displays in our building.

The cost for the event, run by the Fenwick Charitable Trust, is £15.00 including a Plougman's lunch with cake and fruit. Booking is essential; the DRA can perform preliminary map work if if you want to provide house name, postcode or grid references of the property you are researching.

For an application form or further details, contact Diana Gower at the Devon Rural Archive (01548 830888 / info@dra.uk.net / http://www.devonruralarchive.com/).

Jan Stewer reprinted

2010-12-23T12:21:00.003Z

From the Western Morning News (Dec 21, 2010): Dialect writer captured joy of being home at Christmas, news of the reprint of the 1922 Jan Stewer At Home and Abroad by Albert John Coles.

... Home forms part of a newly-published collection of his stories. Written on his return from active service in Egypt in the winter of 1919, Home sums up the feelings of so many expatriates returning for Christmas then and now.

It is one of fourteen stories in Jan Stewer At Home And Abroad, a 100-page pocket-sized gem that is sure to delight his many fans. Out of print since it was first published in 1922, it also provides a representative introduction to those new to his work.

Although secondhand and reprinted copies of his better-known titles are relatively easy to pick up, Jan Stewer At Home And Abroad had been largely forgotten until Mark Young was given a rare copy as a gift.

Mark, who runs Broad Street Publishing in Newton Abbot with his wife Chrissie, was astonished by the find and decided it needed to be republished.

The feature continues with a good brief summary of the life and career of 'Jan Stewer', the country schoolteacher and Devon dialect writer described by John Betjeman as "one of the great understanding humorists".

Jan Stewer At Home and Abroad, Jan Stewer, Broad Street Publishing (1 Oct 2010) ISBN-10: 0955701961 / ISBN-13: 978-0955701962.

- RG

A Christmas poem from Devonia

2010-12-21T15:10:00.011Z

From the Internet Archive comes a Christmas greeting from a century ago:

It's O ! To be in Devon in the Merry Christmas Time

Now the days are dark and dreary,
And the year is growing weary,
And the leaves have left the branches
Of the sycamore and lime ;
I am thinking of thy bounty,
My dear old native county,
It's O ! to be in Devon at the merry Christmas-time.

Who that has seen thy daughters,
And the flashing of thy waters,
And hears thy name, the music
Of some olden English rhyme ;
And pines not for thy alleys,
And river-lighted valleys?
It's O ! to be in Devon at the merry Christmas-time.

There each cosy hearth is glowing,
And the honey-wine is flowing ;
Whilst the frost-work on the lattice
Is melting like the rime ;
And the lads the moors are pacing,
The hare and rabbit tracing ;
It's O ! to be in Devon at the merry Christmas-time.

And village waits are singing,
And village bells are ringing ;
From hill to hill they answer
With the old familiar chime ;
And the holly's reddest coral
Is smiling by the laurel ;
It's O ! to be in Devon at the merry Christmas-time.

O ! sweet haunt of the pheasant,
My home-land fair and pleasant,
Though the music of the nightingale
Be foreign to thy clime ;
More charming is thy greeting
Of the guests at festal meeting,
God bless thee, dear old Devon, with a merry Christmas-time.

Edward Capeln 1, the Postman Poet of North Devon.

I just found this appropriately seasonal poem on page 226, Volume 7, No.6, December 1907 of Devonia, the official organ of the United Devon Association.

The United Devon Association was founded in 1898 by William Joseph Richards as the result of meetings between Devon mayors and town clerks at the New London Hotel, Exeter, and had its headquarters at 17 Bedford Circus, Exeter, with local offices in principal towns. Its objects were:

To promote all measures tending to increase the prosperity of the County of Devon and add to its popularity as a residential and tourist centre.
To bring under the notice of families visiting England the attractions of the County
To appoint Correspondents at home and abroad.
To organize subscribing districts in Devon.
To promote increased facilities for travel in the County..
To advance in any other way the interests of residents in the County.

The Association also, through the Western Counties Fern and Wild Flowers Preservation Committee, takes steps by prosecution of offenders to prevent the illegal removal by itinerant hawkers and others of roots of ferns, plants, and wild flowers from the lanes, hedges, and fields of Devon, and the wantonly throwing about of bottles, waste paper, or other debris, which not only tends to disfigure the beauty spots of Devon but also cause damage and danger to man and beast.

...

Devonia, the official illustrated magazine of the United Devon Association, is published monthly, and enjoys a most influential and far-reaching circulation in the British Isles, India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and all over the empire, as well as in the United States, the Continent of Europe, and elsewhere. It has a guaranteed circulation of 60,000 per annum.

It is brought under the personal notice of tourists and travellers on all the great railways in England, Canada, and the United States, and is placed on board all the principal lines of steamers to and from the United Kingdom.

It is to be found in all hotels, boarding houses, clubs, and other places of resort in the principal towns of the United Kingdom, the Colonies, and the Continent.

The United Devon Association wasn't a long-lived organisation. I haven't been able to find out why, and precisely when, it was wound down; but it wasn't later than 1915, when Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries mentioned in the obituary of William Henry Kearly Wright that Devonia had "long since expired" and that

It contained valuable topographical information, and did much to popularize the county as a holiday resort; its suspension was, in our opinion, a great mistake, and we hope some day to see it revived.

The Internet Archive has two publications by the United Devon Association: the Volume 6-9 compilation of Devonia magazine (a very nice wide-ranging general-interest magazine of all things Devonian in the early 1900s - ID devonial06unituoft) and its 1900 county gazetteer, The Book of Fair Devon (two copies: ID bookfairdevon00assogoog and bookoffairdevon00unit). Both are very readable.

1. sic - The Bideford "postman poet" was Edward Capern, not Capeln.
- RG

Belmont Park: memories sought

2010-12-15T16:24:00.007Z

The Exeter Express & Echo reports that Newtown Community Association is seeking material for its history weekend in July 2011 to mark the 125th Anniversary of Belmont Park, Exeter.

From Memories sought to celebrate park anniversary (14th December, 2010):

The association is planning to hold an exhibition at The Hut in the park showing the history of the park, which has been a brickworks site and a nursery.

Michael Parrott, for the association, said: "As part of the exhibition, we are also going to show other aspects of Newtown's history, including soldiers with Newtown connections who were killed in the First World War, who include Thomas Moore (of Thomas Moores in Fore Street) and the Second World War bombing of Newtown as well as lots more local history."

The event takes place on Saturday, July 30, and Sunday, July 31. If you can contribute documents or memories, contact Newtown Community Association (secretary@newtown community.org.uk / publicity@newtowncommunity.org.uk / 01392 202240).

View Larger Map

As the Exeter City Council Page and Exeter Memories pages explain, Belmont Park - formally Belmont Pleasure Grounds - was opened in 1886 as a play area for the children of St Sidwells. It occupied five acres of land, Belmont Nurseries, bought for £3000 from Alderman William Huxtable (ref. Trewman's Exeter Flying Post, Wednesday, March 19, 1884, page 6). In the Google Maps view above, Belmont Park is the open space to the top left; that to the lower right is Exeter's Clifton Hill golf driving range, which is on the site of the Corporation Brickworks that was adjacent to Belmont Nurseries.

Belmont Park is also the location of England's oldest sensory garden for the blind, Belmont Scent Garden, dating from 1939.

- RG

The Fatal Oak

2010-12-13T23:51:00.003Z

Rosemary Perry just sent us an interesting enquiry (reproduced here by her kind permission) concerning the novel Warleigh:

I am exploring the history of a book, "Warleigh", by Anna Elizabeth Bray, published I believe in 1845 in Tavistock. Mrs. Bray (whose husband was the Vicar of Tavistock) dedicated this book to her friend Mrs. Southey. The book is also titled The Fatal Oak. I was born in Tamerton Foliot in 1938, and now reside in the United States. I have photographs of the same oak tree, which I believe had to be eventually taken down. After my mother's death in 1994 I was able to bring only a few items of value and interest back here with me, and one of these items was the book Warleigh. A hand-written inscription inside mentions that it was one of only six original printings. Can anyone verify this information?

Handily, I already had part of the story on this, as I posted a brief biographical piece about Mrs Bray a year ago - see Anna Eliza Bray. To answer the immediate bibliographic question: the Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature mentions two editions: a 3-volume edition (standard format for early-Victorian novels) published by Longman in 1834 as Warleigh; or, The fatal oak. A legend of Devon; and a single-volume edition also by Longman in 1845. But a look in Google Books also finds a Chapman & Hall revised edition in 1884 (as Warleigh: a historical romance). None of them were any kind of limited edition; it's possible the "six original printings" refer to publisher's proof copies.

Beyond this, however, Warleigh ties in with Devon history as it retells and expands on an anecdote in John Prince's 1697 The Worthies of Devon. This tells of a squire called Copplestone (spelling varies between accounts) who, following a family dispute, stabbed his godson to death under an oak tree outside Tamerton Foliot church (the "Copplestone Oak"). There's more solid detail on this at Copleston.net, which has a scan and translation (pp 1/2) of a 1562 royal pardon granted to a Christopher Copleston concerning his murder of Christopher Monns. In The Novels and Romances of Anna Eliza Bray (1845), Mrs Bray explains the process of adaptation:

The romance next published, in 1834, was "Warleigh, or the Fatal Oak; a Legend of Devon." The first name was adopted from the noble and ancient mansion in which the scene of the story is principally laid. The second title refers to an aged oak, to which both history and tradition have annexed a tale.

"Warleigh" (now the property of the Reverend Walter Radclyffe) is situated not very far from the village of Tamerton Foliott, a few miles distant from Plymouth, in Devon. Near Tamerton church stands the very aged tree, alluded to above, which, to this day, is called the "Copplestone Oak." The few, but fearful circumstances connected with it, said to have occurred in the reign of Elizabeth, I have chosen as the foundation whereon to raise a superstructure of romance. An account of these circumstances 1 found briefly stated in that most valuable work, "Prince's Worthies of Devon." The biographer gives the name of the elder person (John Copplestone), who was so deeply implicated in the tragedy, to which the oak is said to have been a witness; but he does not state the name of the young man who was the godson of Copplestone, and so great a sufferer in that scene. I ventured, therefore, to call him Amias Radclyffe, in compliment to the family who are the present proprietors of Warleigh; but I think it right here to say that I have no authority whatever for doing so, except my own fancy.

Respecting the godfather (Copplestone), who in the days of Elizabeth was the proprietor of Warleigh, and of another mansion, called 'Copplestone,' Prince describes him as one of "extravagancies in his conversation," and of a 'malicious and revengeful mind." He then proceeds to relate the circumstances of the murder, to which those passions hurried on the wretched man who committed it. Not that he relates them (to use his own words) because he takes delight in "repeating the infirmities of men, but because he would make them as landmarks to posterity, that all may beware how they give themselves up to the transports of a bloody malice and revenge; which, in the end, will hurry them into the bottomless gulph of woe and misery."

Having set up this landmark by telling the tale, our biographer adds, that after Copplestone had committed the murder, he fled; that his friends made interest at court to sue out his pardon; and, at length, to procure it, cost him no less than thirteen manors of land in the county of Cornwall.

...

Although the circumstances on which I founded my tale are stated by Prince to have occurred in the reign of Elizabeth, I took the liberty to change the period to that of Charles the First. As those circumstances were entirely of a domestic nature, it was of no moment in whose reign they were made subservient to the purposes of romance. I had already, in "Fitz of Fitz-Ford," written a work relating to the days of the maiden queen; and, moreover, the time of Charles the First, I felt would afford me the opportunity of introducing characters, scenes, and events connected with a period of deep public and domestic interest in the West, as there was scarcely a family of any note throughout these counties, but their ancestors had severely suffered, in one way or the other, during the civil wars.

Warleigh; or, The fatal oak. A legend of Devon is available for reading online at the Internet Archive (volume 1 / volume 2 / volume 3). As to the "fatal oak" itself, the original appears to be no longer with us ...

On the Green by the church stood, until it was blown down not many years since, the Copplestone oak, scene of a murder by one of the Copplestones, made by Mrs. Bray the subject of one of her Devonshire novels.
- Tourist's Guide to South Devon, RN Worth, 1878 (Internet Archive touristsguideto02unkngoog)

... and Tamerton Foliot, on the north side of Plymouth, has undergone considerable suburban development. Warleigh House, however, still exists, under private ownership (see The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History; the Copleston.net gallery, which has a number of good images; and the Bing Maps interactive bird's eye view). (Some readers may remember the odd chapter in its history a couple of years ago, when the then owner first advertised internationally for a lady of the manor, then attempted to sell all his assets on eBay).

- RG

Tour guides wanted

2010-12-10T17:47:00.004Z

David Moody of the Leeds-based tour organisation See Your Past just e-mailed us:

Could you or a member of your society become a Tour Guide for overseas visitors who want to see where and how their ancestors lived?

If you have watched Who Do You Think You Are you will be familiar with the concept of family history enthusiasts from overseas who wish to come to the United Kingdom and visit the places and sights which their ancestors would have known.

See Your Past organise all their visit arrangements from hotel accommodation, car hire and journey planning down to restaurant and entertainment bookings together with tours of places of interest from their research into their family history.

We are now planning a major marketing campaign to the 3,500 family/history societies in the USA and need to enlarge our nationwide network of Tour Guides.

No research is required. Our Guides simply plan a one or two day tour from information provided to them and then accompany our clients around their local area providing background knowledge and local colour. They find the work enjoyable and enthralling - and the money comes in handy too!

Enthusiasm , local knowledge and the ability to communicate are the essential requirements.

So if you or a member of your society would like to earn money by sharing your local knowledge please visit our website See Your Past, tell us a little about yourself and we will soon be in touch.

Standard disclaimer: the Devon History Society has no prior knowledge of See Your Past, and its inclusion as a news item does not indicate DHS endorsement. Use appropriate caution before entering into business agreements.

Devonshire wrestling

2010-12-08T21:39:00.005Z

Devon wrestling was a distinctive, and now extinct, regional style characterised by a strong emphasis on kicking or tripping the opponent. It had a long historical background. Nathaniel Crouch, in his 1710 Admirable curiosities, rarities, & wonders in England, Scotland, and Ireland, noted that "Cornish and Devonshire men are active in wrestling, and such boisterous exercises, stout, and able of body" (page 23); and in 1793, Sporting Magazine told of two unusual champions: the short and bow-legged J Coppe ("The Little Cock") and the blind W Wreyford ("Blind Will") (pages 166-167). Another late 18th century account was written by Frances Burney, who on a visit to Teignmouth in 1773 called it "a barbarous diversion", noting the detail reported by many others: that vicious kicking was a central tactic (see The rise of the Devon seaside resorts 1750-1900, John F. Travis, page 20).

By the time Devon wrestling was widely documented, however, in the 19th century, it was already on the decline, but a number of vivid accounts remain. Sabine Baring-Gould's Devonshire Wrestlers, a chapter in his 1908 Devonshire Characters and Strange Events is a classic that explains the basics of the sport. The wresters wore linen jackets, breeches and specially hardened shoes, and typically action involved getting a grip (a "hitch") on your opponent's jacket and attempting to make him lose his footing by close-quarters kicking, hacking and tripping. Although sometimes leg padding was worn, more likely it wasn't, and wrestlers - who had to fight several elimination rounds - often finished bouts with grievous injuries to the shins.

Older sources include the London Magazine article for October 1826, in which "Gymnast" gives an extended description of Devon and Cornish wrestling (page 160-) and account of the famous match between Devon's Abraham Cann and the Cornish miner Warren. The Annual Register for October 1826 (pages 157-8) tells of another classic match at Devonport, where Cann fought the Cornishman Polkinghorne.

Devon wrestling features in at least two novels: RD Blackmore's 1864 novel Clara Vaughan (see the Internet Archive, ID claravaughanbyr01vauggoog), and Baring-Gould's 1887 Red Spider.

