Editing Devon (section)

==Cities, towns and villages==
{{Main|List of places in Devon|List of towns and cities in Devon by population}}
[[File:devon.brixham.750pix.jpg|thumb|left|The inner harbour, [[Brixham]], south Devon, at low tide]]

The main settlements in Devon are the cities of Plymouth, a historic port now administratively independent, Exeter, the [[county town]], and [[Torbay]], the county's tourist centre. Devon's coast is lined with tourist resorts, many of which grew rapidly with the arrival of the railways in the 19th century. Examples include Dawlish, [[Exmouth, Devon|Exmouth]] and Sidmouth on the south coast, and [[Ilfracombe]] and [[Lynmouth]] on the north. The Torbay conurbation of Torquay, Paignton and Brixham on the south coast is now administratively independent of the county. Rural [[market town]]s in the county include Barnstaple, Bideford, [[Honiton]], [[Newton Abbot]], [[Okehampton]], [[Tavistock, Devon|Tavistock]], Totnes and [[Tiverton, Devon|Tiverton]].

The boundary with Cornwall has not always been on the River Tamar as at present: until the late 19th century a few parishes in the Torpoint area were in Devon and five parishes now in north-east Cornwall were in Devon until 1974 (however, for ecclesiastical purposes these were nevertheless in the [[Archdeacon of Cornwall|Archdeaconry of Cornwall]] and in 1876 became part of the [[Diocese of Truro]]).