Devon became one of the first areas of England to be settled at the end of the last ice age. About 6000 BC the first hunters and gatherers settled in the Dartmoor area, they cut down most of the oak forests that grew in the territory of the present swamps. From those times, 500 Neolithic sites remain in Dartmoor.

In 43 AD, the Romans came to the southwestern peninsula of England, and by 55 they occupied the entire region that they inhabited Dumnoni- Celtic people, from whose name the name originated Devonian... The Romans kept the future county under occupation for 250 years. Around 410 A.D. the Romans left Devon, and the British state of Dumnonia was formed on the basis of Roman settlements. In the middle of the 9th century, it was swallowed up by Wessex.

The capital of Devon County is a city Exeter... It's on the river The ex, which gave it its name, not far from its mouth.

Unlike other English cities, Exeter has few historic buildings. The fact is that in 1942 Exeter became one of five cities in England, destroyed by order of Hitler in retaliation for the British bombing of Lubeck (a city in northern Germany).

Exeter's main square - Cathedral Close.

The main attraction of Exeter is Cathedral of the Apostle Peter.

The earliest mentions of the cathedral date back to 1050, but Exeter Cathedral was officially founded in 1133 year... In 1258, the architecture of the cathedral was considered obsolete and they began to rebuild it in the Gothic style, following the example of Salisbury Cathedral, which was located nearby.

But most of the buildings in the Norman style have survived - this is part of the walls and two massive towers.

In the cathedral longest continuous vaulted ceiling in England.

Henry Wallam Morton, in his book England and Wales. Walks in Britain, describes Exeter Cathedral as follows: " All arches here are flawless, and each is an exact repetition of the previous one, any of the columns is a copy of the one opposite. Reminds of music translated into the language of mathematics! At some moment it begins to seem that all this perfection, just look, will ascend to heaven or dissolve in the sounds of the cold ceremonial anthem. The only thing that binds the Exeter Temple to the ground is the organ installed in a notoriously unfortunate place (namely, above the choirs), so that it closes the large east window. An architect's miscalculation serves as a life-saving anchor for Exeter".

Life-size model of the keystone.

During World War II, Exeter Cathedral was badly damaged by air raids. Fortunately, most of the valuables have been stored in the bomb shelter. For example, the large eastern stained glass window is a fine example of 14th century high art.

In the nave of the cathedral there is a unique Minstrels Gallery which dates back to 1360. The gallery consists of 12 sculptures of angels playing medieval musical instruments.

Also interesting wooden bishop's throne(works in 1470). It is so tall that it doesn’t fit in one photo.

Choirs

The very first footrests ( misericords) were installed in the choir stalls of the cathedral. One could sit on them discreetly during a long service. The stands are made in the form of animals, mythical creatures.

Exeter Cathedral is also famous astronomical clock made in the 15th century. They are interesting in that their creation was based on the idea that it is the Earth, and not the Sun, that is the center of the Universe. The clock shows not only the time, but also the phases of the moon.

So that the mice do not spoil the mechanism, the door is made cat hole bishop.

And eze time about the organ. Organ located on a decorated pedestal between the nave and the choir. It was originally built in 1665, after being rebuilt by Henry Wiliss in 1891. It has some unusual details that make it stand out from the rest.

The cathedral is decorated with flowers.

The chapel in which the Bishop of Oldham rests (early 16th century) is decorated with various images owls... The reason lies in the pun on the bishop's surname "Ow [l] dem" and its local pronunciation.

The western facade of the cathedral is decorated with statues of kings and angels.

Like many other cities, Exeter retains traces of the stay of the Romans, Britons, Anglo-Saxons and other peoples here. From the Romans, who built a rather large city here, part of fortress wall and Roman terms.

Fragment of the city wall with a memorial plaque: On July 16, 1452, King Henry VI entered the city through the South Gate of the city wall.

Remains of ruins Saxon Church.

William the Conqueror built here Rougemont castle.

Exeter is home to the oldest public park in England, located on the north side of Rougemont Castle - Northernheim Gardens(Northernhay Gardens).

It was founded in 1612 and is considered a place where the inhabitants of the city of Exeter can walk on foot.

