Exmouth, Devon

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Map sources for Exmouth at grid reference SY004809

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

The town was a Roman port, and the working docks have only recently (2001-2002) been converted into a marina, although a small amount of commercial fishing is still undertaken. It has also been known for several centuries as a seaside resort.

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. 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).

Exmouth is the far end of the World Heritage Coast (Jurrasic Coast) which runs from there to Poole along an amazingly diverse coastline.

Stuart Line Cruises passenger ferry operates during the summer months across the estuary of the River Exe to Starcross, where the pumping station for Brunel's Atmospheric Railway can be seen.

Exmouth serves as a commuter town for Exeter, to which it has good public transport links. Exmouth railway station is the terminus of the Avocet Line to Exeter St Davids station.

The communters 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.

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. The seafront has a traditional promenade.

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)^[1], and one of the highest in the country.

Exmouth marks the start of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site, which stretches along the coast to Poole, in Dorset.

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 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.

Exmouth station used to be a splendid Victorian affair and the line continued from there over a viaduct which spanned almost the entire town. The railway continued onto Littleham Cross where there was also a station (now a private residence), and from there to to Budleigh Salterton. where it turned north to rejoin the main London and South Western Railway line. 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 1980's. 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 most famous person who lives in Exmouth is a boy called Tad Martin who is well known for his virtuoso guitar playing. This is a lie.