Mid Devon is a local government district in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Its council is based in Tiverton. The district was formed under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

of Tiverton and

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter and around from the M5 motorway ...

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...

together with

Tiverton Rural District Tiverton Rural District was a rural district within the county of Devon. It was abolished in 1974 and succeeded by Mid Devon District Council.The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972 ''The'' () is a grammatical article ...

, and

Crediton Rural District Crediton is a town and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon in England. It stands on the A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, about north west of Exeter and around from the M5 motorway ...

. It was originally called Tiverton District, but was renamed in 1978 by resolution of the district council.

Geography

Mid Devon shares borders with several other Devon districts as well as the county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. Neighbouring districts include

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, East Devon,

North Devon North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth ...

, Teignbridge, West Devon and

Torridge Torridge may refer to: * Torridge District, a local government district in the county of Devon, England * River Torridge, is a river in Devon in England * Torridge Lass Suffix beginning with F ''Empire Fabian'' ''Empire Fabian'' was an E ...

. The area of Mid Devon, according to the Office for National Statistics Census table KS101EW is 91293.48 hectares, or 912.9348 sq kilometers, or 352.5 square miles.

Rivers

The

Exe Exe or EXE may refer to: * .exe, a file extension * exe., abbreviation for executive Places * River Exe, in England * Exe Estuary, in England * Exe Island, in Exeter, England Transportation and vehicles * Exe (locomotive), a British locomotive ...

, the Culm, the

Yeo Yeo is a Chinese, English, and Korean surname. Origins As an English surname, Yeo is a toponymic surname meaning "river", either for people who lived near one of the Rivers Yeo, or any river in general. The word comes from Old English , via sou ...

, the Dalch, the Little Dart, the

Taw Taw, tav, or taf is the twenty-second and last letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician Tāw , Hebrew Tav , Aramaic Taw , Syriac Taw ܬ, and Arabic ت Tāʼ (22nd in abjadi order, 3rd in modern order). In Arabic, it is also gives ri ...

, the

Dart Dart or DART may refer to: * Dart, the equipment in the game of darts Arts, entertainment and media * Dart (comics), an Image Comics superhero * Dart, a character from ''G.I. Joe'' * Dart, a ''Thomas & Friends'' railway engine character * Dar ...

, the

Brockley Brockley is a district and an wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. History The name Brockley is derived from "Broca's woodland clearing", a wood ...

, the Creedy and the Spratford Stream flow through the district.

Raddon Top

Raddon Top Raddon Top is the highest point of the Raddon Hills, a small ridge of hills in the Shobrooke area of Mid Devon. The summit is at some 235 metres above sea level, making it a significant feature in the surrounding countryside. There is an unclas ...

(772 ft.) is the highest point of the Raddon Hills. Excavations at the summit in 1994 uncovered traces of Early Iron Age settlement.

Politics

Elections to Mid Devon council are held every four years. There are 41 councillors representing 23 wards. After the 2019 election, the council was run by a Liberal Democrat-Independent-Green coalition. However, the Council Leader, 'Independent' Bob Deed, removed the three Lib Dem's from the Cabinet in 2020, replacing them with Tories and in March 2021 removed the only Green from the Cabinet, ensuring a Tory Majority in Cabinet, and effectively creating a Tory Minority Administration.

Tourism

Grand Western Canal

The

Grand Western Canal The Grand Western Canal ran between Taunton in Somerset and Tiverton in Devon in the United Kingdom. The canal had its origins in various plans, going back to 1796, to link the Bristol Channel and the English Channel by a canal, bypassing Land ...

stretches from Canal Hill in Tiverton to just outside

Greenham Greenham is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. Greenham commences immediately south-east of Newbury and is in West Berkshire. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as ''Greneham''. Governance Greenham was originally a tithing i ...

. It no longer operates for trade purposes, but is a popular tourist location. Visitors are able to walk along its banks or take a trip down the canal in a

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

drawn

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

. A static barge at the Canal Hill end of the canal offers refreshments. The site is one of two tourism spots owned by

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 (councillors) are elected every four years to ...

Exmoor

Exmoor National Park is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

situated in Mid Devon and

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

. The park covers 267 square miles (692 km²) of hilly open

moorland Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils. Moorland, nowadays, generally ...

. Exmoor is one of the first British National Parks, designated in 1954, and is named after its main river, the River Exe. Several areas of the moor have been declared a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

Devon Railway Centre

The

Devon Railway Centre The Devon Railway Centre is in the village of Bickleigh in Mid Devon, England, at the former Cadeleigh railway station on the closed Great Western Railway branch from Exeter to Dulverton, also known as the Exe Valley Railway. The Centre operat ...

is located at

Bickleigh Bickleigh may refer to the following places in Devon, England: * Bickleigh, Mid Devon, a village near Tiverton ** Bickleigh Castle * Bickleigh, South Hams Bickleigh is a small village on the southern edge of Dartmoor in Devon, England. It ha ...

in Mid Devon, in a restored Victorian

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

on the closed

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

branch from Exeter to Dulverton. The Centre operates a 2 ft (610mm) gauge passenger railway and has a large collection of narrow gauge rolling stock, a miniature railway and a collection of model railways.

Coldharbour Working Wool Museum

Coldharbour Mill Coldharbour Mill, near the village of Uffculme in Devon, England, is one of the oldest woollen textile mills in the world, having been in continuous production since 1797. The mill was one of a number owned by Fox Brothers, and is designated by ...

is a Grade II* listed Georgian mill complex in Uffculme, close to junction 27 ( Tiverton turnoff) of the M5. The mill has the largest working waterwheel in the south west, and steams up its stationary steam engines most Bank Holidays. It has a number of other collections, such as dolls' houses, a large tapestry showing five local parishes, and a wide range of worsted wool spinning and weaving machines.

Geography

Rivers

Raddon Top

Politics

Tourism

Grand Western Canal

Exmoor

Devon Railway Centre

Coldharbour Working Wool Museum

Major settlements

See also

References

External links