Exmouth
| Exmouth | |
|---|---|
 Exmouth seafront |
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 Exmouth
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| Exmouth shown within Devon | |
| Population | 34,432 |
| OS grid reference | SY004809 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| 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 |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Exmouth /ˈɛksməθ/ is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort in East Devon, England, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe. In 2011, it had a population of 34,432 making Exmouth the 5th most populous settlement in Devon.
Byzantine coins dating back to c. 498–518, with the mark of Anastasius I, were retrieved on the beach in 1970. More recent human occupation of Exmouth Point can be traced back to the 11th century, when it was known as Lydwicnaesse, "the point of the Bretons".
The two ecclesiastical parishes, Littleham and Withycombe Raleigh, that make up the town of Exmouth today can be traced to pre-Saxon times. The name of the town derives from its location at the mouth of the River Exe estuary, which ultimately comes from an ancient Celtic word for fish.
In 1240 an area known as Pratteshuthe (Pratt’s landing place) was sold to the mayor and citizens of Exeter. This was the site of the estuary’s ferry dock and over time the name evolved first into Pratteshide, then Mona Island. The original site is marked by a seating area outside the Glenorchy United Reformed Church close to the Magnolia Shopping Centre.
For some centuries, commercial trade through the port was limited in part by the shallow waters on the approach to the quay, but mainly by the power of Exeter, which owned the dock and controlled all estuary traffic. The roads in and out of the area were in a poor state and only occasionally repaired by the parishes through which they ran. A more permanent dock was built in 1825, replacing a series of apparently seasonal docks first noted on maps from 1576 as "The Docke". New docks designed by Eugenius Birch were opened in 1868, and a short line connected them to the railway goods yard. The area adjacent to the docks once housed a thriving community of some 125 chalets built on the shoreline. These have been replaced by a residential marina complex known as Exmouth Quay.
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