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Teignmouth, Devon

Historical Description

Teignmouth, a town and two parishes in Devonshire. The town stands at the mouth of the river Teign and at the terminus of the Stover Canal, with a station on the G.W.R., 204 miles from London, and 15 by road or railway S by E of Exeter, and a post, money order, and telegraph office. It was known to the Saxons as Tegnton, was burnt by the French in 1338 and 1690, sent a member to Parliament in the time of Edward I., contributed seven ships to the siege of Calais in 1347, rose slowly from the condition of a small village to that of a considerable town, and gives the title of Baron to the family of Shore. Under the Local Government Act of 1894 Teignmouth was divided into three wards-East, West, and Shaldon-and has an urban district council of twelve members. It is a seat of petty sessions, a port; and a well-frequented watering-place; occupies a fine site, amid charming environs; consists chiefly of wide, well-built, and well-cleaned streets; includes, at the river's mouth, a spacious esplanade and ornamental promenade 13 acres in extent, called the Den; publishes four weekly newspapers; and has three banks, excellent bathing appliances, public baths, public rooms, a theatre, a bridge 1671 feet long, erected in 1825-27, a coastguard station, a literary institution, two social clubs, a masonic hall, a sailors' home, an infirmary, a dispensary, and charities. A weekly market is held on Saturday. There is a salmon fishery, and a large export trade in potter's clay, and imports of wood pulp, fish, potatoes, coal, flints, &c., is carried on. A pier and landing-stage for pleasure steamers, 800 feet in length, runs from the Den, and a lighthouse stands on the end of the Den, which was erected in 1845, and shows a fixed light 34 feet high. The town has two commodious quays-the old and the new. The harbour is safe and extensive, and regulated by the Harbour Commissioners. The number of vessels registered as belonging to the port in 1895 was 20 (2300 tons). The entries and clearances each average 800 (125,000 tons) per annum.

The two parishes are East Teignmouth and West Teignmouth, and are regarded as jointly conterminate with the town. Acreage of East Teignmouth 630, of West 379; population of East 2481, of West 4525. St Michael's Church, East Teignmouth, is a cruciform building of stone in the Norman style, was rebuilt in 1822-23, and enlarged in 1875 and 1889. In the latter year the Jubilee Tower, begun in 1887, was completed. It is a handsome and graceful structure in the Early Decorated style. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter; gross value, £165 with residence. St James' Church, West Teignmouth, is a large octagonal building of stone with a low Norman tower, and was restored in 1892-93. The living is a vicarage; net value, £300 with residence. The Roman Catholic church was built in 1878, and a Roman Catholic theological college was erected in 1880. There are Congregational, Wesleyan, Baptist, and Primitive Methodist chapels. The Earl of Devon is lord of the manor of East Teignmouth, and Lord Clifford of West Teignmouth.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyDevon 
HundredExminster 
Poor Law unionNewton-Abbott 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Teignmouth from the following:


Maps

Online maps of Teignmouth are available from a number of sites:


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers covering Devon online:


Villages, Hamlets, &c

Lithwell or Ludwell

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of the County of Devon in the year 1564, with additions from the earlier visitation of 1531, is online.

The Visitations of the County of Devon, comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564, & 1620, with additions by Lieutant-Colonel J.L. Vivian, published for the author by Henry S. Eland, Exeter 1895 is online.

DistrictTeignbridge
CountyDevon
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Postal districtTQ14
Post TownTeignmouth

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