holiday cottage devon coast South Beer Farmhouse

holiday cottage devon coast

South Beer Farmhouse
holiday cottage devon coast

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You may find this relevant information helpful when researching the area prior to your visit

The growth of Exmouth's heritage

The two Parishes that make up Exmouth are called Littleham and Withycombe, they date to pre-Saxon times. Today the central nucleus is called Littleham Urban. It has grown over the years from a few farm buildings and a ferry quay into popular town of shops, parks, seafront, marina and picturesque walks. The purpose of this project was to identify how and why the growth of the Littleham Urban took place.

Back to the beginnings

The name 'Exmouth' obviously derives from its being at the mouth of the River Exe (Exe being an ancient Celtic word for fish). The town has not always been known as such, though. In 1240 AD a central part of today's Exmouth was sold to the Mayor and citizens of Exeter, its name being Pratteshuthe, meaning Pratt's landing place and was the site of the estuary's ferry dock. The name later developed into Pratteshide, and as the town grew around the quay it gained the name Mona Island and was distinguishable in the sixties and seventies by a building for public conveniences. The site today, at the start of Exeter Road, is respectfully vacant of anything more than the last tasteful remains of the toilets, and a seating area.

Mona Island, Exeter Road

This seating area stands adjacent to the Magnolia Centre. A shopping precinct opened in 1979, and built to replace and modernise an area badly damaged by the bombing raids of World War II. A road that once existed here was called Market Street and was the original site of the town's market place. As well as the bombs leaving their mark, wartime brought with it pill boxes and gun emplacements, and in respect of those who died a memorial which stands in the Strand Gardens.

Strand Gardens and Memorial

The Strand Gardens was once the site of the Market House, demolished in 1869 and replaced by an enclosed green, which is present today. The Strand , as the name suggests, had its beginnings as a row of buildings that ran along the shore of an inlet. The inlet was formed by a spit of sand that reached into the estuary, the end tip of this spit was known as the Point.

The origin of man's inhabitancy to this corner of East Devon can be traced back as far as 11th century; documentary mentioning of the name Lydwicnaesse, meaning the point of the Bretons, signifies the presence of early dwellings on this Point. Roman coins have been unearthed in the area of Exmouth, but any evidence of settlement remains undiscovered.

The landform of the town is made up of three types of formation. The Exe Estuary is a sunken valley, brought about by the bounce effect of the last Ice Age- as the ice melted in the North of England the weight pushing down on the plate lifted, thus causing the South of England to sink back down. The Breccias that make up the small cliff of the Beacon is an outcrop of the Langstone Breccias, found on the other side of the estuary. It is believed that this outcrop was formed by the fault that runs up the centre of the estuary. New Red Sandstone forms the land running up from sea level, a sedimentary deposit known as the Exmouth Beds.