Widecombe in the Moor
Widecombe in the Moor is a village and large civil parish on Dartmoor National Park in Devon, England. Its church is known as the Cathedral of the Moors on account of its tall spire and its size, relative to the small population it serves, it is a favourite tourist centre for its scenic character and for its connection to the popular song “Widecombe Fair”. The name is thought to derive from ` Withy-combe'. According to Widecombe's official website, there are 196 households in the village, although its large and sprawling parish stretches for many miles and encompasses dozens of isolated cottages and moorland farms; the parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Manaton, Ashburton, Buckland-in-the-Moor and Dartmoor Forest. Tourism is a major source of income for Widecombe today, within a small area of the village there are several gift shops, two cafes and two pubs; the village is well known for Widecombe Fair, held annually and celebrated by a folksong of the same name, featuring "Old Uncle Tom Cobley and All".
Its words were first published in 1880, the characters from the song are featured in many of the souvenirs on sale in the local shops. Popular are the traditional Toby Jugs – a type of mug, with a handle, shaped as a three-dimensional caricature of a person's head – sometimes fictional, sometimes a celebrity; the church of St Pancras is known as the "Cathedral of the Moors" in recognition of its 120-foot tower and large capacity for such a small village. Built in the fourteenth century, in the Perpendicular style, using locally quarried granite, it was enlarged over the following two centuries on the proceeds of the local tin mining trade. Inside, the ceiling is decorated with a large number of decorative roof bosses, including the tinner’s emblem of a circle of three hares, it was badly damaged in the Great Thunderstorm of 1638 struck by ball lightning during an afternoon service. The building was packed with about 300 worshippers, four of whom were around 60 injured. Local legend relates; the Karuna Institute, a collaboration partner of Middlesex University is located here.
Widecombe Primary School is a primary school. In Widecombe churchyard is the grave of novelist Beatrice Chase who lived for much of her life in a cottage close to the village. Next to the church stands the Church House, built in 1537, it is thought to have been built as a brewery for the production of church ales, became adapted as an almshouse, became the village school. Today, it is used as a meeting place for local people. Sexton's Cottage forms the western end of the building and is now a National Trust shop and Dartmoor National Park information point, it is now managed by the National Trust. Standing in front of the building is a 15-inch naval shell, donated to the village after the First World War to thank the villagers for supplying troops with sphagnum moss; this grows in abundance in the damp Dartmoor conditions, is said to have healing properties. It was used as an emergency field dressing for injured troops; the size of the parish meant that, for centuries, families were obliged to walk for miles to attend the church every Sunday.
The task was more challenging when it came to burying their dead, whose coffins had to be carried over rough ground and both up and down exceptionally steep hills. Halfway up Dartmeet Hill, for example, lies the Coffin Stone, close to the road, where the body would be placed to allow the bearers to take a rest; the rock is split along its length. Local legend has it that the body of a wicked man was laid there. God took exception to this, struck the stone with a thunderbolt, destroying the coffin and splitting the stone in two; the deserted medieval village of Hutholes and the abandoned farmstead Dinna Clerks are nearby. The Rippon Tor Rifle Range lies within five miles of the village. In the reality show Celebrity Ghost Stories, American actor Daniel Stern claimed to have had an unsettling, supernatural, experience while on a brief visit to the village during his honeymoon in 1980, he recounted that people in the region considered Widecombe to be haunted, that the Great Thunderstorm of 1638 was blamed.