In Roman times, there were quarries on the site of the park, where stone was mined for the construction of city walls.

In 1642, during the Civil War, a huge moat was dug in the park to protect Exeter, from which the park lost its former appearance. In 1664, the inhabitants of the city restored the Nosernheim Gardens on their own: they planted several hundred elms, laid gravel paths.
After extensive redevelopment and renovation in 1860, Nosernheim Gardens acquired a Victorian landscape style. Monuments and statues were erected in the park, beautiful trees and bushes were planted, beautiful flower beds were laid out.

By the middle of the twentieth century, ancient elm orchards were covered with a fungus (Dutch elm disease). All the trees have been cut down, but the area is still attractive.
Town Hall built in the 15th century and is one of the oldest existing municipal buildings in the country.

Devonshire, or Devon (English Devonshire, abbreviated English Devon [ˈdɛvən]) is a county in the south-west of England. Population 1.102 million (11th place among non-metropolitan counties, 2004 data). The capital is Exeter, the largest city is Plymouth. Devon produces potatoes, cereals, vegetables; rich in tin, copper (over 35,000 tons annually), manganese, iron, silver, coal, marble, shale and various types of clay. Fishing and shipbuilding are highly developed. There are many good harbors, especially on the south coast.

In 43 AD, the Romans came to the southwestern peninsula of England, and by 55 they occupied the entire region, which, according to the research of the historian William Camden, inhabited Dumnoni - a Celtic people, from whose name the name "Devon" originated. The Romans kept the future county under occupation for 250 years. However, it did not succumb to Roman influence as much as neighboring Dorset and Somerset, mainly Roman traces are found in the current capital of Exeter and the city of Topsham, founded by the Romans as a seaport.

Around 410 A.D. the Romans left Devon, and the British state of Dumnonia was formed on the basis of Roman settlements. In the middle of the 9th century, it was swallowed up by Wessex.

Since the Norman conquest of England, Devon has served as the scene of many civil conflicts and hostilities - including the War of the Scarlet and White Rose, the uprising of the impostor Perkin Warbeck in 1497, the Western Uprising (due to the Reformation of the Church) of 1549, of course, did not bypass the county and English Revolution. In 1688, the arrival of William of Orange began the Glorious Revolution in Brixham.

Economy

A county with an inherently agricultural economy, Devon, like Cornwall to the west, is less developed than the rest of the southern counties, due to a decline in traditional industries - especially fishing, mining and agriculture. The FMD epidemic that broke out in 2001 severely damaged the local economy.

After the railroad was built in Devon in the 19th century, seaside resorts flourished in the county - aided by both the local mild climate and historical heritage coupled with wonderful nature. During this time, tourism became the mainstay of the Devonian economy. However, since the middle of the 20th century, there has been a decline in seaside tourism in the country, and only in recent years has there been some revival of tourist interest in the county - mainly due to national parks. In 2004, the industry generated £ 1.2 billion in revenue.

Culture

Devon gave birth to many customs and even sports, for example, its own kind of wrestling. Back in the 19th century, a crowd of 17,000 gathered in Devonport for a fight between the champions of Devon and Cornwall. Another Devonian sport was "outhurling", which was played until the 20th century. The Dartmoor step has survived to this day - a special dance, and in the city of Otteri the traditional form of celebrating the Night of Guy Fawkes is still preserved - people who have lived in the city for a long time are invited to run through the streets with barrels of burning tar on their backs.

The county is also partially home to England's only natural UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Jurassic Coast of Dorset and East Devon.

The high schools in Devon are mostly general education, although there are grammar schools (lyceums) in Coliton, Churston and Torquay. There are 37 state and 23 private schools in the county. In most schools, it is possible to study in a preparatory (before the university) class. Among the many Devonian colleges, the internationally renowned Darlington College of Art is worth noting. There are two universities in the county - the University of Plymouth and the University of Exeter, although higher education can be obtained at The University College Plymouth St Mark & St John, and in the so-called "network of colleges of Plymouth University."

Devon was the birthplace of famous sailors - Sir Francis Drake and Walter Reilly, as well as writer Agatha Christie, poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and vocalist of the rock band Coldplay Chris Martin. Teignmouth is home to rockers Muse, as well as Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist for Kasabian, from Newton Abbott.