- RG

Devonport Column and Foulston's Devonport

2010-12-06T14:40:00.013Z

The Western Morning News item £600,000 plans for Devonport Column (WMN, 4th Dec 2010) is one of a several recent reports of the Real Ideas Organisation's application for funding to restore the Devonport Column. This Grade 1 listed monument was built to mark the founding of Devonport - previously the district of Plymouth Dock - as a separate town from Plymouth. It was part of architect John Foulston's civic redevelopment of Devonport centred on Ker Street.

The new public buildings and private dwelling houses which have been lately elected in Devonport are characterized by taste and elegance. The Town-Hall in Ker-Street possesses a noble and classical exterior. The front is a Doric Portico with four massive fluted columns, producing, when viewed at a distance, a very fine effect. A. flight of stone steps leads to the Hall, a spacious room measuring 75 feet by 40, and 31 feet in heigh t. It is well fitted up with convenient moveable benches. Beneath the Hall are the town prisons and watch-house.

Close to the Town-Hall is the Devonport Column, erected by public subscription to commemorate the alteration in the name of the town. It is a noble fluted pillar of the Grecian Doric order, and its height above the level of the street is 124 feet. A spiral stair-case within the shaft conducts to the summit, from which the spectator enjoys a grand and extensive prospect. The hills, vales, fields, woods, and waters, front Hengeston Down in the north to the ocean in the south—from the wilds of Dartmoor in the east to the billowy eminences of Cornwall in the west— lie before the gaze in a beautiful varied panorama; while the eye looks down on Devonport and its immediate vicinity as on a map. The Column is built of Cornish granite, and, when completed, is intended to bear on its top a colossal statue of his present majesty George IV. Near the column is Mount Zion Chapel, a Calvinist meeting-house, built in the fantastic Hindoo style. The front, ornamented with pinnacles and fancifully embellished, possesses a very pleasing appearance. Adjoining the chapel is the building of the Devonport Public Library and News-Room, which being in imitation of the Egyptian architecture, forms a good contrast to the neighbouring edifices. The Classical and Mathematical Public School is situated at the head of Granby-Street, and conducted on the Madras system.

- pp 5-7, The Plymouth and Devonport Guide, Henry E Carrington, 1828

The above comes from Carrington's The Plymouth and Devonport Guide: an extremely good account of the area in 1828, when Foulston's civic centre was a sparkling new development in a site called Windmill Hill. Ned Kaufman's Place, race, and story: essays on the past and future of historic preservation has a contemporary drawing - page 175 - from Foulston's 1838 The Public Buildings Erected in the West of England. A more realistic one - the previous exaggerates the size of the buildings - is in the 1832 Devonshire & Cornwall Illustrated:

(Note that the statue of George IV never occupied the column due to lack of funding). As this 1838 catalogue describes, Foulston's style was eclectic, if not eccentric at times ...

This Work will comprise Buildings erected in the Greek, Egyptian, Hindoo, Old English, Ornamental, and Rustic Cottage Styles, &c.

... and the Devonport centre featured a Greek Doric column and town hall, a "Hindoo" chapel, and an Egyptian library (the Civil and Military Library, now the Oddfellows Hall), along with an approach of neo-classical terraced housing with Roman Corinthian columns.

The Mount Zion Chapel and the neo-classical housing have been demolished, but much of Foulston's civic centre still exists. See the Encyclopedia of Plymouth History, for a history and views from the Column in the late 1950s. The tower, originally open to the public, was closed in 1992 on safety grounds and is on the At Risk register. However, the writer and consultant Denna Jones argues that the site was merely closed for expediency, and has compiled a Flickr photoset (see Devonport Column Site Visit - Summer 2008) documenting a visit by the Chief Engineer of Tower Bridge, with an aim to proving the site structurally sound.

The British Listed Buildings entry - see Devonport Tower - includes interactive maps and a Bing Maps Birds Eye view of the district. Other key buildings are Devonport Guildhall, successfully renovated with a Community Assets Grant (see the RIO page) and the Oddfellows Hall (see the English Heritage At Risk entry, which has an image of the elevation showing the full glory of Foulston's Egyptian style for the building).

Following a post-WWII decline, Devonport is now again under development : for background, see this June 2009 Devonport Heritage Trail Artist/Design Brief and the July 2006 Devonport Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan). John Foulston's Ker Street centre looks to be as crucial to it as it was the original branding of Devonport.

- RG

Mystery "Dartymoor" poem

2010-12-04T18:40:00.005Z

Thomas Hine asks if anyone can identify the author of this poem. He writes:

I was given the following poem by a woman who was given it in the early 1950's in Chagford. She said she never knew the author. I wonder if you might be able to find who they are?

I have a slight suspicion it might be a war poem - what do you think?

Lament From A Devonian Overseas

Dartymoor, Dartymoor
Wha’d I ever leave ee vor?
Turf, and vuzz, an purple ‘eather
‘Ebin above and ‘Ebin beneath
Water, bracken, Granite stone
Winter cloud, an’ spring bee-drone
Yappin’ fox an’ silent deer
Cow an’ calf, an’ foal an’ mare
Floodin’ Colour (an’ rain) an’ light
Freezing fog, an’ snow be night
Twistin’ knotting roads like veins
Rusty tracks for Tom Pierce trains
Bwoys playin’ truant round some pule
Gaw! Ab’m I bin a bloody vule?
Maze* as a brish, I be vor sure
I’ve lef’ old luvly Dartymoor
An’ pitched on this yer plaace I’ stead
Gran’fer were right, m’ dear “mump’ed”
Mus’be the only name vor me.
Come this far awver sand an’sea
Lord take us upalong once more
An’ leave us there, be Dartymoor
Us hav’ seen the scrap’eaps of the earth
An poor ole toads as they give birth
Us wanna never stray no more
Lord! Take us ‘ome to Dartymoor.

If you can throw any light on this, leave a comment, and we'll forward it.

Poltimore House: Big Give Christmas Challenge 2010

2010-12-04T14:27:00.005Z

Jonathan Wright of the Poltimore House Trust contacted us with news of the current Big Give funding drive to restore the roof of Poltimore House , the 16th century Grade II* listed manor house just outside Exeter.

I write as Deputy Chairman of the Poltimore House Trust. Poltimore House is a neglected gem in the Devon countryside which is now being revived as a creative and educational hub for the local and regional community.

Since BBC2's Restoration programme in 2003, volunteers have been working to protect and maintain the house and grounds, and trustees have been working to raise the funds to begin the restoration process. Plans for the sustainable future of the house have been developed in consultation with local businesses, local people, and with help from The University of Exeter amongst others.

I write to ask you for help in raising awareness of our project, in particular on the Big Give website next week, and to offer in return the opportunity to broaden audiences and awareness of your own site. We are beginning to build a large base of visitors and Friends who are heritage followers, and who would be open to hearing about other sites and projects.

As you may be aware, the Big Give offers charities the chance to multiply donations from their supporters through the Challenge fund provided. Poltimore House has received £5,000 in pledges which we are hoping to grow to £20,000 through on-line donations from 6th to 10th December.

We would really appreciate your help in spreading the word about Poltimore (unless you are also involved in the Big Give of course!) so that we can continue to grow. And if you are ever in a similar situation please feel free to let us know about your campaign so that we can see if our supporters might help you as well.

If you can help, please distribute the enclosed leaflet about The Big Give, and direct people to our site www.poltimore.org/biggive . You can email info@poltimore.org with questions.

- RG

Devon Record Office - free 1911 census access

2010-11-29T19:20:00.008Z

29th Nov 2010 - The Mid Devon Star reports: Free access to family history records.

The Mid Devon Star, 28th November 2010, reports on a helpful initiative from the Devon Record Office:

Free access to family history records

The Devon Record Office is offering free access to online resources to help members of the public find out about their family history.

The website containing the 1911 census, www.findmypast.com, usually charges a fee, but is available free to visitors to the Devon Record Office in Exeter until the end of March 2011.

Searchable documents on the website include the Devon Family History Society marriage index 1754-1837, and the baptism and burial indexes 1813-1839.

The Devon Record Office is at Great Moor House, Bittern Road, Sowton, Exeter, Devon, EX2 7NL (see Google Maps). For more information and directions, call 01392 384253, e-mail devrec@devon.gov.uk or visit www.devon.gov.uk/dro

Addendum: of related interest to researchers, the Westcountry Studies Library (located in central Exeter next to the city library) also provides one-to-one help with family history research - every Friday afternoon between 2 and 4. Ring 01392 384216 for details.

Ilfracombe Tunnels

2010-11-27T21:10:00.003Z

27th Nov 2010 - The Western Morning News recently reported on the Ilfracombe Local History Group's visit to Tunnels Beaches at Ilfracombe - see Tunnels tour sparks query over their wartime use (WMN, November 18, 2010).

The latest meeting of Ilfracombe's Local History Group has prompted several questions of the community which could help with their research.

The popular group have just been for a visit to the Tunnels Beaches, where they were given a guided tour and talk by owner Jamie McLintock.

Group founder Sue Garwood said: "It was a truly magical tour with the Tunnels all lit up with twinkling lights.

"During his talk, Jamie explained that they were hoping to renovate the original Bath House and he was hoping to find more historical information.

"It's his understanding that during the war years the Tunnels were used as an air-raid shelter."

Did you shelter there? Sue is hoping that anyone who used them or has a story to tell about them, will get in touch with her on 01271 863551.

If you have information, please get in touch.

Tunnels Beaches has a rather interesting history: they were developed as part of the new Victorian enthusiasm for sea bathing. As described in John F Travis's The rise of the Devon seaside resorts 1750-1900 (pages 89-90), Ilfracombe Sea Bathing Company built a Doric bath-house and dug tunnels down to the previously inaccessible Crewkhorne Cove, where there was a segregated bathing area. Victorian visitors included the novelist Mary Anne Evans (aka George Eliot) who in 1855 enjoyed a visit down to Ladies' Cove to watch the sunset, though the anonymous "J", writing for The St. James's magazine in 1867 thought less of the location, saying of the tunnels: "There is nothing remarkable about them save the unthrifty judgment that could have decided on so great a comparative outlay to secure so small a result; and the beach, when you get to it, affords wretched accommodation". By the beginning of the 21st century, the development had become very shabby, but as reported by Alexandra Buxton in Country Life, Volume 200, Issues 27-30, p112) its future prospects look considerably better following its acquisition by Jamie and Zoe McClintock. See the official website; its history page has an excellent 56-page brochure, with a detailed history, available as a PDF for download. It includes contemporary photos and news clippings, and explores some of the personalities involved, such as the "Amphibious" Professor Parker.

- RG

Devon Rural Archive

2010-11-16T21:03:00.004Z

16th Nov 2010 - Diana Gower kindly sent us details of the Devon Rural Archive , a research group set up in February 2006 by The Fenwick Charitable Trust to provide a resource for local historians, archaeologists, genealogists and the public, focusing on rediscovering the remains of buildings and landscapes which are not immediately recognisable to the untrained eye.

The aim of the archive is to provide a much-needed resource in Devon for local historians, archaeologists, genealogists and the general public. We want to promote a greater understanding of our county’s rural domestic architecture and landscape.

The core of our work is an academic study of the Devon manor house post 1300 AD and our archaeologists undertake to write initial reports on houses initially identified as being of interest by their inclusion in the Donn 1765 map of Devon.

Our archive room is open to the public to use a growing collection of books, periodicals, and reports on Tuesdays and Thursdays 11.30 – 3.00 and we have a lecture room and display area for temporary exhibitions.

See devonruralarchive.com for further information; it documents a number of sites the DRA has studied so far, including manor houses and farmhouses. The Archive also runs a monthly programme of events and talks.

The contact is Ian Blackwell on 01548 830832 / ian@dra.uk.net / Devon Rural Archive, Shilstone, Modbury, Devon PL21 0TW.

- RG

Lest Devon Forgets

2010-10-28T15:17:00.004+01:00

28th Oct 2010 - Dr Todd Gray, historian and DHS member, kindly sent me notification of his new book, Lest Devon Forgets - Sacrifice and the Creation of Great War Memorials.

More than 11,000 Devon men and women died in the Great War and some two thousand memorials were created to honour their service and sacrifice. A network of these individually unique monuments were placed in the landscape to remind future generations of their struggle to win the First World War. Many survive but today lie unnoticed. Crosses, obelisks, parks, village halls, stained glass and other church embellishments were created as each city, town and village in Devon sought to find their own way to commemorate the war and those who helped win it. Two generations later the story of how this was achieved – with great discussion, sometimes cooperation and occasionally great controversy - is now finally told.

Publisher: The Mint Press (published 18.10.10). Price £12.99. Paperback. 248 pages. 137 black and white illustrations and photographs. 20 Colour photographs of stained glass images. ISBN 978-1903356562.

See the Stevens Books page for ordering and further information. The description there comments further that the work involved Dr Gray visiting nearly all of Devon’s ancient parishes. Chapters include: the public appetite for memorials; creating the memorials; the choice of memorial; beneficial memorials; the controversy over some of the memorials; and the messages on the memorials.

The associated news coverage is worth browsing as a taster of the topics. For instance, the Plymouth Herald piece, Don't forget county's war memorials, says historian, mentions rivalries between Devon County Council and Exeter City Council, and between Devonport and Plymouth, in erecting memorials; and controversies whether memorials should be religious, representational, or non-denominational obelisks (in Teignmouth, an obelisk was controversial, being considered "pagan").

- RG

Exeter's Black History

2010-10-28T15:01:00.005+01:00

28th Oct 2010 - In connection with Black History Month, the Exeter Express & Echo carried an interesting recent article Fascinating insight into city's rich cultural past (E&E, Thursday 26th October) on the work of Ghee Bowman in documenting Exeter's ethnic historical connections.

An army is camped outside what will soon become known as Isca Dumnoniorum.

They are the second Augustan legion and they are assembled to defeat the resident Dumnonii tribes in 44AD.

But among their number are faces likely to be exceedingly unfamiliar to the native Celtic people.

For the Augustan legion is not simply drawn from Rome's finest. Among them are Numidians and Mauretanians, recruited following the Roman occupation of northern Africa more than 100 years earlier.

Is this the first chapter in Exeter's black history? "Very probably", is the view of Ghee Bowman, who has been recording incidences of African culture in the city though his work in the Global Centre at Dix's Field.

As part of Black History Month he recently led a tour through the city's varied past, and told the Echo: "Throughout the ages Devon, and in particular Exeter, has been called home by a number of migrant workers, servants and, in darker times, slaves.

"People from all four corners of the globe have walked through Exeter's streets – many indeed formed the workforce that initially built them.

"It is true to say that, today, Exeter is changing and evolving. More and more we see people of different skin colours and different appearance on our streets. At the Global Centre we welcome this –it brings diversity, excitement, difference.

"But when we scratch the surface and do some investigation, we find that this diversity is not new."

The article mentions a number of examples of Exeter's black connections - such as slavery and abolitionism, trade, military, and black celebrities such as the boxer Tom Molyneaux.

"The work to record the city's black history will continue, and anyone with any information can contact the Global Centre on 01392 438811 ... For more information, visit www.globalcentredevon.org.uk".

- RG

Michael Dicker Saunders of Exeter

2010-10-27T12:14:00.004+01:00

The Exeter Express & Echo featured an interesting piece yesterday: Car boot sale find sparks Peter's city corps query (Mike Byrne, E&E, Tuesday 19th October).

A fascinating piece of Exeter history has been discovered in a Devon boot sale.

It has come to me via Peter Carroll, 77, who in turn received it from his good neighbour Brian Jones.

It is a flyer from Exeter and dated 1887 and tells of a "gentleman of Exeter", Michael Dicker Sanders of Magdalen Street who enrolled a group of 60 boys to be made ready to face a threatened French invasion.

...

Mr Carroll said the flyer was found by Mr Jones at a Paignton boot sale.

