Exmouth

Exmouth
Population
OS grid reference	SY004809
District	East Devon
Shire county	Devon
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	EXMOUTH
Postcode district	EX8
Dialling code	01395
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	East Devon

Exmouth (IPA: [ˈɛksmʊθ]) is a port town and seaside resort in Devon, England, at the east side of the mouth of the River Exe. It has a population of 32,972 (2001 census).

File:RCD 0136.jpg

Geography and administration

The town forms a rough rectangle, with one corner defined by the sea and river frontages (each around 1.5 km long), and stretching around 4km inland, along a north-easterly axis. The docks lie at the western corner of this rectangle, where the river passes through a relatively narrow passage into the sea, the mouth of the estuary being nearly closed by Dawlish Warren on the opposite shore of the river. The sea frontage forms a fine 2-mile long beach; at its eastern end, the town is limited by the cliffs of the High Land of Orcombe, a National Trust-owned open space which rises to a peak at Orcombe Point.

Geologically, the low hill known as "The Beacon", in the centre of the present town, is formed of breccias that are an outcrop of a similar formation on the west side of the Exe estuary. The rising land on which the town has grown is formed of New Red Sandstone. This solid land is surrounded by mudflats and sandspits, some of which have been stabilised and now form part of the land on which the town is built, and some of which remain as tidal features in the estuary and off the coast; the outflow from the river flows eastwards, parallel to the beach, for some distance, limited by sandbanks that are exposed at low tide.

Administratively Exmouth lies within the East Devon district, along with neighbouring coastal towns east of the Exe. It has its own town council, presided over by a mayor.

History

Although Roman coins have been found around Exmouth, there is no evidence of Roman settlement in the area. From the 11th century there is evidence of a ferry port in the area of the present docks, which have only recently (2001-2002) been converted into a marina. For some centuries, however, commercial trade through the port was limited by the power of Exeter, which owned the dock and controlled estuary traffic. The dock served primarily as a base for fishing, and a small amount of commercial fishing is undertaken to this day.

The name Exmouth seems to be relatively recent; in Saxon times and the Middle Ages the present town consisted of two parishes, Littleham and Withycombe (these names are still used for districts of the town), while in the 13th century there are references to the dock area as "Pratteshuthe". By the end of the 17th century, however, the town was developing something of its modern form, and becoming known as a seaside resort. Exmouth's Georgian terraces and sandy beach attracted people including Horatio Nelson, whose wife, Lady Nelson lies buried in the nearby Littleham Churchyard, and Lord Byron. Mass tourism developed rapidly after the arrival of the railway in 1861.

Landmarks

The Strand gardens in Exmouth town centre, looking towards the war memorial. Image taken in summer 2006

Exmouth has a wide and varied range of architecture, ranging from small cob cottages in parts of the town that were once villages and are now incorporated into it, such as Withycombe, to the many Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian town houses. The seafront has a traditional promenade.

The RNLI has a lifeboat station at Exmouth with a Trent Class All Weather Lifeboat (ALB) named Forward Birmingham and "D" Class Inshore Lifeboat (ILB).

The majority of buildings in Exmouth were constructed during the Victorian era with the arrival of the railway. The area to the west of Exeter Road is land that was reclaimed by the railway, Exeter Road originally being part of the seafront. The houses in the colony were mainly constructed for the workers of the railway.

There have been 3 railway stations at Exmouth. The line first reached Exmouth from Exeter in 1861. In the first five days 10,000 people travelled on the line and property prices increased overnight. By the 1880s commuter traffic to Exeter was considerable. In 1903 a link to Budleigh Salterton was opened the line going eastward over a viaduct which went from Exeter Road to Park Road where it entered a cutting continuing onto Littleham Cross where there was also a station (now a private residence), and from there to Budleigh Salterton, there turning north to rejoin the main London and South Western Railway line. Exmouth Station was rebuilt in 1926. When the line to Budleigh was lifted the viaduct was left in place for many years and as it slowly decayed arches here and there were removed, with its final destruction in the late 1980s. A plethora of cheaply built houses mark its position now. The route of the line continued behind Phear Park, which was once the grounds of a large house belonging to the Phear family, used during the Second World War to station U.S. soldiers. Shortly after the war the house was burnt down and left derelict; eventually it too was demolished, and its grounds were given to the town by the Phear family to become a park. The old railway line behind Phear Park was just left as a bare trackbed for many years. At its far end there was a short tunnel through to Littleham, which was filled in when the line was closed. The trackbed has now been tarmacked and makes a short cycle route to Littleham.

The odd little house called A La Ronde, now in the ownership of the National Trust, lies on the northern outskirts of the town.

Demographics and Economics

In addition to its substantial summer tourist trade, Exmouth serves as a regional centre for leisure industries, particularly water sports such as sailing and wind-surfing, and outdoor activities such as bird-watching and walking. The Exe estuary is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and is noted in particular for its wading and migrating birds. A large part of the estuary lies within a nature reserve. Exmouth marks the western end of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, which stretches eastwards along the coast to Poole, in Dorset; the South West Coast Path allows for walking along this coast. The town is also at the western end of the East Devon Way path that leads to Lyme Regis.

Summer 2006

Exmouth serves as a commuter town for Exeter, to which it has good public transport links by train and bus. Commuters by car mainly using a very crowded A376 to get to Exeter from the Northern part of the town - the village of Brixington - represented on East Devon District Council and Exmouth Town Council by Trevor Cope.

Present day

Transport

Exmouth railway station is the terminus of the Avocet Line to Exeter St Davids station. The Exmouth to Starcross Ferry is a passenger ferry that operates during the summer months across the River Exe's estuary to Starcross, where the pumping station for Brunel's Atmospheric Railway can be seen.

Education

The University of Plymouth has a campus in the town. Rolle College has had a reputation for over half a century of excellence in teacher training. However, in 2005 the University announced plans to relocate all teacher training to its Plymouth campus from autumn 2008.

Exmouth Community College is the school with the highest number of students in Devon (2,327 pupils including 6th form), and one of the highest in the Europe.

External links

• Stuart Line Cruises
• Exe Power Boat & Ski Club
• Exe Estuary Aerial View
• The South West Coast Path National Trail
• Royal Beacon Hotel, Exmouth
• Town guide: http://www.exmouth-guide.co.uk
• WEBCAMS:
• http://www.exmouthcam.co.uk/webcam.htm
• http://www.edgewatersports.com/webcam
• http://kheathorn.members.beeb.net/Star_00001.jpg