The official Widecombe-in-the-Moor website responded to the claims and dismissed the alleged hauntings as a legend borne of superstitions. In 2010, Widecombe-in-the-Moor was one of the filming locations for the Steven Spielberg film War Horse; the Widecombe-in-the-Moor Website Widecombe in The Dartmoor Archive The Church House information at the National Trust The Church House, Widecombe-in-the-Moor
North Hessary Tor transmitting station
Situated on the summit of North Hessary Tor in Devon, England is an FM radio and television transmitter which uses as aerial a 196 metres high guyed mast. It was built by the BBC in 1955 when a transmitter was needed to introduce 405 line television into Devon, it now carries a small UHF TV transmitter which serves Dartmoor. FM radio transmissions cover most of Devon and eastern parts of Cornwall, it is operated by Arqiva. In all BBC publications the national FM ERPs for North Hessary Tor are listed as 160 kW: Classic FM list their ERP as 80 kW and 80 kW for North Hessary Tor, the same as the BBC e.g. 160 kW ERP. In June 2013, BBC A moved from UHF 62- to UHF 50, to allow for the clearance of the 800 MHz band for 4G LTE mobile services. List of masts List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain The Transmission Gallery: North Hessary Tor Transmitting Station photographs, coverage maps and information North Hessary Tor Transmitter at thebigtower.com
Okehampton
Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based in the town, their joint population at the same census is 7,500. Okehampton is 21 miles west of Exeter, 26 miles north of Plymouth and 24 miles south of Barnstaple. Okehampton was founded by the Saxons; the earliest written record of the settlement is from 980 AD as Ocmundtune, meaning settlement by the Ockment, a river which runs through the town. It was recorded as a place for slaves to be freed at cross roads. Like many towns in the West Country, Okehampton grew on the medieval wool trade. Notable buildings in the town include the 15th century chapel of St. James and Okehampton Castle, established by the Norman Sheriff of Devon, Baldwin FitzGilbert. Okehampton was the caput of a large feudal barony, which at the time of the Domesday Book was held by Baldwin FitzGilbert. After his death in 1090 the tenure of the barony is obscure for the next twenty years after which it was held by the heiress Maud d'Avranches until her death in 1173, which passed to her daughter, Hawise de Curci, who married Reginald de Courtenay.
His French possessions were confiscated by the French King Louis VII, but were given, together with the marriage of his daughter Elizabeth de Courtenay, to his youngest brother Peter I of Courtenay. The Courtenay family rebuilt Okehampton Castle, until King Henry VIII seized the lands and had Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter executed for treason in 1539. Presently, the castle is owned by English Heritage and is open to the public during the summer season; the town is home to the Museum of Dartmoor Life, which has received notable visitors such as Prince Charles. Okehampton elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons; the Reform Act of 1832 abolished its representation as a rotten borough. There is a substantial army training camp on Dartmoor which can be reached via Okehampton, is referred to as "Okehampton Camp", it is managed by the Defence Training Estate, used by a variety of military units, including the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines, Lympstone and many cadet training units.
The Ten Tors event is run by the Army each year in early May from Okehampton Camp. Schools in the town include Okehampton College. There are a number of smaller primary schools in the surrounding areas for children within the catchment area of Okehampton that include South Tawton, Chagford, North Tawton and Bridestowe; the town's football team, Okehampton Argyle F. C. is a non-league club, established in 1926 after the original side, Okehampton Town, disbanded. The club competes in the South West Peninsula League which sits at Steps 6 and 7 of the National League System; the town has a rugby club, Okehampton RFC, believed to have been founded in 1884. There is a table tennis club in the town that in was purpose-built for the sport. Okehampton's location at the edge of the moor means. After years of uncertainty, the A30 trunk road was re-routed in 1988 to bypass the town, which had acted as a holiday traffic bottleneck at summer weekends. Okehampton railway station is on the former northerly rail route from Exeter to Plymouth via Tavistock.
The line from Exeter remains open for freight traffic to and from Meldon Quarry, two miles west of Okehampton. In summer, at weekends throughout the year, the Dartmoor Railway operates a heritage railway service between Okehampton and Meldon Quarry. In 1997, Devon County Council revived a passenger rail service from Exeter, on summer weekends only, in an attempt to reduce motor traffic to the national park. In March 2010, the freight operator Devon & Cornwall Railways announced plans to reinstate a daily passenger service terminating in Exeter, but this has yet to happen. In the wake of widespread disruption caused by damage to the mainline track at Dawlish by coastal storms in February 2014, leaving Plymouth and Cornwall with no rail connection to the rest of the country, Network Rail are considering reopening the Exeter-to-Plymouth route via Okehampton and Tavistock. Okehampton is served by various bus services from Exeter, Bude and Tavistock. Stagecoach service 6 links from Exeter Bus station via Exeter St Davids to Okehampton and to Bude.