"He was just browsing about when he came across the pamphlet. He knows I have a great interest in such things so bought it for me. It was priced at £2 but when the seller was told by Brian that he had an interest in such things, the seller let him have it for nothing.

"I have made what inquiries I can but have found no references to Michael Dicker Sanders and would be delighted if any of your readers can throw any more light on what seems a fascinating but apparently unknown piece of Exeter history," he said.

An immediate observation is that the date is incorrect; the events concerned - as documented in Harold Felix Baker Wheeler's 1908 Napoleon and the Invasion of England (V. 1); The Story of the Great Terror (see page 140 in reprint) - took place in 1797. This is the same distinctly paranoid era of British history following the French Revolution and the War of the First Coalition that saw a general terror of French invasion and internal revolt. See our previous pieces about the Devonshire & Cornwall Fencibles and the hanging of Tom Paine in effigy in Topsham. This, then, is the historical context for Mr Sanders' raising his juvenile militia.

At this instant I can't find any more about this militia; the chief appearance of Michael Dicker Sanders in historical records concerns his connection with Walton Bridge (which spans the Thames at Walton on Thames). The first bridge at that location was funded and built by Samuel Dicker, later MP for Plymouth. Michael Dicker Sanders, as his nephew and heir, inherited the rights to the bridge, and in 1780 he was empowered by an Act of Parliament to renovate it and collect higher tolls (See the 1850 A Topographical History of Surrey, page 341). He doesn't seem to have done well out of it; in 1814 we find him in the Fleet debtors' prison.

If you know more about Mr Sanders in connection with Exeter history, the E&E says to contact Mike Byrne (01392 442238 or email mbyrne@expressandecho.co.uk).

- RG

Conan Doyle and Devon: new book

2010-10-19T23:12:00.003+01:00

From the Western Morning News, 16th October 2010: The Devonians who helped take Sherlock to the masses.

This gives a brief preview of the subject matter of Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and Devon: A Complete Tour Guide and Companion by Brian W Pugh, Paul R Spiring and Sadru Bhanji.

The lasting appeal of legendary detective Sherlock Holmes is due to the story-writing skills of his talented creator, Arthur Conan Doyle. But there can be little doubt that, if it had not been for three Devon residents, the history of crime fiction – and one of its most celebrated exponents – might have been very different.

The first of the trio is George Turnavine Budd, the Plymouth physician who briefly employed Conan Doyle as a junior partner before a split between the pair compelled him to write in order to supplement his medical income. The second is Sir George Newnes, who delivered the Holmes tales to a global readership via the pages of the British and American editions of The Strand magazine. And the third is journalist and editor Bertram Fletcher Robinson, who acted as assistant plot producer to The Hound of the Baskervilles – Holmes's greatest adventure.

See the WMN feature for more.

- RG

Samuel Carter Hall and the Fencibles banner

2010-10-14T16:41:00.012+01:00

If you visit St Margaret's Church, Topsham, you'll see in one corner, currently laid out over some pews, an old and very fragile military banner whose logo reads "[Dev]onshire & Cornwall Fencible Reg[iment?]" (text extrapolated, as there's a warning not to touch it, so I couldn't turn it over to see).

Mustered in 1794 by Colonel Robert Hall, with its headquarters at the Salutation Inn, the Devonshire and Cornwall Fencible Regiment was one of a number of such volunteer regiments - see The Forgotten Army: Fencible Regiments of Great Britain 1793 - 1816 - set up for domestic defence during the War of the First Coalition. Their role was somewhat equivalent to the Home Guard of World War 2, but they were more mobile, and many Fencible regiments did see action; the Devonshire and Cornwall Fencibles, for instance, were stationed in Ireland during the 1798 Rebellion.

The basics are on a plaque on a pillar nearby, but I found an interesting and more detailed account of how the banner came to be in St Margaret's in the autobiographical Retrospect of a long life: from 1815 to 1883 by Samuel Carter Hall. This Irish-born art journalist (reportedly the model for the sanctimonious Seth Pecksniff in Charles Dicken's Martin Chuzzlewit) was one of Colonel Hall's sons. He spent part of his boyhood in Topsham, and in this extract from Retrospect of a long life, he tells of his return in old age, including the story of his father's donation of the regimental colours to the church; their sale to help fund the rebuilding in the 1870s; and their restoration in 1881.

The farthest removed of my memories carries me back to the period of the most glorious of Britannia's sea-fights—immortal Trafalgar. I remember it distinctly, partly because of the following incident : At Topsham, in Devonshire (where my father then resided) in common with all the cities, towns, and villages, of the United Kingdom, there was a general illumination. My father's house was, of course, lit up from cellar to attic ; in each pane of glass there was a candle—the holder being a potato, in which a hollow had been scooped, to supply the place of a candlestick. The universal joy was blended with mourning: Nelson was dead, and in losing him the nation had paid dearly for victory. My father had, therefore, twisted a binding of black crape round each candle—emblematic of the grief that had saddened the triumph. Few are now living who shared with me the sight of the rejoicings blended with mourning that commemorated the 21st of October, 1805.

In the September of 1881 I visited Topsham, the port of Exeter, in Devonshire. Former acquaintance with the town dated, as I have intimated, a very long way back : yet it was fresh in my memory as if barely a year had passed since the last day I spent there, as a boy. I visited first the house (it is the Manor House) that was so long our home, and where nine of my brothers and sisters were born between the years 1792 and 1807. I entered every room; each was as familiar to me as if I had seen it yesterday—every path, step, porch, door, " where once my careless childhood strayed," though I had not seen them for upward of seventy years. I recognized in the flowers descendants of those that had gladdened my childhood ; at least, I fancied they were such. Once, there was in the yard a large chestnut-tree, which, in its fruit season, tempted the boys to " rob " : without any very heavy penalty, I am sure ; but a poor lad fell from one of its branches, and was killed. My father then ordered the tree to be cut down. The school I attended up to my eighth year is now a dwelling let out in apartments ; the playground borders the churchyard, and the latter has absorbed much of the former. A mantle of venerable ivy still adorns the wall of the old house: the ivies were old when I was young.

My main purpose in visiting my old home was one that I think my readers will care to hear of: the memories it revived were such as to make me proud of the name I bear.

When the Devon and Cornwall Fencibles, commanded by my father, was disbanded in 1802, he presented the colors of the regiment to his parish church. They had remained over the altar for just seventy years, when the vicar sold them. Certainly the proceeds went to restore the ancient and venerable structure; but the act was utterly inexcusable—to say the least. I resolved, if possible, to discover what had become of those colors, in the dim hope of replacing them in the church. I found they had been purchased by a Major Keating, an Irishman and a Roman Catholic, whose hall they then adorned, and by whom they were greatly prized. He generously offered to present them to me. I tendered to him the sum he had given for them ; but he declined to receive it. I had the happiness to spend a week with him and his estimable lady at their beautiful dwelling, Westwood, near Teignmouth (her grandparents were relatives of my mother), during which visit arrangements were made for the restoration of the colors to the church, the present vicar of which —the Rev. John Bartlett—was as anxious to receive as I was to restore them.

It was a proud and happy day for me when such presentation took place—on the 20th of September, 1881, the fifty-seventh anniversary of my wedding-day.

I walked from the old Salutation Inn (the inn that was my father's headquarters when recruiting the regiment in 1794, and which in all important features remains unchanged), leaning on the arm of Major Keating, on either side a sergeant-major of the volunteer artillery (each bearing one of the flags), followed by many of the present Devon volunteers and large numbers of the townsfolk. We were received by the vicar; the church was full. Mr. Bartlett preached a sermon appropriate to the occasion ; I unrolled the colors and placed them on the altar. Over that altar they now rest; and there, where they had reposed through so many years that are gone, they will continue, I hope, to meet the eyes of the men and women of Devonshire through generations to come. They will remain, I trust (to borrow the words of Mr. Bartlett to the congregation), " where their children's children may see them—to hang there till they crumble into dust."

My share in the proceedings of that day will be, there is very little doubt, the last public act of my life. Surely the public life of any man could not have been more gracefully or more happily concluded. For with those colors are connected associations of which the counties of Devon and Cornwall may well be proud. There is not the stain of a single drop of blood on those banners of the Devon and Cornwall Fencibles. War is ever a horror; but no Christian man or woman can look at those flags in the church at Topsham without the reverence of love and honor. They dignify and grace the temple in which peace and good-will are preached.

During the Irish Rebellion of 1798 the regiment was quartered in one of the most disaffected Irish counties—Kerry. Under the considerate and humane sway of my father, well seconded by the mingled forbearance and firmness of his men, not a single life was taken in the district over which he ruled with almost autocratic power. Nor was any officer or man of the Fencibles so much as ill-treated, I think, dunng the time the regiment was quartered in "wild Kerry." To all who have read of the horrors elsewhere perpetrated in Ireland— both by rebels and loyalists — during that unhappy year, such a record will be eloquent. The colors presented by my father to Topsham church—that I was the happy means of restoring to their resting-place within the sacred walls — are more hallowed by the memories connected with them than they would have been if they had been carried in triumph over the reddest fields of victory.

- Retrospect of a long life: from 1815 to 1883, Samuel Carter Hall, 1883, D. Appleton and company.

The anecdote is confirmed in the Western Antiquary, which reproduces a newspaper report.

"Weekly Mercury" October 8th, 1881.

THE "FLAGS" OF THE DEVON
AND CORNWALL FENCIBLES.

The Editor has received the following interesting communication, per favour of Mr. S. C. Hall, K.S.A., and thinks it of sufficient general interest to warrant its publication in the pages of the Western Antiquary.

In 1802, after the " Peace of Amiens," when the Devon and Cornwall Fencible Regiment was disbanded. Colonel Robert Hall, by whom that regiment was raised in 1791, presented its colours to his Parish Church of Topsham. They were hung in that church during a period of 72 years. But they were, in 1874, removed from the place in which they had been so long honoured, and were told—to aid a fund for restoring the church. They were purchased by Major Keating, D.A.V., of Westbrook, Teignmouth, and, very recently, were given by that generous gentleman to the son of Colonel Hall, Mr. S. C. Hall, F.S.A., the well-known author. Thus, by the patriotic sympathy of a Devonshire Volunteer of 1881, the old flags of the Volunteers of 1794 (for such were in reality the Fencibles of that period, although raised to serve in any part of the British Dominions) will be restored to a position they had occupied for nearly three-quarters of the nineteenth century.

The ceremony of their restoration will take place on Tuesday, the 20th of this month (September), with the warm approval of the Vicar, the Rev. John Bartlett, and the churchwardens : when the son of Colonel Hall will restore them to the church, in which, eighty years ago, his father placed them.

The Vicar is not only gratified and happy to receive back into the church these interesting relics of a faraway time : but will undertake that the fact shall be recorded on a brass plate fixed in the church.

No doubt many Devonshire Volunteers will desire to be present on an occasion that cannot but be, to them, deeply interesting. The grandchildren of some of his " companions in arms " may be living to render homage to the memory of the Colonel and their forefathers, respected and loved.

The regiment did the highest possible credit to the native counties of the thousand men who composed it. It was quartered in 1798, the dismal year of the Irish rebellion, in the most disturbed county of Ireland— Kerry; yet, to the honour of its Colonel be it stited— and still more to the honour of the good and true men he commanded - during his uncontrolled sway over that district, not a single " rebel" was hung or shot. According to the testimony of the old Exeter Historian, Jenkins (1806), and other evidence equally conclusive— " By strict discipline and good behaviour they (these soldiers of Devon and Cornwall) not only preserved the tranquility of the south-western parts of Ireland, but gained the esteem of the inhabitants in every station where they were quartered." The Volunteers of to-day may be proud of their predecessors of the long ago.

In Topsham Church, Colonel Hall had nine children christened, all born in Topsham between the years 1791 and 1807 ; and in that church he was married, in 1790, to a most admirable and estimable Devonshire lady, the beloved mother of his twelve children. He was, in all ways, a good and just man. He was horn in Exeter, in 1753, and died in London, in 1836. Yet his fourth son is living to bear testimony to his worth, and to accord him honour—justly his due—in his native county, Devonshire—129 years after his birth. Colonel Hall had three other children—born in Ireland while his regiment was quartered in that country.

Persons who desire to take part in the ceremony will assemble either at the old "Salutation Inn," Topsham (the head-quarters of the Regiment in 1794), at two o'clock, or in the Parish Church, Topsham, at three o'clock.

- The Western Antiquary, Volume 1, 1882, ed. William Henry Kearley Wright

I haven't been able to find out where Samuel Carter Hall was brought up in Topsham; his reference to the "Manor House" is puzzling, since Topsham had no manor house in the 1800s. He clearly misremembered, but what house did he mean?

Detail: banner of the Devonshire & Cornwall Fencible regiment, St. Margaret's Church, Topsham. Heraldically, the coat of arms incorporates those of Exeter (left) and Cornwall (right).

- RG

SWMAG

2010-10-10T22:30:00.006+01:00

A website of interest: the South West Maritime Archaeological Group (SWMAG): History from under the sea.

SWMAG are the country’s most successful diving team. They are collectively responsible for re-writing the history books on the 17th Century White Slave trade in South West England as well as the trade between Europe and the Mediterranean 3000 years ago.

Contents include documentation of SWMAG projects including the Salcombe Cannon site and Moor Sand; a large Artefact Database; and a blog of SWMAG news.

- RG

Exmouth Quay

2010-09-30T21:13:00.005+01:00

See the Exmouth Quay Residents Association website for About the Quay, an interesting series of articles by Ian Dowell about the history of Exmouth Quay, originally published in Quay News, a quarterly publication for Exmouth Quay residents.

Thanks to Wayland Wordsmith for spotting the link.

- RG

Surf's up in Braunton, 2011

2010-09-21T01:22:00.004+01:00

A number of recent news items such as the one in Drift magazine (Museum of British Surfing confirms funding, 16th September 2010) have reported that the Museum of British Surfing, a national registered charity, has received a grant to establish museum premises scheduled to open next spring in Braunton, North Devon.

The museum has a vast collection of surfboards and memorabilia tracing more than two centuries of the nation’s involvement with this ancient water sport.

Founder and director Peter Robinson has spent more than a decade researching the UK’s surfing history and putting together the collection, which includes almost 200 surfboards. British surfers have also donated many key items, keen that our surfing heritage is preserved.

The building includes a skate bowl and the surf museum will be sharing part of the site with the local youth service, and will collaborate with them on projects for young people in the community with the help of museum volunteers.

Building work to convert the space at The Yard in the village centre will be carried out over the next 10 months, with a scheduled opening date of May 28, 2011, and the lease is currently being finalised.

"We want to change people’s perception of what a museum is, with fresh and vibrant exhibitions each year, touring shows and working with schools. There will also be a community space where we’ll have acoustic music, film, club meetings and special events," said Pete. "We have waited a long time for this to come together and the trustees of the charity and I are thrilled."

For the last seven years the collection has been on a successful tour of museums around the British coast.

Pete said: "The concept of having a new exhibition each year at our space in Braunton that then goes off and tours the country means we can always offer something fresh and exciting, as well as delivering our environmental and educational aims."

The main funding for the surfing museum has come via the Leader 4 programme, which supports projects in Torridge and North Devon with the aim of improving the economy, environment and quality of life in rural areas. The Leader 4 Local Action Group has offered its full backing, and says it is well aware of the economic benefits to the area. Chairman, Viv Gale said: "We’re enthusiastic in our support for the Museum of British Surfing being established in North Devon. Past evidence from the Leader programme showed the great economic and social benefit surfing brings to northern Devon. We see the museum as an innovative extension of this benefit and look forward to it becoming a significant tourist attraction."

It's interesting both for the innovative museum project and as an example of little-known history. Before reading this and associated items, such as the BBC pictorial feature, I had no idea that British contact with surfing dated at least two centuries back, since sailors encountered indigenous people "sliding" (as it was originally called) in the Pacific.