In honor of Devon, the scientist Adam Sedgwick named the geological era. The motto of the county is the phrase "with God's help", which was the motto of Sir Francis Drake.

The county of Devonshire, which is located on the coast of Lyme Bay, cherishes a mystical history that began on February 8, 1885 in the town of Exmouth. Early in the morning, residents of the city on the freshly fallen snow saw mysterious footprints resembling prints of small hooves. Many especially superstitious ones were alarmed, believing that the Lord had turned away from them, since the devil himself had come to their land.

Riots and rumors quickly swept the county, and the traces immediately interested the people of science. Each of them was ten centimeters long, seven wide, and the distance between two adjacent prints, which was exactly the same everywhere, was twenty centimeters. The tracks stretched in a perfectly straight line, and, therefore, only a creature moving on two legs could leave them, and nothing like this was ever found in the south of England.

The footprints were also distinguished by one more inexplicable feature: although the snow that fell the night before was very soft and fluffy, each imprint in it was covered with a thin ice crust, which made it especially clear. Such prints could only appear if the hooves (or what left these prints) were in the thickness of the snow for a very short time and were at the same time abnormally hot. But the devilry did not end there either.

When people decided to follow the route of the strange beast, they faced an even more complex riddle. The creature made its way through fences, rooftops, three-meter stacks of hay and other obstacles. An even chain of tracks did not deviate a centimeter from a straight trajectory, and the stride length remained equal to 20 cm.

This mysticism excited even skeptics and the mysterious events were immediately covered in local newspapers, where they at least somehow tried to clarify the situation and calm the public. Some pages have survived to this day.

As it turned out further, after passing through Exmouth, the unknown creature headed north, but then turned sharply to the west at a right angle and climbed over the mouth of the Aix River, which is about 3 km long. On the other side, the mysterious traveler turned sharply south again, reached the town of Teignmouth and came to the shore of the ice-covered Lyme Bay, where his trail was lost.

After a closer inspection of the area, the trackers again stumbled upon hoof prints on the other side of the bay. Once again on land, the creature headed south-west, passed several small settlements, passed through snow-covered fields and pastures, arrived at Bikton, one of the districts of the city of Totnes, where the tracks were finally cut off. The total length of this route was over 160 kilometers.

In one of the parishes, through the territory of which a two-legged hoofed ungulate made its way, the local pastor, the Reverend J.M. Musgrave, calming the agitated parishioners, assured them that nothing special had happened, that a kangaroo who had escaped from the menagerie left footprints in the snow ... ...

Only where did the kangaroo's hooves come from and how he managed to walk 160 kilometers in one night in frosty weather, while jumping over fences and climbing on rooftops, the holy father could not explain. Local "experts" offered other, no more convincing explanations. They said that the footprints belong to a lame hare, toad, otter, a huge bird that flew from the continent, and other absurd guesses.

Meanwhile, the press continued to discuss and sketch the devil's hoof prints, trying to get to the bottom of the truth.

Many years have passed since this mysterious incident, but its mystery has not yet been solved, and it still attracts the attention of scientists, professional researchers, writers, journalists and just inquisitive people. And often they find new documents - written eyewitness testimonies, old newspaper publications - that help to get closer to the solution and give a reason for proposing new versions of what happened.

These enthusiasts include Robert Lesniakiewicz, a former career border guard officer, engineer, journalist, writer, one of the leading Polish ufologists and researchers of mysterious natural phenomena, as well as Dr. Milos Esenski, a Slovak journalist and writer who has devoted himself to the study of the same problems. In a joint article "Devil's Footprints in Devonshire", prepared in 2002 for the Polish magazine Nieznany Swiat, Lesnyakevich and Yessenski analyze the data available today and put forward their own hypothesis for the appearance of the mentioned footprints. One of the most important documents related to the incident in question is fragments of the book "Riddles and Notes from Devon and Cornwall", written by the daughter of a pastor from the town of Dawlish, Henrietta Fasdon, and published at the turn of the 50-60-ies of the XIX century:

“The tracks appeared at night. Since my father was a pastor, other clergymen from our Anglican diocese came to him, and they all began to talk about these unusual footprints that could be seen throughout Dawlish. The tracks were in the shape of a small hoof, inside some of them, as it were, claw prints were visible. One line of footprints that stretched from the threshold of our house to the sacristy stood out especially sharply in the snow-covered churchyard. Another approached the wall of the columbarium, broke off in front of it, and then continued on the other side. Many similar traces were also on the roofs of houses in different parts of the town ... I still remember how clear these strange and somehow ominous traces were, how many of them there were and what fear they instilled in my soul. I then thought that such traces could have been left by huge wild cats, and I was very afraid that the servant would forget to lock all the doors at night. "

In the fall of 1957, an article by paranormal researcher Eric Dingwall titled "The Devil Walking Again" appeared in Tomorrow magazine. In it, in particular, the story of a certain Colin Wilson was cited about how in the summer of 1950, on one of the deserted sea beaches of Devonshire, he saw on the smooth and dense surface of wet sand, compacted by sea waves, strange prints similar to the tracks of hooves. The prints looked fresh and very crisp, "as if they had been cut out with a razor or stamped with some sharpened instrument." The spacing between the prints was about 180 centimeters, and they were significantly deeper than those that remained in the sand of Wilson's bare feet. And he weighed over 80 kilograms.

Strange traces went from the very edge of the water, but there were no traces back to the water. At the same time, the impression was created that the traces appeared literally a few minutes before the arrival of Wilson. Had he come to the beach a little earlier, then, perhaps, he would have met face to face with the Devonshire devil himself. Later, Wilson joined the ranks of researchers on the mystery of the "devil", and in 1979 his book The Occult Mysteries was published in London, where, in a chapter on the Devonshire devil, the author writes:

“The tracks looked like this creature was looking for something. It wandered around the backyards, and it seemed that he was completely unfamiliar with the human way of life. " And then Wilson reports a real sensation “One of the correspondents of the Illustrated London News quotes a fragment from the notes of the famous British polar explorer James Ross, dated May 1840. When the Ross ships anchored near one of the islands of the Antarctic Kerguelen archipelago, the members of the expedition were surprised to see hoofprints on the snow-covered coast. They went in the direction where the tracks led, but soon they reached a rocky hill, free of snow, where the tracks were no longer visible. The appearance of hoof prints in these places seemed completely inexplicable, since no hoofed animals were found on these islands. "

Already in our time, the events described above have received an unexpected and surprising continuation. It turned out that one of the members of the Ross expedition, a certain Clark Perry, after being fired from the British Navy, settled in Devonshire, in the already mentioned coastal town of Teignmouth, located ten kilometers southwest of Exmouth.In 1980, among the papers of the late Clark, he was found a diary and a daguerreotype (old photograph), which showed Clarke himself, holding in his hand some incomprehensible spherical object. As for the diary, the following picture of events was formed from its regular and lengthy entries.

The item Clarke is photographed with is a metal ball he brought back from Kerguelen. According to Clark, James Ross deliberately kept silent about the fact that on the island, in addition to inexplicable footprints in the snow, two strange metal balls were found, one of them intact and the other broken into pieces. ball and led from it in a perfectly straight line to a rocky hill. According to Clark, the balls they found fell from the sky, while he adds that during his stay on the island he did not leave the feeling of the constant presence of an invisible spy near the members of the expedition, who did not take his eyes off them.

When the ships of the expedition headed for the island of Tasmania, both mysterious balls - both whole and broken - lay in Clark Perry's sailor's trunk. However, when the other sailors found out what souvenirs Clark was carrying from Kerguelen, they were seized with superstitious fear, and they began to persuade him to throw the balloons overboard. However, he did not obey, and then the sailors demanded that Clark, along with his balloons, leave the ship as soon as they arrived in Hobart, the main city and port of Tasmania. This time Clark obeyed, and after a while he was hired as a sailor on another passing ship, on which he safely arrived in England in the fall of 1842. This time, during the entire voyage, he did not say a word to anyone about what lay at the very bottom of his trunk.

