Except on the moors Devonshire is well timbered. The elm is perhaps
the most conspicuous tree, but the beech and the ash are also very
abundant. There is a very fine wych-elm, with a trunk 16 ft. in
circumference, in Sharpham Park. The sycamore, which when well-developed
is a very beautiful tree, here attains to fine proportions, and there
are noble examples at Widecombe-in-the-Moor. The oak, although it grows
freely, does not, as a rule, reach a great size, though there are some
well-grown specimens at Tawstock Court. There is an oak at Flitton, near
North Molton, which is thirty-three feet in circumference, and the Meavy
oak is twenty-five feet in girth. An oak-tree thirteen and a half feet
in diameter was cut down at Okehampton in 1776, and there is a tradition
that two couples danced upon its stump. There are no very remarkable
yews in Devonshire. Probably the finest are at Stoke Gabriel, Kenn,
and Withycombe Raleigh, but the first of these is only fifteen feet
in girth at the level of the ground. There is a story that, under the
yew-tree at Mamhead, Boswell vowed that he would never get drunk
again. At Bowringsleigh there is a magnificent avenue of lime-trees,
and the avenue of araucarias at Bicton, planted in 1842, is said to be
the finest in the kingdom. Several manor-houses possess one or more
noble old mulberry-trees planted in the time of James I, with a view to
encourage the cultivation of silk. At Buckland Abbey, once the home of
Sir Francis Drake, there are some beautiful tulip-trees. Palms and other
sub-tropical trees grow without protection at several places on the
south coast; and at Kingsbridge and other towns pomegranates, oranges,
lemons, and citrons will ripen their fruit in the open air.
A good many places in Devonshire take their names from trees. Thus
Ashburton is named from the ash, Egg Buckland from the oak, Bickleigh
from the beech, and Holne from the holly.
8. A Peregrination of the Coast: 1, The Bristol Channel.
Devonshire, like Cornwall and Kent, is remarkable in having both a
northern and a southern seaboard; a peculiarity shared by no other
English county. Its two shores present striking points of difference.
The south coast-line is broken by many estuaries. On the other shore
there is only one important river mouth. There are, it is true, many
little coves and inlets on the Bristol Channel, some of them of great
beauty; but they make little show upon the map of England, and the stern
outline of the North Devon coast affords no harbour of refuge.
Both shores are rock-bound. But while the southern cliffs are, in great
measure, of warm-hued and even brightly-coloured stone, those on the
north are dark and gloomy; and their tones, although in some places very
beautiful, are set in quieter key--in grey or brown or even verging upon
black. Again, the southern shore is fringed at some points with sandy
beaches; while on the north coast there are no sands at all, except on
the western side of Bideford Bay.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account