See The Museum of British Surfing website for further background.
- RG

Yola: a deceased relative

2010-09-17T14:18:00.004+01:00

This is not strictly about Devon history, but having mentioned Devon dialect previously - see Classics of Devon dialect - I ran into an interesting relative while browsing for William Barnes (the Dorset dialect poet and philologist): an extinct language I'd never heard of: Yola.

Yola - otherwise called "the dialect of the Baronies of Forth and Bargy" - was a remarkable geographical isolate that would be impossible nowadays, arising when an enclave of Anglo-Saxon speakers went to County Wexford with Norman barons in 1169. In these baronies, it went its own way (with minor imports from Irish Gaelic), completely missing the Great Vowel Shift that characterised the change from Middle English to Modern English. It lasted for some 600 years before being swamped in the 19th century by Hiberno-English following the 1830 Irish Education Bill that fostered English literacy through Ireland.

The Devon relevance is that it shared many characteristics with Devon and Cornwall English dialect, and commentators say the accent was similar. Relatively few samples have been preserved, but one of the largest appears in the 1890 book Chronicles of the County Wexford, which reprints a Wexford Independent report from 15th February 1850, telling of an address composed in Yola to Earl Musgrave, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, when he visited in 1836. (I've interlaced the translation).

To’s Excellencie Constantine Harrie Phipps, y’ Earle Mulgrave, Lord Lieutenant-General and General Governor of Ireland. Ye soumissive Spakeen o’ouz Dwelleres o’ Baronie Forthe, Weisforthe.

To his Excellency, Constantine Henry Phipps, Earl Mulgrave, Lord Lieutenant-General, and General Governor of Ireland. The humble Address of the Inhabitants of the Barony of Forth, Wexford.

MAI’T BE PLESANT TO TH’ECCELLENCIE, - Wee, Vassalès o’ ‘His Most Gracious majesty’, Wilyame ee Vourthe, an, az wee verilie chote, na coshe and loyale dwellerès na Baronie Forthe, crave na dicke luckie acte t’uck neicher th’ Eccellencie, an na plaine grabe o’ oure yola talke, wi vengem o’ core t’gie ours zense o’ y gradès whilke be ee-dighte wi yer name; and whilke we canna zei, albeit o’ ‘Governere’, ‘Statesman’, an alike.

MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY – We, the subjects of his Most Gracious Majesty, William IV, and, as we truly believe, both faithful and loyal inhabitants of the Barony of Forth, beg leave at this favourable opportunity to approach your Excellency, and in the simple dress of our old dialect to pour forth from the strength (or fullness) of our hearts, our sense (or admiration) of the qualities which characterise your name, and for which we have no words but of ‘Governor’, ‘Statesman’, etc.

Yn ercha and aul o’ while yt beeth wi gleezom o’ core th’ oure eyen dwytheth apan ye Vigere o’dicke Zouvereine, Wilyame ee Vourthe, unnere fose fatherlie zwae oure diaez be ee-spant, az avare ye trad dicke londe yer name waz ee-kent var ee vriene o’ livertie, an He fo brake ye neckares o’ zlaves.

In each and every condition it is with joy of heart that our eyes rest upon the representative of the Sovereign, William IV, under whose paternal rule our days are spent; for before your foot pressed the soil, your name was known to us as the friend of liberty, and he who broke the fetters of the slave.

Mang ourzels – var wee dwytheth an Irelonde az ure genreale haim – y’ast, bie ractzom o’honde, ee-delt t’ouz ye laas ee-mate var ercha vassale, ne’er dwythen na dicke waie nar dicka.

Unto ourselves – for we look on Ireland to be our common country – you have with impartial hand ministered the laws made for every subject, without regard to this party or that.

Wee dwyth ye ane fose dais be gien var ee guidevare o’ye londe ye zwae, - t’avance pace an livertie, an, wi’oute vlynch, ee garde o’ generale reights an poplare vartue.

We behold in you one whose days are devoted to the welfare of the land you govern, to promote peace and liberty – the uncompromising guardian of the common right and public virtue.

Ye pace – yea, we mai zei, ye vast pace whilke bee ee-stent owr ye londe zince th’ast ee-cam, proo’th, y’at wee alane needeth ye giftes o’generale rights, az be displayth bie ee factes o’thie goveremente.

The peace – yes, we may say the profound peace – which overspreads the land since your arrival, proves that we alone stood in need of the enjoyment of common privileges, as is demonstrated by the results of your government.

Ye state na dicke daie o’ye londe, na whilke be nar fash nar moile, albeit ‘constitutional agitation’, ye wake o’hopes ee-blighte, stampe na yer zwae be rare an lightzom.

The condition, this day, of the country, in which is neither tumult nor disorder, but that constitutional agitation, the consequence of disappointed hopes, confirms your rule to be rare and enlightened.

Yer name var zetch avancet avare ye, e’en a dicke var hye, arent whilke ye brine o’zea an dye craggès o’noghanes cazed nae balke.

Your fame for such came before you even into this retired spot, to which neither the waters of the sea below nor the mountains above caused any impediment.

Na oure gladès ana whilke we dellt wi’ mattoke, an zing t’oure caulès wi plou, wee hert ee zough o’ye colure o’ pace na name o’ Mulgrave.

In our valleys, where we were digging with the spade, or as we whistled to our horses in the plough, we heard the distant sound of the wings of the dove of peace, in the word Mulgrave.

Wi Irishmen ower generale houpes be ee-boud – az Irishmen, an az dwellerès na cosh an loyale o’ Baronie Forthe, w’oul daie an ercha daie, our meines an oure gurles, praie var long an happie zins, shorne o’lournagh an ee-vilt wi benisons, an yersel and oure gude Zovereine, till ee zin o’oure daies be var aye be ee-go to’glade.

With Irishmen our common hopes are inseparably bound up – as Irishmen, and as inhabitants, faithful and loyal, of the Barony Forth, we will daily and every day, our wives and our children, implore long and happy days, free from melancholy and full of blessings, for yourself and our good Sovereign, until the sun of our lives be gone down the dark valley (of death).

Edmund Hore, who consulted with Yola speakers to write the address, commented:

In all probability it was the first time regal or vice-regal ears were required to listen to words of such a dialect; and it is even still more probable that a like event will never happen again; for if the use of this old tongue dies out as fast for the next five-and-twenty years as it has for the same by-gone period, it will be utterly extinct and forgotten before the present century shall have closed.

The major documentation of the language was done by Jacob Poole around 1800: see Jacob Poole Of Growtown - And the Yola Dialect. His 1700-word glossary was published, edited by William Barnes, 40 years after his death, and is available in full online: A glossary, with some pieces of verse, of the old dialect of the English colony in the baronies of Forth and Bargy (1867). The glossary features a few examples of Yola folk songs.

The Graphic and Historical Illustrator for 1834 has an article on the district and dialect, Observations on the social habits and dialect of the Baronies of Forth and Bargy (commonly called "the English Baronies," in the County of Wexford, which has the following anecdote:

And here it may be related, as a singular fact, that the Rev. William Eastwood, Rector of Tacumshane, Barony of Forth, while amusing himself one day in his field with a volume of Chaucer, fancied some of the obsolete words which met his eye resembled those which also met his ear, as his workmen conversed together: he accordingly called them around him, and commenced reading a page or two of old Geoffrey aloud, to their great delight, as they well understood the most obscure expressions, and often explained them better than the glossarial aids of Dryden and Johnson.

"Yola", incidentally, means "old" in this language. It doesn't appear to be what its speakers called it - they referred to it, in its moribund days, as " oure yola talke" ("our old dialect") - but seems to have grown up among philologists due to the noted citation of a folksong, "a yola zong" ("an old song"). Several modern books repeat the factoid that Yola stands for "ye olde language" ("ye olde language" presumably - see Google Books), but this is highly unlikely. No contemporary commentators mention this derivation, and pre 20th century acronyms are invariably suspect.
- RG

Ladram Bay: time and tide

2010-09-06T18:05:00.011+01:00

Looking towards Ladram Bay, Devon, from the north-east: the gaps both in the foreground and the background were framed by natural arches, within living memory; the background one was the famous Ladram Arch.

On Friday, my wife and I were planning to revisit Beer, but a last-minute change in itinerary (the X53 bus had a mishap) led to us walking for the first time the section of the South West Coast Path between Sidmouth and Budleigh via Ladram Bay. It's moderately strenous in places - whatever direction you walk it, there's a stiff ascent to the Peak Hill / High Peak section - but we highly recommend it.

A glance through Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art found an interesting account of the location from Volume 25, 1893:

Landslip At Sidmouth.

"Considerable excitement was caused at Sidmouth about seven o'clock on Thursday evening [June 8th, 1893] by a large quantity of the cliff at High Peak giving way. The spot in question is about a mile and a half from Sidmouth Esplanade and half a mile from Ladrum Bay, at which place the Sidmouth branch of the Church of England Temperance Society were holding an open-air meeting over the natural arch, so well known in the neighbourhood. There were about 100 persons at the meeting. There was a terrific rumbling, resembling an express train at full speed, followed by a loud crash, which greatly startled all present. The noise of the falling continued for some ten minutes, and the sea for quite two miles out was covered with thick red sandstone. Owing to Peakhill intervening, the noise of the fall was not very distinctly heard at Sidmouth, but the red mist on the sea attracted the attention of many, and much anxiety prevailed as to the safety of the people who had gone to Ladrum."—Western Morning News, June 10,1893.

"This landslip, if it can be so called, occurred in Picket Rock Cove, that is, the first sweep of the beach beyond Picket Rock and the projecting foot of High Peak Hill. The distance of the spot from Sidmouth is one mile and a half, the mile being on the flat sand at low water, and the half mile over slippery rocks covered with sea-weed. It was also observed by Mr. Parsons, of Sidmouth. The sea being very calm, he took his boys, accompanied by a sailor or two, in a row-boat along the coast to the west. They had attained to about a mile and a half, and were off the point of High Peak Hill, but near the shore. Suddenly they were startled at hearing a loud roaring noise, and on looking round they saw large masses of earth, marl, and the usual soft red sand-rock falling from the perpendicular face of the cliff. It was out from the top of the cliff, so that none of the field above came down. The cliff at this place may be from 150 to 200 feet high. The quantity is described as a great heap. What interests me most is this, that it is at or near the same place where there was a similar fall-down in 1875, when there was a talus as big as a house. I passed it and examined it in my walks at low-water once or twice, but detected nothing. Afterwards, however, when the rising waves had washed away some of the softer portions, Mr. H. Lavis, a visitor here, walking that way, detected and extracted what turned out to be some of the head plates of an unknown batrachian. He brought them to me, and I made a sketch of them. Mr. Lavis took them to London ; they were recognized as the bones of an unknown species of Labyrinthodon, and the specimen was named the Labyrinthodon Lavisi. It is described in Quar. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxii. pi. xix. (P. 0. Hutchinson.)"

Nothing much changes, in some respects; such slips go with the geological territory and still regularly happen - see Sidmouth: a harbour never built. However, a couple of details caught my interest. One is the irony that a few yards from where the temperance meeting gathered - Ladram Bay at the time was backed by orchards and had little beyond Ladram Cottage, some limekilns and a coastguard lookout - there's now a large licensed bar/restaurant. The other is that "the natural arch, so well known in the neighbourhood" no longer exists.

The arch's location is described in Peter Orlando Hutchinson's 1843 The Geology of Sidmouth and of South-eastern Devon; marked by a flagstaff, it was at the end of the promontory by the coastguard cottage at the Sidmouth end of Ladram Bay (see page 63 onward - the account also mentions the ongoing erosive process, including the destruction of Chit Rock, Sidmouth, in a storm in November 1824). There are some striking images of the location at Exmouth to Milford on Sea, 1800-2000, Doreen Smith's excellent photo site documenting the World Heritage Site coastline through historical images. The before-and-after pair of postcards, however - 1890s / c. 1928 - look a trifle unreliable as documentation of the process. The newer image appears to be merely retouched to remove the arch, as the rest of the shot is, suspiciously, identical to the older. It gives a time frame, though, and I pinpointed the actual time of collapse via The Times, which reported:

Collapse of Ladram Bay Arch

The natural arch at Ladram Bay, situated near Sidmouth and Exmouth, has been damaged by the coast erosion which is taking place between these two watering places. The central portion of the arch fell into the sea early yesterday morning. Ladram Arch has long been a picturesque feature of this part of the South Devon coast.

- The Times, Thursday, Oct 29, 1925

See the modern Google Maps image below: the Ladram Arch bridged the gap between the promontory (centre) and the offshore stack to its right.

View Larger Map

- RG

Newsletter: Issue 6, August 2010

2010-09-06T01:37:00.007+01:00

The sixth issue of Devon History News, the newsletter of the Devon History Society, is now in print or available here: Devon History News 6, August 2010 (PDF format).

Contents:

1. (Cover) - historical print of Exmouth, souvenir card of Exeter Cyclists' Carnival 1896.
2. Editorial by Chris Jago. Notice of 40th AGM, to be held on Saturday 9th October 2010 in the Lecture Theatre of the Peninsula Medical School at St Luke’s Campus in Heavitree Road, Exeter.
3-4. Report on year by the Programme Secretary, Jane Bliss.
4. Progress report by Elizabeth Maycock on the DHS Anniversary Book.
5-6. Andrew Jackson, past Journal editor, compares the Devon and Lincolnshire landscapes.
6. From the Webmaster. Sadru Bhanji describes, and invites comment on, current developments on the Devon History Society website.
7-8. Anne Howard reports on the scope and work of the Westcountry Studies Library.
8-11. Phil Planel on the Parishscapes Project 2007-2010.
11. Obituary by Shirley Purves for Adrian Harbottle Reed, past DHS Chairman.
12. 2010 events listing for the Sampford Peverell Society.
12. Official Devon History Society contacts.

Poltimore Community Landscape Project

2010-08-23T22:58:00.005+01:00

We just received a news release from the University of Exeter
and Poltimore House about the Poltimore Community Landscape Project.

A new two-year collaborative community archaeology project has just begun jointly run by staff from the Archaeology and History departments at the University of Exeter and The Poltimore House Trust (funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council) focusing on the fascinating historic landscape surrounding Poltimore House (near Exeter).

Poltimore House is a grand country residence and the centrepiece of one of the county’s great estates. A Grade II listed building of Tudor origin that has great architectural importance and was occupied by the Bampfylde family until 1921. In the 20th century, the house was used as a girl’s school, then a wartime refuge for Devon College and later as a hospital, that became part of the Exeter Hospitals Groups in 1963. These phases of ‘public’ use ensure that the house also has a prominent place in recent social history.

Poltimore House was also the centrepiece of a ‘polite landscape’ –a grand country residence embedded within parklands and gardens that were intended for pleasure and visual impact. Five hectares of the house’s surroundings are owned by the Poltimore House Trust and comprise a multi-phase landscape including ornamental canals and water features, designed avenues, an aviary/menagerie, rich historic garden architecture and a former deer park. The project will be investigating the evolution of Poltimore’s landscape though time, from prehistory to the present (but with an emphasis on the 16th to 20th centuries). The scrutiny of designed landscapes showing continuous evidence of modification from the Tudor to modern periods is rare in the south-west and the project will produce a pioneering case study in this regard.

The project will also create an interactive website to widen access to this remarkable cultural landscape to new audiences. A virtual environment, including text, images and video, will help individuals explore and understand the grounds and house. Virtual tours will be multi-layered and have commentaries based on the research findings and showing a rich variety of resources to include geophysical surveys, aerial photographs, interactive plans, audio and video commentaries and content collected from participants including academics, visitors, school children and others.

