Welcome to Teignmouth | |
The wonderful old town of Teignmouth you see today, the “Gem of South Devon”, is the result of a fascinating, sometimes violent, past.
Shaped by the ever-intrusive force of the sea and by architectural fashions over the centuries, it has also suffered the unwelcome attention of invaders.
In 800 AD Teignton was set alight by marauding Danes. In 1340 and again in 1690 it was the turn of the French to burn down the town. In fact this is believed to be the last time that English soil was invaded and occupied by a hostile enemy force.
In the peaceful years that followed Teignmouth achieved fame in the Georgian and Victorian eras as a fashionable resort for the rich and famous with the construction of the seafront buildings you see today.
John Keats took lodgings here, the marine artist Thomas Luny lived and worked here until his death in 1837 and the eminent harpist, Eliah Parish Alvars was born here in 1808.
Unfortunately the town again suffered the ravages of war, this time by bomb damage in World War II, but now it combines the commerce of a busy port with the status of a top holiday resort. |
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