River Exe Heritage Leaflet
HERE'S the link to a colourful and comprehensive leaflet from
LICCO - Living with a Changing Coast. The LICCO cross-channel project, on climate change, ran from April 2011 to September 2014
Because the leaflet is meant to be printed, some of the text and images are upside-down. Here's the text the right way up.
www.exe-estuary.org
A Guide to Heritage on the Exe Estuary
Climate for Change?
Eight centuries of favourable climate came
to an end in about 1300 AD, with a series
of wet seasons, floods and poor harvests,
highlighted by an excavated corn drying
oven in a medieval farmstead at Exwell Barton.
This general pattern lasted until 1850, although
there were occasional spells of better weather.
For example, the summer of 1832 was particularly long,
hot and very dry. Sadly, this year was also notable for a
significant outbreak of cholera in the county, arising in
Exeter (via Plymouth) and transported via polluted water
supplies. Devon was second only to London in terms
of death rates, impacted by its maritime links, where
infected sailors would come ashore and inadvertently
spread the disease to the general population.
Land Reclamation
Storms
The storms freshest in our mind are probably
those that hit the UK in January and
February 2014, breaching many of our sea
defences, and causing several homes and
businesses in the Estuary to flood. However,
the shape of the estuary has long been
influenced by stormy weather at sea.
Many low-lying areas around the estuary used to
be coastal marsh before they were drained for
farming, including land in the Lower Clyst Valley.
A significant area of land was also reclaimed from
the sea around Powderham in the 12th and 13th
centuries; prior to this, tides would have run inland to
the rising ground on which Powderham Castle now
stands. The red sandstone cliffs through which the
main road is now cut were part of the coastline.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, land reclamation
was almost a continuous process, especially between the
River Kenn and Exminster, where up to 500 hectares could
have been involved.
It was during this time that land was
reclaimed to build railways along the embankments of
both sides of the estuary, providing important economic
and social links. Best records suggest that the reclamation
of marshland to form Imperial Recreation Ground in
Exmouth happened sometime between 1933-1951.
The Exeter-Exmouth railway opened on 1 May
1861, with ten thousand people travelling
in the first five days. The line was originally
single track, but by the First World War it
was necessary to construct a double line
track because of the number of commuters.
As traffic declined, the track became single
again in 1973. The railway embankment now
acts as a sea wall, cutting off the tide from lowlying
areas where saltmarsh used to be, which
were traditionally used for sheep grazing.
The first station building in Exmouth was converted
from two houses, and was used until 1897 when a
purpose-built terminal replaced it. In 1926 a new
and attractive terminal building similar in design to
London Waterloo was constructed with a handsome
clock. In its heyday, 225,000 tickets were issued per
year and 400,000 collected, in addition to around
1000 season tickets. In 1978 British Rail made the
decision to demolish the fine station terminal building,
later replacing it with the structure we see today.
In 1817 a violent storm washed five acres of the Warren
away, sadly killing many rabbits. In 1824, another storm
caused the sea to completely breach the land at Dawlish,
and to inundate the lower part of Exmouth, in addition
to flooding and damaging several houses in Starcross.
14 years later, around a quarter of Dawlish Warren
was washed away by a storm, and several sea defences
were breached again in Exminster, Exmouth, Dawlish
Warren and Starcross following a great storm in 1838.
In 1869, severe gales and high tides once again devastated
the coast, and around 300 yards of rail track were
washed away east of Dawlish (in comparison, around a
third of this length was impacted by the February 2014
storms). The Warren was seriously breached, and sand
filled the oyster beds and choked the breeding stock.
It was estimated that 28,000 oysters were destroyed.
In the 20th century, the period between 1937-1946
proved devastating for Dawlish Warren in particular.
From 1937-1939, a series of storms and high tides
removed most of the bungalows that were sited on
the Warren, and the storms that occurred between
1944-1946 washed away the end of the Warren;
flattening the end of the spit and detaching it from
the main body, so that its previous shape existed only
at low tide.
Further stormy weather in the 1960s,
1970s, 1980s and 1990s both exacerbated the existing
damage and caused further damage to the Warren.
Following the turn of the century, a severe south easterly
storm in 2004 had a significant impact on Exmouth.
The town’s hard sea defences experienced a lot of
damage, which eventually caused the failure and
subsequent subsidence of a section of the town’s
sea wall. The beach was also lowered as a result of
this storm, lowering its effectiveness as a coastal
defence.
In 2012, another combination of high
spring tides and stormy seas washed away several
metres of sand from the central part of the spit,
exposing the gabions that hold the dunes in place.
Exmouth 1928 - Showing changes at The Point,
Exmouth, and no Imperial Recreation Ground.