At the heart of the aims and objectives of the Poltimore Community Landscape Project is encouraging community participation in the research of Poltimore and its wider landscape. We are inviting local schools to participate and we are also looking for volunteers, no previous experience required, to assist with investigation of the ‘above-ground’ archaeology which will include earthworks and hedgerows surveys. In addition, volunteers will also have the opportunity to learn traditional historical research techniques such as the use of maps and estate records. Throughout the project, we will be offering training events for interested groups/individuals that will equip participants with the skills and confidence to conduct similar research.

We would like to invite members of the Devon History Society to learn more about the history and archaeology of Poltimore and to gain new skills in landscape archaeology or put their current research skills in to practice. We are having a Project launch at Poltimore House on 11th – 12th September, 11am-4pm where visitors can meet Project staff and find out more about the volunteering opportunities.

If you would like more information about the project then contact Dr Penny Cunningham at p.m.cunningham@exeter.ac.uk or Tel: 01392 264349

See the official site www.poltimore.org for further information about Poltimore House and other associated events. The next Heritage Open Days, when the house is open free to the public, are on Saturday and Sunday 11 and 12 September.

- RG

Devon transport heritage

2010-08-06T11:50:00.006+01:00

We had an interesting comment to the February 2010 post Plymouth - recent architectural history:

You've missed out Turnbull's Garage at Charles Cross, [Plymouth], the first purpose-built self-service petrol station in Britain (c. 1956 ?). Part of it survived redevelopment by my client, but the more interesting and innovative structures have been lost. More's the pity because it was the work of a local architect - Roseveare. EH ... Plymouth City Council should have Listed it.

I couldn't find any photos online; the Oldclassiccar page shows the present-day development, which preserves only the curved walls and forecourt. However, Googling did lead me to a very nice website, Transportheritage.com, which among its categorised list of British transport heritage articles contains a good selection of Devon sites.

Axmouth Bridge, Seaton; Beam Aqueduct, Great Torrington; Bickleigh Bridge; Bideford Bridge; Bus House, Okehampton; Chelfham Viaduct; Chillaton Toll House, Devon; Clovelly Cross Filling Station; Clovelly Gate Toll House, Bideford; Copper Castle Gate Toll House, Honiton; Countess Wear Bridge, Exeter; Crookman's Corner Toll House, Barnstaple; Eddystone Lighthouse; Exe Bridge, Exeter; Exebridge Gate Toll House; Hartland Point Lighthouse; Haytor Granite Tramway; Horse Bridge, the Tamar; Kastner Garage, Exeter; Lee Moor Tramway Iron Bridge, Plymouth; Lundy Island Old Lighthouse; Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway; Meldon Viaduct; Old Lodge Toll House, Tavistock; Shaldon Bridge Toll House, Teignmouth; Sidmouth Bridge Toll House; Smeaton's Tower; Starcross Atmospheric Pumping Station; Start Point Lighthouse; Totnes Atmospheric Pumping Station; Turnbull's Filling Station, Plymouth.

The entries are well-referenced, and all linked to Google Maps locations; the only downside is that, so far, not many have photographs. However, once you know of the existence, it's easy to find many of the sites featured elsewhere.

I was particularly struck by the architectural detail that went into filling stations before they became ubquitous and utilitarian. The faux-rustic Clovelly Cross Filling Station is rightly a listed building. And there's the excellent Kastner Garage in Magdalen Road, Exeter: as Exeter Memories says, it's a superb example of sympathetic restoration that converted the building to residential premises while retaining - and even improving on - its Art Deco design.

Exeter Memories has other Exeter garages. The original Countess Wear filling station was also rather folksy, and some garage buildings have an even older history; on the frontage of Central Garage, Topsham, you can still see the row of arches remaining from its original construction in the 1790s as a new market for Topsham. On the same location, when the ground was cleared in 1793 prior to the market's construction, Tom Paine was burned in effigy.

- RG

Ide fortlet

2010-07-26T01:51:00.005+01:00

View Larger Map

We just had an enquiry asking if there were any online photos of the Roman fortlet near Ide, Exeter. The Ordnance Survey grid reference of the location is SX885889 (shown above in Google Maps). Google Street View - here - shows that it commands a very wide view over Exeter and East Devon. The fortlet is not visible from the ground nor, generally, even from the air.

However, it is visible from the air as a cropmark in dry summer conditions - soil is moister over the defensive ditches, making overlying crops greener - and there's a very nice picture - Plate 2 on page 7 - in the Devon County Council publication Historic Environment and Development: Practice Note for March 2009. Also, this Oxford Archaeotechnics page - Magnetometer Survey - has an image of the fortlet as revealed by a gradiometer survey. Both images show how the structure was cut by a road in antiquity.

- RG

The Parson and Clerk

2010-07-22T12:02:00.006+01:00

A post at the Wayland Wordsmith blog - The Parson and Clerk Rock - just reprinted a nice version of the Devon legend about the Parson and Clerk headland and rock near Dawlish.

The story involves a very well-trodden motif of unwise cursing; it tells of an ambitious parson in a hurry to get to Dawlish to ingratiate himself with a dying bishop. He calls on the Devil for help, and gets it with the usual sting in the tail. I remember first reading it in Chips Barber's Around and About the Haldon Hills, and the story is much-retold and much-embroidered. Not that this is unusual or even to be decried: most of the classic and popular versions of fairy-tales arose precisely in this way via Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. However, WW's comment about the apparent recency of the Parson and Clerk story - "now that it is over a hundred years old I suppose it must be considered a genuine antique" - inspired me to see how far back it could be traced.

A quick Google initially found a fairly standard retelling of the story dating from 1881, in Popular romances of the west of England; or, The drolls, traditions, and superstitions of old Cornwall:

Near Dawlish stand, out in the sea, two rocks, of red sandstone conglomerate, to which the above name is given. Seeing that this forms a part of Old Cornwall, I do not go beyond my limits in telling the true story of these singular rocks.

The Bishop of Exeter was sick unto death at Dawlish. An ambitious priest, from the east, frequently rode with his clerk to make anxious inquiries after the condition of the dying bishop. It is whispered that this priest had great hopes of occupying the bishop's throne in Exeter Cathedral.

The clerk was usually the priest's guide; but somehow or other, on a particularly stormy night, he lost the road, and they were wandering over Haldon. Excessively angry was the priest, and very provoking was the clerk. He led his master this way and that way, but they were yet upon the elevated country ot Haldon.

At length the priest, in a great rage, exclaimed, "I would rather have the devil for a guide than you." Presently the clatter of horse's hoofs were heard, and a peasant, on a moor pony, rode up. The priest told of his condition, and the peasant volunteered to guide them. On rode peasant, priest, and clerk, and presently they were at Dawlish. The night was tempestuous, the ride had quickened the appetite of the priest, and he was wet through, —therefore, when his friend asked him to supper, as they approached an old ruined house, through the windows of which bright lights were shining, there was no hesitation in accepting the invitation.

There were a host of friends gathered together—a strange, wildlooking lot of men. But as the tables were laden with substantial dishes, and black-jacks 1 were standing thick around, the parson, and the clerk too, soon made friends with all.

They ate and drank, and became most irreligiously uproarious. The parson sang hunting songs, and songs in praise of a certain old gentleman, with whom a priest should not have maintained any acquaintance. These were very highly appreciated, and every man joined loudly in the choruses. Night wore away, and at last news was brought that the bishop was dead. This appeared to rouse up the parson, who was only too eager to get the first intelligence, and go to work to secure the hope of his ambition. So master and man mounted their horses, and bade adieu to their hilarious friends.

They were yet at the door of the mansion—somehow or other the horses did not appear disposed to move. They were whipped and spurred, but to no purpose.

"The devil's in the horses," said the priest.

"I b'lieve he is," said the clerk.

"Devil or no devil, they shall go," said the parson, cutting his horse madly with his heavy whip.

There was a roar of unearthly laughter.

The priest looked round—his drinking friends were all turned into demons, wild with glee, and the peasant guide was an arch little devil, looking on with a marvellously curious twinkle in his eyes. The noise of waters was around them ; and now the priest discovered that the mansion had disappeared, and that waves beat heavy upon his horse's flanks, and rushed over the smaller horse of his man.

Repentance was too late.

In the morning following this stormy night, two horses were found straying on the sands at Dawlish ; and clinging with the grasp of death to two rocks, were found the parson and the clerk. There stand the rocks to which the devil had given the forms of horses—an enduring monument to all generations.

- Popular romances of the west of England; or, The drolls, traditions, and superstitions of old Cornwall, Robert Hunt, 1881 (1908 reprint at Internet Archive).

However, a further search found an enlightening discussion in the Notes & Queries journal in 1868, when P Hutchinson sounded a note of caution:

"Legends Of Devon" (4th S. ii. 345, 478.) — In 1853, I bought a copy of this little book at the shop of Mr. Westcott, in the Strand, Dawlish. I was amused with it at the time, and since it has been mentioned in "N. & Q." I have been skimming over my copy again. Besides the introduction and terminal address to Luscombe (in verse), it contains the legends of—The Parson and Clerk Rocks; Bradley's Height; Blue Bird of Horna Wood ; The Man who Maltreated a Ghost, or the Legend of Littleham; Linton Castle; Kent's Cavern; Berry Pomeroy; and Babbicombe Bay. In a book like this, perhaps, we must not look for historical accuracy on every occasion, nor etymological accuracy, where etymologies are probably only jokingly thrown out. But knowing something of Devonshire, and being interested in what concerns the county, I have a curiosity to know whether these legends were merely invented by the writers, or whether the writers had first collected them as current among the country people in the different districts to which they refer, and then committed them to paper. If the latter, their value would be greatly enhanced. And finally, why should the names of the writers be withheld if they are known?

- P Hutchinson, Notes and Queries, December 19, 1868

The version in Legends of Devon (1848, Anonymous, pub. London: Whittaker and Company, Exeter: Holden - Wallis, Dawlish LA Westcott) is findable online, and as far as I can tell it's the first version of the story to appear in print. It begins:

Cecy (dit Frère Jean), riest pas matière de Breviaire.

A certain degree of ambition is both natural and laudable in every walk of life: and there is no doubt that an individual may rationally desire a moderate increase of his honest gains, without incurring the charge of covetousness. There is, however, nothing which we regard with more aversion than an unseemly eagerness, on the part of one devoted to the clerical profession, to attend to the concerns of his temporal income rather than the spiritual interests of the flock or flocks committed to his charge. Many and lamentable modern instances might be cited of the unfortunate excesses into which clergymen have been hurried by their anxiety to occupy high places in the establishment; and much obloquy hath been thereby undeservedly brought upon the church to which they belong. The sin, however, is one of far earlier date than our present ecclesiastical system; and the awful history detailed in the following pages will attest at once its ancient prevalence, and the dreadful retribution with which it hath occasionally been visited.

This intensely literary story clearly wasn't jotted straight down from the oral tradition! Nevertheless, it's a good story and picks up once it gets into the action, and it has some nicely scary touches that are not in the regular modern versions. The parson doesn't just encounter a pub, but thinks he has arrived at the bishop's house in Dawlish. He's entertained to supper and is increasingly worried on getting the impression that the other guests are clergymen he knows to be dead, and on noticing that the sea-food platter is rather more active than you'd like:

High and loud was the feasting, and the unhappy invalid was soon forgotten by his boisterous guests. Church and State, with their concomitant bumpertoasts, were done honour to in Bordeaux and Malvoisie, until strange fancies began to float in the Parson's mind, interrupting the gorgeous dreams of mitres and crosiers which occupied his imagination. He seemed, among the faces of the Bacchanalians around him, dimly to distinguish the features of some of his clerical acquaintances, long since removed, as he had believed, from this world of pluralities and sinecures. He thought, too, the roaring of the ocean was borne unusually far inland by the east wind; or else it was but the vivid impression of past dangers which made the breakers still sound so close at his ear. It was strange, too, that although this was not one of the Church's meagre days, fish seemed to be the only article of food set before them; nay, the lobsters and crabs appeared as if endued with life ; they crawled with their unsightly legs, and snapped their claws at the fingers of those who sought to devour them; the prawns and shrimps twisted about, cockles and muscles [sic] gaped before his eyes, and limpets and periwinkles seemed to adhere to the walls: the very floor seemed crowded with small fishes, creeping among the cold, clear waters which welled in on every side.

Naturally, all ends horribly. It's highly readable, and I recommend it: see Legend of the Parson and Clerk (anon, 1848).

This still leaves open the question of whether or not the anonymous author based it on some core of a real collected folktale. However, other stories in the volume bolster the theory that it's original fiction: The Legend of Berry Pomery, for instance, is full of learned verse; and The Legend of Babicombe Bay is a piece of pseudo-Shakespearean whimsy featuring Ariel, a Caliban-like creature called Hideous, and Titania, the story ending with a piece of joke etymology:

The Prince of Fire, Earth and Air had accompanied her from Fairy Land, under the form of a boy, —" Hideous " cried he, waving his creating wand, " I have fulfilled my promise, here is Queen Titania, —the bay is mine."

The Rocks retreated, they sloped gently to the beach, Trees and Cottages sprang up, and Birds warbled in this Fairy Combe,—Titania opened her arms, uttering a cry of joy, and her beautiful Floiscus, leaving Pomona and her fruits, nestled in his Mother's bosom, and soon, very soon the chrystal gates of Fairy Land opened to them.

Hideous, the victim of ambition and vanity, fell in the retreat of the Rock, from his fissure, and died unseen, even by Titania; Ariel and Pomona stood on the Cliff enriching the Bay.

"BABICOMBE BAY it shall be called," said the Spirit, pointing with his wand to the Queen and her boy, now high in air, "for has not the Queen found her Babe again"?

The rest of the discussion thread in Notes and Queries did get responses:

"Legends Of Devon."—Who is the author of Legends of Devon, Dawlish, 1848 ? I have heard it attributed to a gentleman named Curzon,* but do not know on what authority it was done.
- Strange-ways. W. E. A. A (October 11, 1868)
* F Curzon, author of Lays and Legends of Devon [sic], 1817.

Legends Of Devon (4th S. ii. 345.)—The little volume printed at Dawlish in 1848 under the title of Legends of Devon was, as the publisher informed me at the time, a selection from a number of papers prepared for the literary recreation of a private circle. Both ladies and gentlemen contributed, and they included amongst their number at least one writer of established eminence.
- R. Dymond. Exeter (November 14, 1868)

"Legends Of Devon " (4'" S. ii. 345,478, 592.) It happens singularly enough that I can answer your correspondent P. Hutchinson's query respecting this little volume ...The legends in question were severally composed by members of a very agreeable little private society, some thirty years ago, of whom I was one. The lady who collected and printed them, and was also one of the contributors, is dead, and so are some of her associates; and to give the names (even if I had permission), would interest few now. But I can say pretty confidently from memory, that they were each and all original whims of the moment, and not reproductions of popular legends.
- Jean Le Trouveur. 2

That, I think, pretty well clears up the origin, if not the precise authorship, of the Parson and Clerk legend: it's a modern fiction that has now acquired the status of folklore.

The rocks themselves appear simply to have been named after their appearance, with no complicated backstory. As Francis Pitt Greenwood wrote in his diary in 1821:

That part of the coast which extends along the south, is lined with dark red cliffs, and diversified by seaworn caves and projecting masses of rock, which, from fancied resemblances, have acquired the curious names of "The Parson and Clerk," "The Bishop's Parlor," &c.

- The miscellaneous writings, 1846, Francis William Pitt Greenwood

1. A black-jack is a tarred leather tankard.
2. Undoubtedly a pseudonym: Jean Le Trouveur is the title of a forgotten French picaresque novel by Paul De Musset, whose antihero makes a pact with the Devil.

- RG

Torquay's other history

2010-07-20T15:19:00.006+01:00

Mainstream First World history in general has been criticised for its focus on "famous white men", and English local history (anywhere, not just in Devon) has its own sets of biases of interest: famous/infamous people, notably worthy/unworthy activities, venerable objects and buildings, and so on - neglecting areas such as politics, popular culture, social unrest, the everyday lives of the 'underclasses', and modern history.

