Several definitions of the word Honiton had been given, but the most
acceptable, and perhaps the correct one and certainly the sweetest, was
that of the "Honey Town," originating, it was said, at a time when the
hills which surrounded the place were covered with thyme, "sweet to the
taste and fragrant to the smell; and so attractive to the bees that
large quantities of honey were produced there." The bee-farmers even in
Saxon times were important personages, for sugar was not imported and
honey was the sweetener for all kinds of food and liquor. Honiton, like
many other towns, largely consisted of one wide street; and Daniel
Defoe, in his journey from London to Land's End, early in the year 1700,
described this "town of lace" as large and beautiful, and "so very
remarkably paved with small pebbles, that on either side the way a
little channel is left shouldered up on the sides of it; so that it
holds a small stream of fine running water, with a little square
dipping-place left at every door, so that every family in the town has a
clear running river just at their own door; and this so much finer, so
much pleasanter than that of Salisbury, that in my opinion there is no
comparison.
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