Devon Leasing

Did You Know?

Devon County Council is responsible for the UK's longest road network, You maybe thought it was London, or Birmingham. Nope. Devon County Council is responsible for 8,000 miles of road - the longest network in the country. The county is home to everything from single track rural lanes across Dartmoor and Exmoor to major highways like the A38 and A30 - as well as the M5.

Totnes’ Guildhall was once a prominent location in the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell used it as a base to plan the closing stages of the Civil War in 1646.

Devon just doesn’t have more roads than anyone else, it also takes longer to use. A survey by international travel experts Inrix, who provide live traffic information to people like the BBC, this year named Exeter the slowest city in the country during rush-hour. Yes, slower than London. Traffic crawls through the city at just 4.6mph at the busiest times of day.

Devon gets its name from the word Dumnonia, the area was once home to the Dumnonni Celts during the British Iron Age and Roman Britain. 

The earliest recorded recipe for the pasty was discovered in 2006 and dates back 500 years. Yup, it's in a Devon book.

Torbay Picture House was opened on 16 March 1914, and is believed to be the oldest surviving purpose-built cinema in Europe. In its early days it featured a 21-piece orchestra, with each member paid a guinea to perform.

The University of Exeter has had some pretty notable Alumni including J.K. Rowling, Will Young, Thom Yorke from RadioHead, Zara Philips and comedian Rhod Gilbert.

Devon is the only English county with two separate 2 coastlines, the English Channel to the south and the Irish Sea and Bristol Channel to the North. 

The Jack Russell Terrier was created by the Reverend John Russell - born in Dartmouth, went to school in Plympton, rector of Black Torrington, Devon.

A fragment of jaw bone was discovered in Kent's Cavern in Torquay, Devon in 1927 and carbon-dating followed by studies in 2011 say it could date from 44,200BC and is Homo Sapiens - making it the oldest modern human remains found in North West Europe.