It was refreshing, then, to receive a link from the historian Dr Kevin Dixon to Torquay's other history, his historical column at The People’s Republic of South Devon, a website set up in 2005 to provide an alternative source of news and views to the traditional media.

Dr Dixon's column has been running since May 2010, and topics have included: the inspiration of folk superstars Donovan and Mac Macleod; the historic bands of The Bay; 19th century bread riots in Torbay and other Devon towns; Torquay's punk rock scene; Gilbert Vintner and wartime musical entertainment; Torquay's temperance movement; harbourside pubs; RA Records and Harry H Corbett; and "ladies of the night" in 19th century Torquay.

It's highly worth reading so far, and I'm sure it will continue to be interesting in its focus on history off the beaten track. See Torquay's other history.

Dr Dixon's name rang a bell - he's a committee member of Devon Humanists and in this connection has also written historical articles for its Darwin 200 in Devon site. A couple have a specific Devon slant: Darwin, the Reverend Taylor & Ashburton’s Richard Carlile (concerning radical agitators of the early 19th century) and Adaptation & Conflict in Early Modern Devon (a Darwinian perspective on Devon's religious history).

Addendum, upgraded from Comments:
The PRSD sent us their comment about the Torquay's other history column: "It's a pleasure to carry it. Also, because we're playing catch-up – Kevin has 100s of stories ready to go – August is going to be Torquay's other history month on the site. Please pop along".
- RG

Exeter Roman fort

2010-07-19T13:41:00.003+01:00

Fascinating news from the Exeter Express & Echo for 17th July 2010: Discovery of Roman fort 'could rewrite history of Exeter'.

A REMARKABLE Roman fort has been discovered by archaeologists in Exeter.

And the city's early history could soon be rewritten as a result of the extraordinary find on a development site off Topsham Road.

Although excavation of the site at the former St Loye's campus is in its early stages, the finds have already been described as extremely significant by leading city archaeologists.

Pottery dating from the middle of the first century AD has been discovered, as well as part of the distinctive defensive ditches the Roman military put around their forts.

The same E&E edition carried further analysis of the discovery: Discovery of Roman fort changes history of occupation of Exeter, which mentions other Roman discoveries such as the Bathhouse under Cathedral Yard (the subject of some controversy a while back; despite its archaological importance, the opinion prevailed that it should be reburied to preserve the view of the Cathedral).

The St Loyes discovery is breaking news at the moment: more detail will follow.

Update: August 10th 2010.

Further news from the Express & Echo, August 3rd 2010: Second Roman fort unearthed reports on new findings:

Now ditches on a different alignment have been found, and [Tim Gent, head of Exeter Archaeology] told the Echo: "The new V-shaped ditch cuts through trenches that were dug to hold timbers for the first fort's barrack blocks — these are long fairly narrow linear trenches. This shows that the army used the site again at a later date."

- RG

Early cricket in Devon

2010-07-11T14:50:00.004+01:00

Yesterday's Express & Echo letters column contained an enquiry that I'm sure the writer won't mind my reproducing here:

Do readers know of older game report?

The following letter was sent by some gentlemen from Tiverton on August 28, 1730 to Andrew Brice, the Exeter printer and publisher, and was printed in his newspaper, Brice's Weekly Journal.

"Yesterday, being St Bartholomew's Day, upon a very high Hill, called Beacon-Down, within one Mile of this Town, was play'd a Match at Cricket of three Innings each, by the Gentlemen of Tiverton, 11 of a Side for a considerable Wager.

"The whole Game being performed with the same Order and Decency, and by the same Rules and Articles that are observed by the Kentish and London Gamesters; and the Field well accommodated with Cyder, Ale, Cakes, Fruit , and other Things as usual.

"And it being agreed before they parted, that a friendly Invitation should be sent to the Gentlemen of Exon, to meet them upon some convenient Ground near Silverton, on Monday the 14th of September next, by Eight of the Clock in the Morning, in order to divert themselves with the same Exercise, for a Parcel of good Ale, and a fat Sheep, to refresh themselves, when the Sport is ended. 'Tis therefore desired, that the Exeter Players do signify their Acceptance of this Invitation, and do meet the Tiverton Players at the Time and Place above-mentioned."

Do any readers know of an earlier recorded cricket match in Devon?

Gillian Selley
Culvery Close, Woodbury

If you can answer this, please leave a comment, or reply to the letter via the Express & Echo at the link above.
- RG

A thunderbolt at Brixham

2010-06-07T12:09:00.004+01:00

A tragic event in Torbay in 1895, which appears to be an account of a ball lightning strike:

VIOLENT LIGHTNING STROKE IN SOUTH DEVON.

Mr Chandler, of Torquay Observatory, has favoured us with the cutting from a local paper which we reprint below. It is not easy to follow the narrative, and some statements seem improbable. It would have been both interesting and useful if some of our Devonshire readers had investigated the matter promptly, photographed the damage, and made a plan of the premises. Possibly even now something could be done. The story of the electric ball travelling " in an easterly direction, tearing up the ground in its course, until it reached the small wheel-house," ought to be capable of verification or contradiction even now.

THUNDERSTORM AT BRIXHAM.

Wednesday, December 18th, 1895.

A MAN KILLED, OTHERS INJURED.

A thunderstorm broke over Brixham yesterday morning shortly before ten o'clock. Heavy showers of rain had fallen at intervals, from an early hour up to the time of the storm, when a bright blue sky with heavy white clouds and sunshine existed. The wind, which was blowing very moderately from the S. E., continued without any variation. Two bright flashes of lightning and two terrific peals of thunder were all that were seen or heard in the town generally, but in a field at Furzeham, part of which was occupied as a twine-walk, and where two men and a boy were at work, an electric ball or thunderbolt was observed by them in the west, and to travel in an easterly direction, tearup the ground in its course until it reached the small wheel-house, where the boy sits to turn a small wheel for the spinners. The door of this small house was closed, and the fluid striking it shattered its lower part, and, passing on, knocked a hole right through the wall, and, making its exit through, flew upwards, striking the gable end of the roof of Mr. J. Varwell's ropery, knocking down the masonry and partially unrooting the establishment. It then entered the ropewalk and travelled 20 yards, damaging the side wall in its course, until it reached four men who were at work close together making yarn. The names of the men are William Morey, James Lowe, Edward Mitchell, and Samuel Webber. Morey, who happened to be stooping at the time, was struck on the top of the head and killed instantly ; Lowe, who was close to him, wasI struck across the abdomen and laid helpless, though he never lost consciousness ; Mitchell received a severe shock in both legs and was knocked down, but it did not injure him ; Webber escaped free. As soon as possible medical aid was sent for, and in a short time Drs. Elliott and Hayward were on the spot, and every effort was made by them to restore animation in Morey but without avail, and his body was conveyed to his home. The injuries to Lowe were of such a nature as to necessitate his being kept at the residence of the foreman of the works until one o'clock, when he was taken home. His condition is critical. A railway porter and another man in the employ of Derry and Co., carriers, both of whom were in the goods shed, received severe shocks. One said he felt dazed and had pains about his body. Fishermen at the moorings in the outer harbour report that the electric fluid ran along the chains on the decks of their vessels, and that on Monday night at sea the crew of one fishing vessel saw three electric or phosphorescent balls on their mast and rigging. Such are often seen, but seldom more than one at a time. William Morey was single and 38 years of age. Hundreds of persons visited the ground in the neighbourhood of Mr. Varwell's Ropery, where the ground is torn up for upwards of a hundred yards. Such a thing has never been known in the district before.

- Symons's Monthly Meteorological Magazine, CCCLXI, February 1896

I found this in a few meteorological magazines while following up an enquiry to the DHS from "Shirley":

THUNDERBOLT IN TORQUAY HARBOUR BETWEEN 1892 and 1912?

Please can anyone confirm a story that my grandmother told me. She was born in Torquay in 1892 and left to live in Sussex in 1912. She remembered a thunderbolt landing in Torquay harbour that boiled the water and set fire to fishing boats sometime during her childhood. I can find no reference to this in any history of Torquay.

Whilst the event reported in Symons's doesn't fit in all respects, we both think it looks close enough in time, district and detail - given the fallibility of childhood memories - to be an explanation for the story. However, if anyone knows of any meterological event that would fit better, leave a comment and I'll forward it to Shirley.
- RG

Seeking MDFCTA troughs

2010-06-07T01:33:00.005+01:00

View Larger Map
MDFCTA trough, Topsham Road, Exeter

From Alan Underwood, an interesting enquiry:

I'm researching into an organisation called the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain & Cattle Trough Association (MDFCTA). They erected troughs and fountains in London and around the country. 10 cattle troughs were located in Devon, 5 of which are extant.

I'm trying to track down the remaining 5 erected in:
Bideford (9'6" in the market, 1906)
Lynton (6'6" location unknown, 1899)
Newton Abbot (6'6" Kingkerswell Rd, 1912)
Newton Abbot (6'6" The Market, 1925)
Plymouth (9'6" Catdean? Rd, 1907)

Does anyone know the current whereabouts of any of these granite troughs (they are often put to a new use as flower planters)?

I didn't realise it, but I've been seeing one such trough for years, every time I take the bus into Exeter, as one of the known ones - it carries the inscription "BE KIND TO ALL ANIMALS" - is on the Topsham Road opposite Wyvern Barracks. The Flickr images here and here (taken by a different Alan) show what we're looking for.

If you can help, Alan can be contacted at info@londontroughs.co.uk. While it's not Devon-related, his site www.londontroughs.co.uk is worth a visit for its project to document London troughs, as is the site of the still-extant Drinking Fountain Association.
- RG

The ochidore and Westward Ho!

2010-06-06T16:10:00.007+01:00

A chance observation led down an interesting Devon-related path, when I read about the word "ochidore" featuring in the Scripps National Spelling Bee: see So C-L-O-S-E: West Fargo middle schooler finishes second at national spelling bee. The contestant who got it wrong can't be blamed, as it's highly obscure:

ochidore, n.
Perh. regional. Obs. rare.
A kind of crab, perh. the velvet swimming crab, Liocarcinus puber.

The definition comes, furthermore, from a single citation in literature: Charles Kingsley's Westward Ho!, in which it features as part of a prank played on a schoolmaster during a maritime pageant.

And clapping both hands to the back of his neck, the schoolmaster began dancing frantically about, while his boys broke out tittering, "O! the ochidore! look to the blue ochidore! Who've put ochidore to maister's poll!"

It was too true: neatly inserted, as he stooped forward, between his neck and his collar, was a large live shore-crab, holding on tight with both hands.

- see Charles Kingsley, Westward Ho!, 1855.

It's evidently a Devon dialect word. In 1901, AL Mayhew enquired to Notes and Queries, apparently without response ...

"Ochidore."—This word occurs with the meaning "shore-crab" in Kingsley's ' Westward Ho !' chap. ii. p. 44. I can find no instance of its occurrence elsewhere. I should be glad if any of your readers would kindly tell me whether " ochidore " is a Devon word. Query etymology ? A. L. Mayhew. Oxford.

... and in 1935, an article on dialect words for marine life - Devonshire Fish Names - elaborated the definition:

Ochidore. Prob. Velvet Crab ... (EDD suggests the shore crab ...)
...
Velvet Crab (Portunus puber). Ochidore, Velvet Fiddler.

- pages 427/432, Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association for the Advancement of Science, Literature and Art, Volumes 67-68, 1935

It's not clear why the "ochidore" should be identified as the Velvet Crab, which at most has blue-black claw tips. Blue crabs do exist - the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) and the blue swimmer crab (Portunus pelagicus) - but neither of them are native to British waters. Perhaps the one in Westward Ho! was an escapee; they very rarely turn up after transport in ships' ballast (see the recent news item Rare Blue Swimmer Crab discovered in Cornwall). We'll probably never know more about the word, because the trail has gone very cold.

Westward Ho! has left us with another linguistic curiosity: the only British placename with an exclamation mark. It's generally known that the town is named after the novel 1., but not that it was constructed entirely in response to it. Kingsley eulogized the area in the novel, which he wrote while living at Bideford ...

All who have travelled through the delicious scenery of North Devon must needs know the little white town of Bideford, which slopes upwards from its broad tide-river paved with yellow sands, and many-arched old bridge where salmon wait for autumn floods, toward the pleasant upland on the west. Above the town the hills close in, cushioned with deep oak woods, through which juts here and there a crag of fern-fringed slate; below they lower, and open more and more in softly rounded knolls, and fertile squares of red and green, till they sink into the wide expanse of hazy flats, rich salt-marshes, and rolling sand-hills, where Torridge joins her sister Taw, and both together flow quietly toward the broad surges of the bar, and the everlasting thunder of the long Atlantic swell. Pleasantly the old town stands there, beneath its soft Italian sky, fanned day and night by the fresh ocean breeze, which forbids alike the keen winter frosts, and the fierce thunder heats of the midland ...

... and its bestseller status led to such interest in the area that a group of entrepreneurs saw a tourism market opportunity. Starting in 1863, the Northam Burrows Hotel and Villa Building Company, chaired by Lord Portsmouth, established the first buildings (Westward Ho! was to be an exclusive health resort) and another group, the Northern Pier Company (Limited) built a pier. The developers in addition lobbied successfully for the right to build a railway (see the Bideford Chamber of Commerce site: page 1 / 2). According to The Rise of the Devon Seaside Resorts 1750-1900 by John F. Travis (see pages 139-140), despite much publicity, the resort was only a moderate success, suffering from public health problems in the 1870s.

Charles Kingsley, by all accounts, loathed the development, and wrote to the company:

How goes on the Northam Burrows scheme for spoiling that beautiful place with Hotels and Villas I suppose it must be, but you will frighten away all the sea-pies 2 and defile the Pebble Ridge with chicken bones and sandwich scraps.

It must have generally soured Kingsley's friendships in Bideford, as two of the prime movers of the project, Captain Molesworth and Dr WH Ackland, were his close friends. The controversy about Westward Ho! still continues, it seems, judging by the 2008 report in the North Devon Journal of debate over Kingsley's catch-phrase for Bideford, "the Little White Town".

For more background, visit the Westward Ho! Community History Project website, which as an excellent, if in places unedited, collection of material on Westward Ho! history (for instance, its origins in the 1855 Burrows Plan, the Pebbleridge, "potwalloping", the United Services College (attended by Kipling), and much else).

1. It's not alone in this: for instance, the city of Pippa Passes in Kentucky is named after the Robert Browning poem.
2. Oystercatchers.
-RG

Dartmouth fire and other images

2010-06-02T11:00:00.003+01:00

From BBC News: Dartmouth's Tudor buildings destroyed by chip shop fire

A fire which swept through the Devon resort of Dartmouth has destroyed parts of its historic Tudor centre.

The fire started in a fish and chip shop at lunchtime on Friday and quickly spread to adjoining properties in Fairfax Place.

Eight businesses and up to 15 flats were destroyed or severely damaged by the fire, but no-one was injured.

Crews are still on site to continue damping down hot spots.

Structural experts are assessing the safety of the buildings, but it is not yet known how many of them may have to be demolished.

The Tudor buildings date back to the early 16th Century and some are English Heritage Grade I and Grade II listed.

This will be quite a blow, personally and historically: see Devonguide.com for examples of Dartmouth's Tudor architecture, which has already suffered during World War 2 (see Casualties of the bombing of Dartmouth at Devonheritage.org). The Old UK Photos site also has some nice Dartmouth images.
- RG

Seeking Devon traditional recipes

2010-06-02T00:20:00.000+01:00

Carolyn Martin writes:

I am currently undertaking some research into traditional and historical recipes from Devon and wonder if any of your members would be able to help? I am particularly interested in recipes that have a link to a specific place or area, with locally sourced ingredients if possible.