Other services from Exeter Bus station include the 6A service via Exeter St Davids, which continues to Launceston. Okehampton is surrounded by many smaller towns including the hamlet of Stockley. Notable examples are the villages of South Zeal with its ancient burgage plots, granite thatched cottages and Dartmoor Folk Festival. Other nearby villages and settlements include Folly Gate, Jacobstowe and Sourton. Okehampton Town Council Okehampton at Curlie
Ealing
Ealing is a district of west London, located 7.9 miles west of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing, identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing is in the historic county of Middlesex; until the urban expansion of London in the late 19th century and early 20th centuries, it was a rural village within Ealing parish. Improvement in communications with London, culminating with the opening of the railway station in 1838, shifted the local economy to market garden supply and to suburban development. By 1902, Ealing became known as the "Queen of the Suburbs" due to its greenery and as it was halfway between city and country; as part of the growth of London in the 20th century, Ealing expanded and increased in population, becoming a municipal borough in 1901 and has formed part of Greater London since 1965. It now forms a significant retail centre with a developed night time economy. Ealing has the characteristics of both leafy suburban and inner-city developments, some areas like Pitshanger retain a village "feel".
Ealing's town centre is colloquial with Ealing Broadway, the name of both a rail interchange and a shopping centre. Most of Ealing, including the commercial district, South Ealing, Ealing Common, Montpelier and most of Hanger Hill fall under the W5 postcode. Areas to the north-west of the town centre such as Argyle Road and West Ealing fall under W13 instead. A small section north-east of the town centre, near Hanger Hill, falls under the NW10 postcode area; the population of Ealing, comprising the Ealing Broadway, Ealing Common, Cleveland and Hanger Hill wards, was 71,492 in the 2011 census. The adjacent area of Hanwell is associated with Ealing despite having a separate postcode; the Saxon name for Ealing was recorded c.700 as'Gillingas', meaning'place of the people associated with Gilla', from the personal name Gilla and the Old English suffix'-ingas', meaning'people of'. Over the centuries, the name has changed, has been known as'Illing', 1130. Archaeological evidence shows that parts of Ealing have been occupied for more than 7,000 years Iron Age pots have been discovered in the vicinity on Horsenden Hill.
A settlement is recorded here in the 12th century amid a great forest that carpeted the area to the west of London. The earliest surviving English census is that for Ealing in 1599; this list was a tally of all 85 households in Ealing village giving the names of the inhabitants, together with their ages and occupations. It survives in manuscript form at The National Archives, was transcribed and printed by K J Allison for the Ealing Historical Society in 1961. Settlements were scattered throughout the parish. Many of them were along what is now called St. Mary's Road, near to the church in the centre of the parish. There were houses at Little Ealing, Ealing Dean, Haven Green, Drayton Green and Castlebar Hill; the Church of St. Mary's, the parish church, dates back to the early 12th century; the parish of Ealing was divided into manors, such as those of Pitshanger. These were farmed. There were animals such as cows and chickens. Great Ealing School was founded in 1698 by the Church of St Mary's; this subsequently became the "finest private school in England" and had many famous pupils in the 19th century such as William S. Gilbert and Cardinal Newman.
As the area became built-up, it declined and closed in 1908. The first known maps of Ealing were made in the 18th century. With the exception of driving animals into London on foot, the transport of heavy goods tended be restricted to those times when the non-metalled roads were passable due to dry weather. However, with the passing of the Toll Road Act, this highway was gravelled and so the old Oxford Road became an busy and important thoroughfare running from east to west through the centre of the parish; this road was renamed as Uxbridge Road. The well-to-do of London smells. In 1800 the architect John Soane bought Payton Place and renamed it Pitzhanger Manor, not to live but just for somewhere green and pleasant, where he could entertain his friends and guests. Soon after the Duke of Kent bought a house at Castlebar. Soon, more affluent Londoners followed but with the intention of taking up a permanent residence, conveniently close to London; the only British prime minister to be assassinated, Spencer Perceval, made his home at Elm House.