Note also houses clearly visible on the end of
Dawlish Warren (source English Heritage)
In 1903 a branch line from Exmouth to Budleigh
Salterton was constructed enabling connection to
Sidmouth Junction to pick up the Waterloo Line
to London. As part of the Beeching rationalisation
of the railways, this branch line was closed in
May 1967 and all facilities at Exmouth Station
closed apart from the booking office and hall.
Meanwhile on the west side of the Estuary,
the Brunel-engineered South Devon Railway was
originally created between Exeter and Teignmouth in
1846, which involved land reclamation at Powderham
Marshes and Starcross. The route eventually linked
to Plymouth in 1849 and briefly operated as an
atmospheric railway – where trains are propelled
by air pressure – between 1847 and 1848.
Taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1876,
this much-loved section of the south Devon route
provides important economic and social linkages
with the rest of Devon, Cornwall, and beyond.
Unfortunately, the four mile section of track
between Dawlish Warren and Teignmouth has
always been vulnerable to the impacts of bad
weather, and has experienced regular landslides,
breaches and seawater incursions, most notably in
1852,1855, 1859, 1929, and – of course – 2014.
Dawlish Warren bungalows
Dawlish Warren Coastal
Protection Scheme -1972
Dead calm-sunset on the Bight of
Exmouth 1855,
Francis Danby ARA
Dawlish high tide
Dartmoor Trust and Archive
Dawlish rail line breach etching 1855
Dartmoor Trust and Archive
Railways
The Great Devon Mystery
The winter of 1855 was hard, with deep snow and
enough frost to freeze the Exe. Curiously, on the night
of 8 February, strange cloven hoof tracks were left
continuously for over 100 miles through the towns of
Woodbury, Lympstone, Topsham and across the river
as far as Totnes. The tracks were unusual, going over
walls and roofs, through hedgerows and haystacks, and
down paths. Although many theories as to what animal
(or animals) caused the tracks have been put forward
over the years, this remains a Great Devon Mystery.
Exmouth Town
Council
Dawlish Town
Council
The Living with a Changing Coast (LiCCo) Project: a partnership project helping
coastal communities to better understand, prepare for and adapt to the impacts
of climate change, sea level rise and erosion.
Find out more at
www.licco.eu.
Issue 1 – February 2015
Exe Estuary Visitor Code
Be safe:
Be aware of the dangers from rising tides,
soft mud, cliff edges and strong currents.
Prevent litter: Bin litter or take it home with you.
Observe estuary bylaws & warning signs:
Check signage and don’t block access points.
Avoid disturbing wildlife: Keep dogs under
control and watch wildlife from a distance,
especially birds gathering at high water.
Exe Estuary Management Partnership
Protecting our Estuary for Future Generations
Exe Estuary Officer
Email: exeestua@devon.gov.uk |
Tel: 01392 382236
www.exe-estuary.org
Lucombe House, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter EX2 4QD
No part of this leaflet is to be reproduced without the
approval of the Exe Estuary Management Partnership
Cover Image: Exmouth from the Beacon Walls ,1850, William Henry Hallett
© Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery
South West
Coast Path
National Trail
(Poole - 116 miles)
South West Coast Path
National Trail
(Minehead - 512 miles)
Cyclists please
dismount
Powderham
Marshes
RSPB
Nature Reserve
Matford
Marshes
RSPB
Nature Reserve
est W South
th Pa Coast
l ai Tr National
oole - 116 miles)
(P
th Pa est Coast W South
l ai Tr National
(Minehead - 512 miles)
e vices se y ser rr fe r Fo
e’ l around the Ex ve ra ‘T
l on outer pane
3
4
5
6
7
9
8
Cyclists please
dismount
Kenton
Local livelihoods included milling, salt making,
salmon fishing, nurturing mussels and raking cockles
and oysters. Kenton has a maritime history, dating
back to before the River Kenn silted up, with six Kenton
vessels included in a 1572 list of English merchant ships.
Kenton church is one of the finest examples of the Late
Perpendicular style in the West of England. Its carved and
painted mediaeval rood screen is especially noteworthy.
Starcross
Starcross was built largely by the Victorians, retaining much
Victorian heritage in its buildings. In the 17th and 18th centuries
Starcross became important for anchorage and trans-shipping
when larger ships were unable to reach Topsham or Exeter.
By the pier is the last of the Italianate campaniles that
disguised the large chimneys of the engine houses of
Brunel’s Atmospheric Railway, constructed in 1845.
Exmouth
In the early 18th-19th century, Exmouth attracted
wealthy people who enjoyed the sea views and bathing
areas, including Lady Nelson and Lady Byron.
Exmouth served as an important port for over 700
years, from the early 12th century onwards, with the
construction of a formal dock in the mid-1860s. However,
economic decline and the closure of Exmouth
station’s branch lines to the docks in the mid-
20th century led to their closure in 1989.