I would be most grateful for any recipes or direction and look forward to hearing from you.

If you have any knowledge in this area, Carolyn Martin can be e-mailed at carolyn@sandmartins.eclipse.co.uk

To set the ball rolling, I just had a quick skim of Google Books. I found a number of Devon recipes in Helen Edden's 1929 County Recipes of Old England (see reprint, pp 15 onward); Devonshire White-Pot in Charlotte Mason's 1777 The lady's assistant for regulating and supplying her table; Devonshire, or Clotted Cream from Eliza Acton's 1864 Modern cookery for private families; Devonshire Squab-Pie in Hannah Glasse's 1784 The art of cookery made plain and easy; the mysterious "White Ale" of the South Hams, as described at the Zythophile weblog; the downmarket teakettle broth mentioned in Francis George Heath's 1874 The English Peasantry; another recipe for Devonshire Pie from Georgiana Hill's 1859 The gourmet's guide to rabbit cooking, by an old epicure; Devonshire Splits from Traditional Fare of England and Wales - Country Cooking; a reference to the traditional Devon way of cooking breakfast potatoes

The way in 'which potatoes are served in Devonshire to breakfast is an excellent measure for supplying fat to the organism in a very palatable form. The potatoes having been boiled are placed in the frying-pan along with a liberal supply of bacon fat. They are then chopped small while heating,- and kept in the pan till the outside is browned.
- p 319, North Carolina Medical Journal, Volumes 19-20, 1887

See also an extensive piece on The Devonshire System of Making Bread in the Farmer's Magazine for 1856. It would be nice if someone could find the recipes for revel cake, apparently characteristic of North Devon

made with dark flour, currants and carraway seeds
- British Popular Customs - Present and Past - Illustrating the Social and Domestic Manners of the People, TF Dyer, 1876

and

that well known and delicious biscuit called the Barnstaple Crisp Cake; the true recipe for which I am sorry to say has disappeared.
- Sketches of some striking incidents in the history of Barnstaple, the substance of a lecture, John Roberts Chanter, 1865

- RG

Philip Avant, vicar and poet

2010-05-09T19:33:00.008+01:00

Wayland Wordsmith is a weblog worth following for its interesting historical/literary snippets. A recent post, Upon Tingmouth, featured a 1690 poem of commentary by Philip Avant, vicar of Salcombe Regis, on a little-known historical event, the sacking of Teignmouth by the French following the Battle of Beachy Head during the Nine Years' War.

Not a great deal is known about Avant, a minor poet and a strong supporter of William III, beyond the brief entry in William Henry Kearley Wright's 1896 West-country Poets: their Lives and Works.

A Vicar of Salcombe of this name was a writer of poetry, among which are some local poems in praise of Torbay, and on the burning of Teignmouth by the French in 1680. The title of one of his publications is given in the Bibliotheca Devoniensis: Torbaia digna Camaenis ad Gulielmum tertium regem gratissimum. Ecclesiae Anglicanae conservatorem. Authore Philippo Avant, minimo indignissimo Ecclesiae Anglianae Presbytero: London, 1692. This contained, besides the above, some poems in honour of William and Mary ' On the Fall of Belgrade,' and others to Bishop Burnet.

The London-printed 1693 English edition had the even more grandiose title, "Torbaia digna Camaenis or The Wonderful Deliverance vouchsafed these Nations in the late Revolution and seasonable Landing of His most Sacred Majesty King WILLIAM III at Torbay, worthy to be written in indelible Characters, with a Pen of Iron and the Point of a Diamond ; yea so to be engraven on all Protestant Hearts as never to be worn out even to the World's End, a POEM originally written in Latin and now translated into English by the Author, PHILIP AVANT."

'Torbay, unknown to the Aonian Quire,
Nothing oblig'd to any Poet's lyre ...
The Muses had no Matter from thy Bay,
To make thee famous till great William's Day....
To Orange only and Batavia's Seed
Remain'd this glory, as of old decreed,
To make thy Name immortal, and thy Shore
More famous and renown'd than heretofore....
O happy, happy Bay! All future times
Shall speak of thee renown'd in foreign Climes!...
Muses have matter now, enough to make
Poets of Peasants for Torbaia's sake....
King David's Deeds were sung, and Triumphs too,
And why should not Great Orange have his due?
Supream in Earth, Dread Sovereign thou art;
Long may'st thou reign, we pray with all our heart.'

Rosalind Northcote, in Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts, quotes the above lines, saying of the book

Fishermen and others gave a very cordial welcome to the Prince of Orange when he arrived on November 5, 1688. But by no one can he have been more vehemently applauded than by the author of the lines I have quoted at the head of the present chapter—the Rev Philip Avant, Vicar of Salcombe. The poem, originally written in Latin, and translated by the author, takes up almost the whole of his small and rather rare volume, Torbaia digna Camœnsis. It is in parts unintentionally amusing, and is interesting as showing how far the frenzied fervour of bigotry may carry a naturally amiable person, for in the narrow intervals between his torrents of denunciation it is clear that Mr Avant was, in ordinary matters, a kindly-disposed man.

A deal of the poem is considerably obscure. The "Aonian Quire" are the Muses, who were supposed to hail from Aonia. "Batavia's Seed" refers to the Dutch, whose precursors were the Batavi, a Germanic tribe. In Devon Notes and Queries, volume 2, 1903 a correspondent asked - without result, as far as I know - if anyone could understand the allusions in the following section.

Dartmouth is overjoyed, etc.
Nor canst thou, Kingswear, etc., nor Hew
Forbear to give the great Nassau his due.
The ghost that heretofore did haunt thy Downs
And with loud clamours fright the neighbouring clowns *,
Is silent.

Avant died in 1696: Mary Jones' 1875 The History of Chudleigh, Devon: with a description of the surrounding scenery, seats, families, etc mentions

From an inscription on a stone in the chancel of the church to the memory of Philip Avant, died Nov. 28, 1696, and described as the only son of Stephen "Gymnasiarchae Chudliensis," it has been conjectured that the said Stephen was master of Chudleigh Grammar School.

Fraser Halle's 1851 Letters, historical and botanical, relating chiefly to places in the Vale of Teign: and particularly to Chudleigh, Lustleigh, Canonteign, and Bovey-Tracey also mentions the inscription, confirming that this was the same Philip Avant, "Vic. de Salcombe". At least at the time of writing of the 1895 Coasts of Devon & Lundy island: their towns, villages, scenery, antiquities & legends, the chancel of the church at Salcombe Regis contained an 1895-dated tablet inscribed in Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and English to the memory of Avant's daughter Joanna.

* sic. I wonder if this is a misprint for "towns".
- RG

Addendum, 8th June 2011: An anonymous correspondent from the Chudleigh History Group kindly sent us the results of further research in the Rev Avant:

I have carried out some research into Rev Philip Avant, he is mentioned on his son Stephen's floorslab on the chancel floor of Chudleigh Church.

This is what I have put together -

Rev Philip Avant was baptised at St Budeaux, Plymouth on 20 November 1642, the son of Philip Avant and Joanne (nee Lampen). His parents had married there on 25 July 1642.

He matriculated at Gloucester Hall, Oxford aged 19 years on 21 February 1661-2. On 20 September 1663 he was ordained as a deacon at Christ Church, Oxford. On 15 January 1665-6 he became vicar at Salcombe Regis, East Devon. At some point following he married (to Joanna) and his first son, Thomas was born in 1668. This son matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford in March 1682, aged 14. He had died prior to 1696.

A daughter, Joanna was the second born and baptised 16 April 1672 but had died prior to 1678.

The second son, Stephen was baptised at Salcombe Regis on 30 November 1675 and on his burial at Chudleigh (2 December 1696) his memorial inscription said he was the only son of Rev Philip Avant.

In 1678 his second daughter, again named Joanna was baptised at Salcombe Regis on 5 November 1678, she died in Exeter aged 17 and was buried at Salcombe Regis 20 June 1695. In 1680 a poem he had penned concerning the burning of Teignmouth by the French was published. A small volume of poems was published in 1692.

At about 1695 it is assumed that Rev Philip Avant moved to live at the Chudleigh Grammar School although he is recorded as remaining vicar at Salcombe Regis until 1699. If he did move to Chudleigh about 1695-6 then he would have employed a curate to cover his duties at Salcombe.

His son Stephen Avant also a clerk was living at Highweek at his death in 1696 but was interred at Chudleigh which suggests his father was residing there by that date.

Rev Philip Avant was buried at Chudleigh on 19 April 1701 aged 59 years.

www.chudleighhistorygroup.com

The Beer Wurlitzer

2010-04-26T21:44:00.005+01:00

Wurly Workings!

Not exactly Devon history, but definitely a fine historical artifact preserved in Devon: the Beer Wurlitzer.

This is England's oldest Wurlitzer cinema organ, originally installed in 1924-25 in the Picture House, Walsall. Its travels took it to the Congregational Church, Beer, in 1957, after which it put in years of service, eventually undergoing full restoration over 2008-2009. It's used for services as well as demonstrations and regular concerts.

There are two sites: one billed as the original site www.beerwurly.co.uk and the other as the official site www.beerwurlitzer.co.cc. The original, by Michael Cull - the prime mover for the project - has considerably more detail on the complex and arduous work of restoration. Having cleaned up the works of a harmonium - very simple in comparison - I can only admire the effort and stickability needed to do this.
- RG

Royal Albert Bridge: white or not?

2010-04-25T23:56:00.007+01:00

When restoring historical artifacts, there are often difficult technical/aesthetic decisions. Do you attempt to restore original appearance or that best-known from the later history? An instance of such a situation is that of ancient Greek and Roman statuary, by long tradition known in bare white marble form, but fairly recently discovered to have been painted, often garishly. In this case, there would be no question of repainting the statues, but 3D scanning and virtual reconstructions enable us to see what they would have looked like. The Peplos Kore is a classic example.

On April 24th 2010, the Western Morning News just reported a somewhat similar situation with a historic Devon object: Campaigners want listed bridge to be painted white.

A campaign has been launched to restore one of Brunel's iconic Westcountry bridges to its original colour.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel's famous Royal Albert Bridge over the River Tamar is, at present, a kind of "battleship grey", say campaigners. Its original colour was "off-white".

The campaign, led by Charles Howeson, chairman of the Plymouth Area Business Council, is calling for Network Rail to paint the bridge in its original colour.

Mr Howeson said proposals by engineers to restore the bridge were an opportunity to return it to the colour it was in the time of Brunel.

Research by Network Rail has revealed the bridge has been several colours since 1859.

These include the original colour and various shades of grey.

Network Rail, which has applied to Plymouth City Council for listed building consent to carry out a huge engineering project on the 151-year-old railway bridge, wants to repaint it in its current "goose grey" hue. This has been the colour of the 2,200ft structure since it was Grade I listed in 1952.

A look in contemporary accounts easily confirms the original colour. For instance:

More to the southward we see Plymouth Harbour, and the beautiful scenery surrounding it ; with a peep at the broad estuary of the Tamar, and the white tubes of the Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash.
- page 476, Dartmoor streams, an angler's week among the tors of south Devon, Once a Week, April 16th 1864

... its huge unornamented white iron cylinders make a lofty gradual arch over the abyss...
- page 388, Old England: its scenery, art and people, James Mason Hoppin, 1868

These don't say what kind of white, but it wasn't dazzling: the current newspaper reports describe it as a "pale stone" colour. Patrick Baty's weblog News from Colourman is worth reading in general for his discussions of historical architectural colours, but is especially pertinent for its extremely interesting account - A Brunel bridge - of his visit to sample the paint layers of the Royal Albert Bridge as part of 150th anniversary research. There's more background on the bridge itself at the official site www.royalalbertbridge.co.uk.

Update: May 3rd 2010

More from BBC Devon, 26th April: Brunel's bridge original colour mystery solved.
- RG

British Pathé: Devon footage

2010-04-22T20:32:00.011+01:00

Your browser does not support iframes.

"Ottery barrel running, 1965, British Pathé: click to view

Just received from Victoria Spiegelberg at British Pathé Ltd:

Dear all
We are an online historical archive that covers the period 1896 to 1970 and we have found over 500 newsreel clips relating to Devon's cities, towns and villages, some of which date back to 1902. There are a lot of newsreels from both world wars and many other fascinating films covering a variety of topics in Devon up until c1970 which we thought the Local Historical Societies in Devon would be interested in exploring. I have put a few into a workspace as an example of what is in there:
http://www.britishpathe.com/workspace.php?id=5232&display=list

We are keen for members of the public to find items that may relate to their own family history and region. With 90,000 newsreel items within the archive, there will be many Devon clips that just wouldn't have been watched since their original screenings in the cinemas many decades ago. Searching the archive can be time consuming but hopefully fascinating at the same time - we have had nearly 1000 emails in the past year of people finding either themselves or ancestors hidden within the archive.

The British Pathé archive is now entirely managed via our website which is free and accessible to anyone and part of my role is to point relevant societies, associations and organisations in the direction of our website to let them know that there is historical footage on our site that may be significant, important or of general interest. The website was traditionally designed as a resource for researchers and producers within the broadcast industry. However, we are changing a number of features to make it more useful for the general public.

You are more than welcome to link to the website on your site or to use a still to link through if you think it is suitable for your local history societies. If it would be more helpful to put together a workspace relating to a particular town or village we can also do this. The key for us is that people know the resource is available and at the same time we hope that you are able to uncover some exciting clips.

This a superb resource, whether for Devon or general interest. The archive is fully searchable: just dipping, I've found short films such as the 1960 floods in Exmouth and Exton (42177), this short travelogue featuring Dawlish, Bickleigh Bridge, Porlock Weir, Seaton and Beer (8740), a 1932 Exeter-Plymouth relay race (2856), a 1954 village pageant in Torrington (47688), 1960 footage of the ruins of Hallsands, the aftermouth of the Lymouth flood in 1952 (30239) and a 1957 feature on its rebuilding (659), a 1967 promotional film on Westward Ho! (74977), the 1962 Exeter University student rag (41985), the 1955 grounding of the SS Venus off Plymouth (63440), and the Ottery Barrel Rolling in 1965 (41127).
- RG

Sidmouth: a harbour never built

2010-04-19T12:16:00.006+01:00

Pennington Point landslip: click to enlarge

On Sunday I visited Sidmouth, in part to have a look at the recent cliff slippage at Pennington Point (pictured above) at the east end of Sidmouth seafront where Alma Bridge crosses the mouth of the River Sid.

This collapse was featured in the news recently (for instance, in the Sidmouth Herald: Sidmouth cliff fall closes link to town) with obvious issues relating to coastal erosion and the safety of coastal properties and installations. Here probably isn't the venue for discussing those, but reading East Devon District Council's Pennington Point Cliff Erosion Review (PDF here) connected a few observations leading to some historical background I didn't know: a failed venture to build a harbour for Sidmouth in the 1830s.

If you walk along the beach eastward from Alma Bridge and look up, you'll see an opening in the cliff. Don't mess with it unless you're a serious speleologist; it's the breached remnants of the Sidmouth Tunnel, a never-used narrow gauge railway tunnel dug behind the cliff face: see The railway that never was and Peter Glanvill Photography for images. Its intended use was to carry stone for the Sidmouth Harbour Company, set up to build a harbour at Chit Rocks (below what is now Connaught Gardens and Jacob's Ladder 1) with two L-shaped piers to be named respectively after Princess Victoria and the Grand Duchess Helena of Russia 2. The Nautical Magazine, Volume 6, 1837, reported:

Sidmouth Harbour. — Active means are in progress for immediately commencing this highly important undertaking. The engineer, Mr. Price of London, has made all preliminary arrangements for widening and extending the esplanade onwards to the site of the harbour, the excavation for which in the Chit Rocks to the westward of the town have been begun. A tunnel will be carried through the cliffs to the eastward and a temporary railway extended through the same and along the seaward side of the town, for the purpose of bringing down some of those masses of rock, which lie under the cliff at the Hook Ebb Point, for the construction of the pier and breakwater. The birth-day of the Princess Victoria, May the 24th, has been fixed on for laying the foundation stone for this harbour. A representative of her Imperial Highness the grand Duchess Helena of Russia will lay the stone, and it is expected to be done with due masonic honours.

