MID DEVON

district, administrative and historic county of Devon, southwestern England, located between the bleak moorlands of Exmoor and Dartmoor. Mid Devon is a heavily dissected interior plateau 400 to 800 feet (120 to 245 metres) in elevation. It has variable soil types suited for grassland cultivation, except in the south-central area where the merging Exe, Culm, and Yeo river valleys are cultivated with cereals (especially barley), potatoes, fodder crops, and early-season vegetables. Large numbers of sheep and dairy and beef cattle are grazed throughout the district. Tiverton, the district seat on the River Exe, was one of the first settlements established by the Anglo-Saxons after their 7th-century conquest of southwestern England. Tiverton became a major centre of the woolen trade (both kerseys and worsteds) between the mid-14th and early 19th century. The contemporary town continues to be a textile centre, manufacturing elastic nets and woven nylon as well as lace. Area 353 square miles (915 square km). Pop. (1998 est.) 67,400.