Up until that point, Ealing was made up of open countryside and fields where, as in previous centuries, the main occupation was farming. As London grew in size, more food and materials went in and more. Since dray horses can only haul loads a few miles per day, frequent overnight stops were needed. To satisfy this demand a large number of inns were situated along the Uxbridge Road, where horses could be changed and travellers refresh themselves, prompting its favour by highwaymen. Stops in Ealing included The Bell, The Green Man and The Old Hats. At one point in history there were two pubs called the Old Hat either side of one of the many toll gates on the Uxbridge Road in West Ealing. Following the removal of the toll gate the more Westernmost pub was renamed The Halfway House; as London developed, the area became predominantly market gardens which required a greater propo
Grimspound
Grimspound is a late Bronze Age settlement, situated on Dartmoor in Devon, England. It consists of a set of 24 hut circles surrounded by a low stone wall; the name was first recorded by the Reverend Richard Polwhele in 1797. In 1893 an archaeological dig was carried out by the Dartmoor Exploration Committee, which recorded many details of Grimspound as well as, making a reconstruction of the site; the site was first settled in about 1300 BC. The 24 hut circles are surrounded by a massive granite perimeter wall, which may have stood at 1.7 metres in places. The roundhouses, with an average diameter of 3.4 metres, were each built of a double ring of granite slabs with a rubble infill, a technique still used in dry-stone walling. Hut 3 has a surviving porchway, with the two jamb stones still upright, although the lintel has fallen. There is evidence of human activity: artefacts include pottery and pot boilers. Organic remains such as wood and textiles have not survived owing to the acid nature of the soil.
The name Grimspound was first recorded by the Reverend Polwhele in his History of Devon of 1797. He called it "The seat of judicature" for the River Dart area, surmised that it was "one of the principal temples of the Druids. Other ideas about Grimspound include supposed uses as an Iron Age fort, an encampment for tin miners and a Phoenician settlement. Grimspound was first mapped by A. C. Shillibear in 1829. An 1855 plan by Nick Whitely shows. In 1893 the Dartmoor Exploration Committee began a dig at the site; the dig, one of whose members was the Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould, reconstructed some of the site, a move criticised by some of the Committee at the time and by researchers, including R. Hansford Worth. Grimspound is located in the valley between Hameldown Tor and Hookney Tor, at 450 metres above sea level; the nearest village, Widecombe-in-the-Moor, is a few miles to the south. The site is enclosed by a stone wall, interrupted by a large, paved entrance facing south, uphill towards Hameldown.
The wall would have been substantial – in some places its ruins are more than 15 feet in thickness. However, the site is of limited value from a defensive point of view, so the assumption is that the wall was to keep livestock in, predators out, it is possible that it was topped by a fence. On the northern edge of the site is the start of the West Webburn, the main water source for the settlement; the entrance is described as "the most imposing of all" by Jeremy Butler. It is a paved and stepped corridor 5.5 metres long and 2 metres wide, with megaliths and other large stones forming the sides. Butler states. Excavations at other sites on Dartmoor have shown that such walls were built by small teams of men working on a section each, as shown by differences in building style. However, these may be due to the reconstruction work by the 1894 excavation. Twenty-four stone hut circles have been recorded here, although there are remains of more within the enclosure, which has an area of over 16,000 square metres.
Many of these hut circles feature L-shaped porches. The doorways are paved with flat stones, all face both downhill and away from the prevailing wind; the 1894 excavation reported that the huts nearest the entrance were devoid of signs of human habitation, were therefore used for livestock or storage, as was hut 2 at the opposite side of the compound. The huts range between 9 and 15 feet in diameter, with walls about 3 feet thick, made of upright granite slabs packed with an infill of rubble and peat. Excavations at sites such as Holne Moor have shown; the hearth was variously located opposite the door. Ash from the hearths was found to be from willow twigs. A lack of log remains and the presence of peat ash shows that by the time of Grimspound's occupation, the local forests had been replaced by enough peat buildup for it to be cut for fuel. Cooking holes contained granite pot boilers, pieces of stone heated in the fire and dropped into pots of water sunk into the ground. To the right of each hut entrance is a raised, level area, which the Committee called a "dais" and, the sleeping area.