Ambitious and clear-cut plans ... which rapidly came to nothing. The Sidmouth Harbour Company of 1836 by MJ Messenger has the full story.

There was a later proposal to build a harbour in 1862, when an Admiralty report proposed the Sidmouth Railway and Harbour Bill ...

The object of this Bill is to incorporate a Company, under the title of " The Sidmouth Railway and Harbour Company," and to empower them to construct three lines of Railway, none of which, however, interfere with their Lordships' jurisdiction; but power is taken in the Bill to construct a Port, Harbour, or Asylum Harbour, at Sidmouth, the mouth of the River Sid, with a breakwater, piers, jetties, &c.

Clause 22 describes the limits of the Harbour ; and as Clauses 24, 25 and 2/ protect fully the Admiralty jurisdiction, assent is given to the Bill.

Admiralty, 27 March 1862. W. G. Romaine.

... and an 1865 Act was passed "to enable the Sidmouth Railway and Harbour Company to make and maintain a Branch from their authorized Railway in the Parish of Sidmouth; and for Other Purposes" (see Hansard). This venture fell over in a mess of company law without even completing the railway line 3. The railway finally came to Sidmouth in 1874, minus the harbour portion of the plan.

Over a century later, there still isn't a harbour, but it may yet happen if the Port Royal marina development plans go ahead.

1. See Chips Barber's Sidmouth Past and Present, pages 11-.
2. The reason for the Russian connection is unknown, but at the time the two countries were on good terms. Sidmouth's Alma Bridge is, naturally, one of any number of monuments to the Battle of Alma in the Crimean War, only a couple of decades later.
3. See Shrimpton v. The Sidmouth Railway and Harbour Company, The Law Times Reports, February 29th 1868.
- RG

WW2 documentary: memories sought

2010-04-12T18:17:00.001+01:00

Carolyn Wells writes:

I am working on a television documentary for Discovery about the posting of American troops in Devon during the Second World War. I am currently looking for anyone who has any memories of what it was like to have US troops in the area, and how they interacted with the local community. If anyone has any memories I can be contacted on carolynwells0@gmail.com

- RG

Baring-Gould and the great Bindon landslip

2010-04-07T10:25:00.008+01:00

In East Devon, Seaton (or at least its easternmost part, Axmouth Harbour) is at one end of the famous Axmouth-Lyme Regis landslip terrain, the Undercliff, a region bibliographically under the vast shadow of John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman. However, there's an earlier novel set in this part of East Devon and Dorset: Winefred, a story of the chalk cliffs (Sabine Baring-Gould, 1900). A romantic melodrama ("Love, iniquity, treachery, smuggling, redemption") it's set around the then hamlet of Seaton. The heroine Winefred Marley is torn between twin heritages, that of her gentleman father and her smuggler mother, and the novel features the famous Lyme Bay smuggler Jack Rattenbury.

From the start, we know all is not well with the landscape, as Winefred and her mother Jane have been made homeless by cracks appearing in their house. This proves to be the first precursor to the novel's climactic event: the great Bindon landslip on the Christmas Eve of 1839, where a huge tract of farmland slipped to produce the feature now called Goat Island. Toward the end of the book Jane Marley is shown something worrying by a man working near her clifftop house:

"Missus," said he, "I advise you to budge. Something is going to take place; we don't know what, and I've had orders to give you warning."

"I do not understand you."

"Come and see for yourself."

Jane followed the ganger, and he led her from the house, through the bushes, to a point on the edge of the cliff that commanded the beach and the sea some three hundred feet below.

She was silent.

No wind was stirring. The moment was that of the turn of the tide. At a distance of half a mile from the shore the surface of the water heaved like the bosom of of a sleeper in rhythmic throb. There were no rollers, no white horses.

But nearer land the sea was boiling. Volumes of muddy water surged up in bells as from a great depth, and spread in glistening sheets, that threw out wavelets which clashed with the undulations of the tide. Moreover, there appeared something like a mighty monster of the deep, ruddy brown, heaving his back above the water.

"That which is coming in is sweet water," said the man. "One of our chaps has ventured down and tasted it. It is not the fountains of the deep that are broken up, but the land springs are feeding the ocean. Did you ever witness the like?"

"Yes," said Jane, "there was something of the kind took place, but only in a small way, before the crack formed when my old cottage was ruined."

"Exactly, missus. And there is going to happen something of the same sort here, but on a mighty scale, to which that was but as nothing. Where it will begin, how far it will extend, all that is what no mortal can guess. Now you know why I have been sent to tell you to clear out as fast as you can. If you want my help, you are welcome to it."

Furthermore, the birds and the rabbits have deserted the cliff. In true movie-cliche style, Jane goes back to the house alone, locking the door behind her to pack (because she has a secret stash of gold). But the villain, the evil ferryman Olver Dench, is hiding there. He attacks her, packs a carpet-bag with the gold, and leaves her tied up and locked in the house. She manages to get to the window in time to see the landslip starting:

Looking out she saw Dench standing irresolute — as one dazed. She saw something more. At that moment the house swayed like a ship. The surface of the land broke up, and seemed transmuted into fluid, for in one place it heaved like a mounting billow, and in another sank like the trough of a wave. It was to Jane, peering through the little window as though she were looking at a tumbling sea through the porthole of a cabin. Again the house lurched, and so suddenly and to such an acute angle, that Jane fell from the table.

(To be concluded) - The Graphic serialisation

Sabine Baring-Gould was an interesting character. Yet another prolific - see bibiliography - but largely forgotten novelist, he combined broad antiquarian and folklore interests, such as The Book of Were-Wolves (Gutenberg EText-No. 5324) and Curious myths of the Middle Ages (Internet Archive curiousmythsofmi00bariuoft), with hymn-writing, folksong collection and, it appears, general eccentricity (as told in the story of his failing to recognise his own small daughter at a children's party). The diverse contents of his library can be seen at Devon Libraries' Sabine Baring-Gould's library at Killerton list.

Judging by the description of Winefred, a story of the chalk cliffs by Seaton Visitor Centre Trust, Baring-Gould's overall personality is reflected in the wealth of geological and topographic detail. As The Pall Mall Gazette review said:

He doubtless knows his public, and his public doubtless enjoys the didactic manner in which he pauses in his story to give long passages on the geological formations of the cliffs of South Devonshire, wedges of informing discourse on the history of smuggling on the south coast, instructive scraps about bacon-curing and tinder-boxes, and long string of platitudes upon the general influence of education.

- The Pall Mall Gazette (London, England), Wednesday, December 19, 1900

Winefred: a story of the chalk cliffs is still a good yarn, though. It was serialized in The Graphic in 1899 and is out of copyright (Baring-Gould died in 1924); Google have scanned it, but only gives US access. (Of related interest, William S. Baring-Gould, the prominent Sherlock Holmes scholar and analyst, was one of Baring-Gould's grandsons, so it looks as if the cataloguing fervour ran in the family).

As to the resolution to the cliffhanger in The Graphic... The previous episode left Jane Marley trapped in the house amid the landslip; and now spectators above, including her daughter Winefred, see a running figure. It's not Jane Marley, but Olver Dench, carrying the carpet-bag. He runs in terror as the landscape tears itself to pieces around him, giant fissures opening.

Rendered crazy with fear he mounted a fragment of rock and saw about him the wreckage as of a world - prostrate trees, leaning pillars of rock, disrupted masses of soil, bushes draggling over to drop into the throats open to swallow them.

Dench makes a final attempt to escape by jumping one such chasm, but can't or won't leave the heavy bag of gold:

He ran, leaped, was flying in space over the chasm, touched the rock on the farther side, caught at the grass, but was overbalanced, dragged backward from the crest by the weight of the bag, and went down with a tuft of wiry grass and hawkweed in his right hand, and disappeared in the midst of the rock and earth that was in process of being chewed. Now the carpet-bag, then a leg, next a hand appeared, and went under again. Then up came the head, only next moment to be drawn beneath and disappear in the mighty mill.

When the landslip ceases, however, amid the general devastation the house remains, damaged but still largely intact, and Jane Marley is found alive and not badly hurt. She and Winefred are reconciled, Jack Rattenbury promises to go straight and gets parental blessing to marry Winefred, and all (except the buried Dench who "has gone to his account") live happily ever after.

Here's a contemporary factual account:

Supposed earthquake in Dorsetshire

One of the greatest convulsions of nature ever on record, or that has taken place within the memory of man in this neighbourhood, has occcurred in Dowlands and Bending Cliffs, situated between Lyme and Axmouth harbour. Various are the opinions respecting it - some attribute it to the long-continued and heavy rains, others insisting on its being an earthquake. It certainly has every appearance of the latter. The inhabitants are no strangers to the occasional sliding of the cliffs, on this part of the coat, both east and west, but here is presented a scene of awful grandeur.

The above cliffs, which are very lofty, are about three miles west of Lyme Regis.

On Christmas Eve, Mr Chaple, the tenant of Dowland's estate, invited his workmen to the farm-house, to regale them for the evening, among whom were the occupants of four cottages, situated on the common at the foot of the cliffs. On their return home they found considerable difficulty in opening their doors, but took little noticce of it. On rising on Christmas morning they discovered a settlement of their homes; and becoming alarmed, removed their goods with all speed, and retired to Dowland's farm, about a mile on the top of the cliffs, for safety. And very providentially too; for shortly after an immense portion of the top cliffs, consisting of between forty and fify acres of arable and pasture land, with their crops, together with the common below, sunk to a depth varying from 50 to 100 feet; two of the above tenements being completely buried, whilst the other two are shattered to their very foundations. The scene presents a spectacle not easily described - gigantic rocks having been rent asunder, lofty trees buried beneath the mighty mass, with only their tops visible; large fields with their crops, separated, one part here and another there - immense precipices formed, awful chasms which appear bottomless, the whole of which strike the beholder with terror and amazement and present a striking view of the Almighty power of Him "who holds the mountains in the scales and the hills in a balance." The length of cliffs affected by this shock is more than two miles, and perhaps in breadth about one, encompassing about a thousand acres. But perhaps the most remarkable phenomenon of the whole is, that immense and ponderous rocks in front of this scene of action have been forced by the concussion from their beds, where they have reposed for ages, under the bed of the ocean beyond low water mark, and made their appearance in pyramids and different forms - in some places 40 or 50 feet above the sand, and have wonderfully formed a sort of harbour, while the beach adjoining the land remains unmoved. Boats have entered this naturally formed harbour on the eastern side, which is shallow, and found in the middle three fathoms of water. Outside the rocks thus formed, towards the sea, is about five fathoms at high water. Thousands of persons have already been to visit this extraordinary scene. No doubt but it will attract numbers of the nobility and gentry to Lyme Regis. The celebrated Pinney cliffs, which are situated betwixt Lyme and Dowlands, and which have been admired for their romantic scenery, sinks into comparative insignificance, and its lofty rocks must "hide their diminished heads" when compared with the grandeur and sublimity which Dowland's cliffs wll in future present. Dr Buckland, of Oxford, the eminent geologist, who has been residing in Lyme for some time past, has prolonged his stay, in order to explore and view the wonders of this phenomenon of nature. He states that he never witnessed anything equal to it in England. It is to be hoped that his, or some other able pen, will gratify the public by a full and proper description of the scene.

- The Hull Packet, January 10, 1840

Update, June 2011: Winefred, a story of the chalk cliffs is now available on the Internet Archive.

- RG

Devon and Cornwall Illustrated

2010-04-06T14:34:00.010+01:00

A nice regional example of some of the superb books digitised by Google: Devonshire & Cornwall Illustrated (from original drawings by T. Allom, W.H. Bartlett, &c., with historical and topographical descriptions by J. Britton & E.W. Brayley, Illustrated by Thomas Allom, Fisher, Fisher & Jackson, 1832). See title page.

Dawlish

Brixham
Apart from the general historical, topographical and aesthetic interest, the book has considerable technological and bibliographic importance as one of the early applications of prints from steel-plate engraving. Copper plates wore out rapidly, giving print runs in the hundreds, but steel plates ran to thousands of prints, enabling the production of popular and inexpensive editions of topgraphical books such as Devon and Cornwall Illustrated.

Torquay
Chapter 5 of this study by James M'Kenzie-Hall - Illustrated Picture Books: the production of 19th century topographical books with steel engravings with particular reference to the London firms of Fisher, Son 7 Co and George Virtue - focuses on the work of Allom and Bartlett.

Exmouth
- RG

Charles and Devon dialect

2010-03-09T14:10:00.005Z

From BBC Devon a few days ago: Passing down old Devon dialect.

The discovery of a book full of old Devon words and sayings has prompted one Devon man to try and preserve them for future generations. David Squire from north Devon was looking through some possessions which belonged to his late father when he stumbled on a book. The book, Local History of Charles by EJ Cotsford, contains pages of old Devon dialect. Although published in 1984, the dialect probably dates back to the 1800s.

I have to admit I'd never heard of Charles, but the Genuki entry places it "6 miles N by W of South Molton" - it's a hamlet close to the quarries of Brayford on the Bray valley (see Google Maps) - and the Cotsford account appears to be one of only two about it.

The BBC site has a sample from the glossary: A-Z of old Devon dialect. This and the discussion includes some classics such as "dimpsey" for twlight (a word that historically appears in variants such as "dimpse" and "dimmet" in both Devon and Somerset - see page 387 of Thomas Wright's Dictionary of obsolete and provincial English). "Angletwitch" ("a fidgety child or quick moving creature") is an interesting one, as it also means earthworm ("angledog" too) and probably derives from anguille, the French for eel (Wright, page 73). Other terms, although sometimes listed as unique to Devon, are actually quite widespread in dialect, as with Cotsford's "phizog" (a person's face - a droll abbreviation of "physiognomy").

On the subject of dialect, see our previous post Classics of Devon dialect, which discusses a number of works of Devon dialect literature , many online. A couple of them - the 1837 A Dialogue in the Devonshire Dialect by "A Lady" and the 1892 The peasant speech of Devon: With other matters connected therewith by Sarah Hewett (or Hewitt) - have glossaries.

- RG

Local Group updates: March 2010

2010-03-08T00:30:00.002Z

Lewdown Past. HIlary Whitelock has sent us details of the 2010 programme for the Lewdown Local History Group. See the previous posting Lewdown Past or our Local Groups page.

Branscombe Project. Sue Dymond sent us a link for the Branscombe Project website www.branscombeproject.org.uk, which coordinates a wide-ranging variety of events and research projects about Branscombe and its district.

The Branscombe Project began nearly fifteen years ago. A group of people, some of whom had lived all their lives in Branscombe, others relative newcomers, decided they wanted to find out more about their village and the wider landscape.

The time-span is anywhere from prehistoric times to the present, and the idea is to explore changing landscapes, changing lives, historical materials, and living memories.

We have taped over a hundred interviews, dug in the archives and in the ground, and walked the landscape. People have lent us photographs, documents, postcards and objects.

We put on annual exhibitions, winter talks, documentary dramas and ‘disappeared houses’ walks. We have covered topics as diverse as Branscombe Ghosts, Maps, Farming, Cliff Plats, Orchards, Shops & Trades, the Churchyard, Lace Making, Smuggling, Outside Loos, Road History, School History, Hedgerow Dating, Archaeological Excavation & Field-walking, House & Family Histories, Gardens, the Blackshirts, and the wreck of the Napoli.

Our events and activities are open to all - there is no subscription and no membership list.

I've added it also to our Local Groups page.
- RG