Teignmouth
Description
Teignmouth is a town and civil parish in Teignbridge in the English county of Devon, situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign about 14 miles south of Exeter. It has a population of 14,749. In 1690, it was the last place in England to be invaded by a foreign power. The town grew from a fishing port associated with the Newfoundland cod industry to a fashionable resort of some note in Georgian times, with further expansion after the opening of the South Devon Railway in 1846. Today, its port still operates and the town remains a popular seaside holiday location.HistoryTo 1700The first record of Teignmouth, Tengemuða, meaning mouth of the stream, was in 1044. Nonetheless settlements very close by are attested earlier, with the banks of the Teign estuary having been in Saxon hands since at least 682, a battle between the Ancient Britons and Saxons being recorded on Haldon in 927, and Danish raids having occurred on the Teign estuary in 1001.There were originally two villages, East and West Teignmouth, separated by a stream called the Tame, which emptied into the Teign through marshland by the current fish quay. Neither village is mentioned in the Domesday Book, but East Teignmouth was granted a market by charter in 1253 and one for West Teignmouth followed a few years later. The Tame now runs under the town in culverts and is only visible higher up the town as Brimley Brook, joined by smaller streams such as the Winterbourne (an intermittent stream, which flows only in winter or after heavy rain).
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