Four of the huts contain raised or upright stones, described as "anvil" stones, the purpose of, unknown. Unlike many similar sites on Dartmoor, there is no larger hut that can be identified as a headman's dwelling, although the Committee did suggest that a pillar outside Hut 19 could have meant that the headman lived there; the acidic soil of Dartmoor has destroyed nearly all organic material. A flint arrowhead found nearby, the lack of querns for grinding cereals, hint at some dependency on goods from outside the area; the Exploration Committee declared that the clay used in pottery fragments did not come from a local source. Chapman, L.. The Ancient Dwellings of Grimspound & Hound Tor. Newton Abbot: Orchard Publications. Worth, R. N.. Spooner, G. M.. Worth's Dartmoor. Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0715351486. Butler, J.. The Dartmoor Atlas of Antiquities. V: The Second Millennium B. C. Devon Books. Grimspound – official site at English Heritage
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in England. It was also responsible for Forestry in Wales and Scotland, however on 1 April 2013 Forestry Commission Wales merged with other agencies to become Natural Resources Wales, whilst two new bodies were established in Scotland on 1 April 2019; the commission was set up in 1919 to expand Britain's forests and woodland after depletion during the First World War. To do this, the commission bought large amounts of former agricultural land becoming the largest land owner in Britain; the Commission is divided into three divisions: Forestry England, Forestry Commission and Forest Research. Over time the purpose of the Commission broadened to include many other activities beyond timber production. One major activity is scientific research, some of, carried out in research forests across Britain. Recreation is important, with several outdoor activities being promoted. Protecting and improving biodiversity across England's forests are part of the Forestry Commission's remit.
The Commission received criticism for its reliance on conifers the uniform appearance of conifer forests and concerns over a lack of biodiversity. Protests from the general public and conservation groups accompanied attempts to privatise the organisation in 1993 and 2010. Prior to the setting up of separate bodies for Scotland the Forestry Commission managed 700,000 hectares of land in England and Scotland, making it the country's biggest land manager; the majority of the land was in Scotland, 30% of the landholding is in England. Activities carried out on the forest estate include maintenance and improvement of the natural environment and the provision of recreation, timber harvesting to supply domestic industry, regenerating brownfield and replanting of harvested areas. Afforestation was the main reason for the creation of the commission in 1919. Britain had only 5% of its original forest cover left and the government at that time wanted to create a strategic resource of timber. Since forest coverage has doubled and the commission's remit expanded to include greater focus on sustainable forest management and maximising public benefits.
Woodland creation continues to be an important role of the commission and works with government to achieve its goal of 12% forest coverage by 2060, championing initiatives such as The Big Tree Plant and Woodland Carbon Code. The Forestry Commission is the government body responsible for the regulation of private forestry in England; the Commission is responsible for encouraging new private forest growth and development. Part of this role is carried out by providing grants in support of private woodlands; the Forestry Commission was established as part of the Forestry Act 1919. The board was made up of eight forestry commissioners and was chaired by Simon Fraser, 14th Lord Lovat from 1919 to 1927; the commission was set up to increase the amount of woodland in Britain by buying land for afforestation and reforestation. The commission was tasked with promoting forestry and the production of timber for trade. During the 1920s the Commission focused on acquiring land to begin planting out new forests.
During the Great Depression the Forestry Commission's estate continued to grow so that it was just over 360,000 hectares of land by 1934. The low cost of land, the need to increase timber production meant that by 1939 the Forestry Commission was the largest landowner in Britain. At the outbreak of the Second World War the Forestry Commission was split into the Forest Management Department, to continue with the Commission's duties, the Timber Supply Department to produce enough timber for the war effort; this division lasted until 1941, when the Timber Supply Department was absorbed by the Ministry of Supply. Much of the timber supplied for the war came from the Forest of Dean; the war saw the Commission introduce the licensing system for tree felling. By the end of the war a third of available timber had been cut down and used; the advisory committee on Forest Research was formed in 1929 to guide the research efforts of the Forestry Commission. After the war, the Commission began to increase its research output significantly.
This included the establishment of three research stations beginning with Alice Holt Lodge in 1946. The expansion in research accompanied a significant increase in timber sales, exceeding £2 million per year during the 1950s; the Countryside Act 1968 required public bodies, including the Forestry Commission, to "have regard to the desirability of conserving the natural beauty and amenity of the countryside." This forced the Commission to focus on conservation and recreation as well as the production and sale of timber. The conservation effort was driven by Peter Garthwaite and Sylvia Crowe. Crowe helped the Commission landscape their forests to make them more appropriate for recreational use. Having begun to develop campsites within their forests during the early 1960s, the Commission set up a Forest Cabins Branch during the 1970s to expand the number of cabins available for the public to stay in during their holidays. In 1970 the Commission opened its Northern research station in Roslin; the 1970s saw the publication of a Treasury report which stated "afforestation... and replanting fell far short of achieving the official 10% return on investment" with concerns over the long term profitability of timber production.