Lympstone
A well-known port by the 14th century and rose to
prominence for shipbuilding in the 18th century.
Heavily involved in whale fishing in the Arctic,
the subsidy was withdrawn in 1787 (probably
to the relief of local residents, since blubber
was boiled in cauldrons on the boatyard)
and the town became known as ‘a
notorious haven of smugglers’. Many
cottages near the river had nooks to
hide smuggled goods and adapted
roof spaces enabling the passing
of goods between houses.
Exeter Canal
In 1284, Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon,
made two weirs across the river upstream of
Topsham to drive a new mill, leaving a 30’
gap to allow shipping to pass. When Hugh de
Courtenay, Earl of Devon, inherited Isabella’s
titles and possessions, he stopped the gap,
Exminster
Exminster dates back to
early Saxon times, more
recently being favoured by
the rich merchants of Exeter
who built fine homes here. The
‘County Lunatic Asylum’ was
built here in 1846, its function
now converted to residential use.
Powderham
Originally thought to have been
‘Polderham’, which meant ‘village of
the marsh’.
Powderham Castle, originally
a fortified manor house, was built during
1390-1420 by Sir Philip Courtenay and is now
surrounded by a deer park of 2,000 acres.
St Clement's Church is Grade II* listed, with
the dolphin-shaped weather vane on the
tower a remarkable medieval example.
The house and church came under
siege during the English Civil War in
1645-46 during the Parliamentarian
campaign to recapture Exeter.
Heritage of the Exe Estuary
Countess Wear
Soon after 1688 a sugar refinery and glass factory were built at
Countess Wear, the sugar being imported from the West Indies.
Messrs Harris and Son made high quality paper in one of
the earliest paper mills in Devon, operating before
1704 and closing in 1887. There were several
lime kilns, the last of which ceased burning
in 1914. Shipbuilding was carried out at
Countess Wear, with 13 vessels being
built between 1792 and 1812.
Topsham
Dutch-influenced architecture came via the strong wool trade links
with Holland. There was a windmill grinding corn for export, salt
works and limekilns. Manufacturing industries peaked in the
late 17th century, whilst Topsham’s reputation for shipbuilding
peaked in the 19th century, when Robert Davy built 27 ‘small’
warships for the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars.
The principal port for Exeter in the 14th century,
its subsequent decline partly due to the construction of
railways and modern iron ships being too large for the
shallow river Exe. The industrial revolution in the north
devastated Topsham’s commercial importance.
Exton
The emergence of Exton in 1242 was probably linked to
development of a water mill, which led to the construction
of a road to take corn from the Great Field to Exton
by 1321, later known as Rydon Lane. In 1868,
the two water mills at Rydon and Exton were
experiencing serious difficulties in dry weather.
Rydon Mill stopped production in 1909, and
Exton Mill stopped in the early 1920s.
forcing all Exeter-bound ships to unload at Topsham, adding to
his wealth. This continued for over 200 years until 1538, when
Henry Courtenay was executed and his lands forfeited to the
crown for alleged conspiracy against Henry VIII. Efforts to re-open
the weir failed and it was decided that a canal by-passing the
weirs provided the only solution. Built by John Trew during 1564-
1566, this was the first canal in England to use the pound-lock.
Cycle route (on road) suitable
for walking, cycling,
wheelchairs and pushchairs
Cycle route (off road) suitable
for walking, cycling,
wheelchairs and pushchairs
Footpath (off road) only
recommended for walkers
Footpath (on road) only
recommended for walkers
Railway/Station
Nature reserve
Key
Bus stop
Parking
Tourist Information
Cockwood
Cockwood originated as a fishing village
in the 13th century. There were once salt
works and lime kilns here, while a pier
and railway sidings were constructed in
1868 (now dismantled). The only record
of the pier’s trade dates back to 1874
when the ‘Victoria’ discharged coal for
Exeter, Teignbridge and Newton Abbot.
A Cockle Woman 1906
© The Francis Frith Collection.
1947
Starcross Atmos Rail
Dawlish and Dawlish Warren
Dawlish became a fashionable resort in Regency times,
with visitors including Jane Austen and Charles Dickens
(who used it as the birthplace of Nicholas Nickleby).
The sea wall was built in 1836 to hold back erosion,
and the railway line later fulfilled the same function.
In 1855 there was a major cliff fall that carried a section
of the railway track into the sea, with similar incidents
in 1869 and 1872. In 1885 the cliff was cut back and
the promenade created after a fatal accident.
Shipping off Exmouth 1806, Thomas Luny-Crown
© Government Art Collection
Town Quay 1949 before Carlsberg building
1587 Exeter
Lympstone Cottages
Exmouth - The Esplanade 1906
© The Francis Frith Collection.
The Red Rock Arch 1955
© The Francis Frith Collection.
Historical Castle -
©Powderham Castle
