History and Heritage

Through an experienceDevon bespoke itinerary you can experience the history and heritage of North Devon by visiting historic churches, long bridges, great British pubs with local real ales, civil war battle sites and gain expert knowledge of shipwrecks, pirates and the maritime past of Sir Richard Grenville, Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake and the Spanish Armada.
Historically, North Devon is millions of years old, dating back geologically to the Devonian Period of 395-435 million years ago. There are pre-historic remains of human ancestors, but modern history points to early settlers from Saxon and Roman times. North Devon has stayed traditional and is a taste of old England. Even now the towns have more independent shops and much more character - happily they are not carbon copies of other larger towns further North in England.

Before the ‘link road’ was constructed in the late 1980’s, access from other parts of the country to visit the area on holiday was frustratingly slow, with traffic creeping through the towns and villages en route to Barnstaple and destinations beyond. The new link road helped create an infrastructure for transportation of people and goods in and out, but the area is still relatively less visited compared to the South coast.Historically, trading and the development of ports around the major rivers have been the local industry, with fishing; trading of tobacco, pottery, wool and cloth - traded with America, the New World, Wales and Ireland; silver and lead mining and shipbuilding dominating. Ports are still active today at Bideford, Appledore and Ilfracombe.

On the West Exmoor Coast, North Devon Coast and its estuaries, old lime kilns still remain as a reminder of the heating of coal and limestone, brought across the Bristol channel. Lime counteracted the acidity of the soil and so was used in agriculture and also in mortar and lime wash for buildings. The railways came to Devon in the 19th century offering opportunities to transport freight and goods as well as bringing tourists to the area. Some of the old lines are now disused and are used as cycling and walking trails. The Tarka Trail still operates as a local service between Barnstaple and Exeter.

North Devon played its part in World War 2 with much of the coast being used for US military training in preparation for the D-Day landings as its similarity to the coast of Normandy made it an ideal location.