This was coupled with a major outbreak of Dutch elm
Devon County Council
Devon County Council is the county council administering the English county of Devon. Based in the city of Exeter, the council covers the non-metropolitan county area of Devon. Members of the council are elected every four years to represent the electorate of each county division all being nominated by the major national political parties; the population of the area administered by the council is estimated at 765,302, making it the largest local authority in South West England. Devon is an area with "two-tier" local government, meaning that the county is divided into non-metropolitan districts carrying out less strategic functions, such as taking most planning decisions. In Devon there are each with its own district, borough, or city council. Before 1888, the small towns and rural areas in Devon were governed by magistrates through the Devon Court of Quarter Sessions; the magistrates were based at Rougemont Castle and were not elected by the people. In 1888, the Local Government Act 1888 was passed, which paved the way for democracy at the county level throughout England and Wales.
On 16 January 1889, the first County Council elections were held, the council began life with a budget of £50,000. In 1907, women became eligible for election and the first female councillor was elected in 1931. From the beginning in 1889, the county boroughs of Exeter and Plymouth were outside the jurisdiction of the county council. Devonport was afterwards absorbed by the City of Plymouth. Torbay received county borough status and left the area of Devon County Council in 1968. In 1971, Devon County Council signed a Twinning Charter with the Conseil General of Calvados to develop links with the French department of Calvados. In 2018, the council introduced a "new IT printing system" which caused its education department online embarrassment due to its inability to produce grammatically correct correspondence. At first, meetings were held in a courtroom in Rougemont Castle. County Hall is situated in Topsham Road, about 1 mile south-east of Exeter city centre, in the grounds of Bellair House, rebuilt around 1700 by the merchant John Vowler, the adjoining early Victorian house, Coaver.
The houses are now incorporated in the council's campus. Construction began on County Hall in 1954. Extensions were completed in 1984. In 1998 the buildings gained. In 2012 the Council was fined £90,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office after it sent confidential and sensitive information about twenty-two people, including criminal allegations and information about their mental health, to the wrong recipient. Commenting on Devon and other authorities who had made similar data protection breaches, the ICO said "It would be far too easy to consider these breaches as simple human error; the reality is that they are caused by councils treating sensitive personal data in the same routine way they would deal with more general correspondence. Far too in these cases, the councils do not appear to have acknowledged that the data they are handling is about real people, the more vulnerable members of society." In Devon, most county councillors who are elected have been nominated by one of England's major political parties, although there are a small number of independents.
At present the majority of councillors in the chamber are Conservatives, who hold 42 of the 62 seats. The council operates the local government Cabinet system, introduced by the Local Government Act 2000, with the Leader of the Cabinet elected by the full council. In practice, the Leader is chosen from among the majority Conservative group. After being elected, the Leader chooses the other cabinet members nine, all from the Conservative group. Devon County Council's responsibilities include schools, social care for the elderly and vulnerable, road maintenance and trading standards, it is the largest employer in Devon, employing over 20,000 people, has the largest minor road length of any UK local authority. Devon County Council appoints eleven members to Rescue Authority; the Office for National Statistics estimated that the mid-2014 population of the non-metropolitan area of Devon was 765,302, the largest in the South West England region. The county council's area is administered by eight smaller authorities that have their own district, borough or city councils.
The responsibilities of these councils include local planning, council housing, refuse collection and leisure facilities, street cleaning. The district areas are further divided into civil parishes, which have "parish councils" or "town councils". Typical activities undertaken by a parish council include maintaining allotments, playing fields and the local community or village hall. On some matters, the county council share responsibilities with the parish councils; these include economic development and regeneration, emergency planning, tourism promotion and coastal protection. There was no established coat of arms for the county until 1926: the arms of the City of Exeter were used to represent Devon, for instance in the badge of the Devonshire Regiment. During the formation of a county council by the Local Government Act 1888, adoption of a common seal was required; the seal contained three shields depicting the arms of Exeter along with those of the first chairman and vice-chairman of the council.
On 11 October 1926, the county council