Clark settled in Teignmouth, found a job there on the beach, and hid the chest with mysterious souvenirs in the basement of the house, where they lay for thirteen years, until February 3, 1855. That ill-fated evening, Clark returned home with several friends, and they all were very tipsy. The libations were continued, and on the "drunken business" Clark let his friends know about the balloons. Those wished to immediately inspect the overseas curiosity. Everyone went down to the basement, Clark retrieved the balls from the chest. According to the unanimous opinion, it was decided to open the whole and intact ball. Everyone in turn began to hit the ball with a heavy hammer with all their might. After one of the blows from the inside of the ball, there was a grinding sound, and a crack appeared on its surface. Clarke instantly sobered up, escorted his friends out of the house and went to bed.

Going to work the next morning, Clark saw that the crack on the surface of the ball had grown noticeably, and realized that the "souvenir" could crack at any moment. Thereafter, contrary to custom, no records appeared for several days, and then, on February 7, 1855, only one phrase was recorded, stating that on that day Clark would throw the balloons into the sea on the beach at Teignmouth, and then go to Exmouth. where he will spend the weekend with his friend. At this, Clark Perry's diary ended ...

Clark's relatives who live to this day in Teignmouth were able to find out that he died on the night of February 8-9, 1855 in Bickton, that is, where the 160-kilometer journey of the Devonshire Devil, which began on the beach in Exmouth, ended. Does this mean that the devil was really looking for something, as Colin Wilson claims in his book? And he was looking for Clark Perry with the intention of killing him. After all, Clark was the only person who died in Devonshire that night ...

But why and how did the creature from the ball kill the former sailor, and what then happened to this creature itself? It can be assumed that the answer to the first part of the question is that the creature needed to get rid of an unwanted witness who opened the veil of secrecy of an unusual object bursting into his hands. The answer to the second part contains a death certificate, which says that Clark Perry died of a heart failure (as in ancient times myocardial infarction was called) caused by a strong mental shock. Perhaps the shock was the horror that gripped Clark when the devil visited him at night.

It is possible that both in 1855 and in 1950, people saw traces of the same creature, only over the past 95 years it has grown and matured. By the way, at various times in the press it was reported about the appearance of traces of mysterious bipedal ungulates - in the snow or on sandy beaches - not only in Devonshire and on the Kerguelen: in Scotland in the winter of 1839-1840 (Times newspaper dated March 13, 1840), in Poland in 1855 (Illustrated London News, March 17, 1885), Belgium in 1945 (Doubt magazine No. 20, 1945), Brazil in 1954 (Bernard Huvelmans' book "In the footsteps of unseen animals").

You may be interested in: - the place where the Devil's Bible was written.

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County Devon

Devonian (Devon) - this is the land of the sun, sea, surf, as well as tea with cream, cider and unusually delicious pastries.

Located in the center of the southwest region of England, Devon is adjacent to Cornwall to the west and Somerset and Dorset to the east.

In the south of the county, there are many monuments of architecture from the era of the Norman conquest. North Devon is famous for its charming typical English villages.

As well as numerous monuments of church architecture - Buckfast Abbey (where the monks still make colored glass and wine), Buckland Abbey (the birthplace of Francis Drake), Torrey Abbey, located in an area known as the English Riviera due to its mild climate.

Socio-economic development of the county:

Devon is a ceremonial non-metropolitan county in the southwest of England with a population of 1,135,700. The county's central city is Exeter.

The vast majority of the population is White British - 98.7%.

79.3% of the population are economically active, 13.1% are self-employed, 3.7% are unemployed.

The job index is 0.82 (82 jobs per 100 people of working age). One Jobcentre vacancy accounts for 1.5 people receiving unemployment benefits.

The average wage in Devon is £ 443.4 per week (£ 471 for men and £ 381.4 for women). The average salary for full-time workers is £ 23,200 per year.

Average property price - 223,374 pounds, average rental price - 715 pounds per month.

http://www.devon.gov.uk/

http://www.visitdevon.co.uk/

http://www.lotstodo.co.uk/

http://www.visitsouthdevon.co.uk/

http://www.northdevon.com/

http://www.visitsouthwest.co.uk/destinations/devon/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/england/devon/