Exmouth is a seaside town in the south west of the UK (United Kingdom), and my home since 2000. Due to its location on the eastern shore at the mouth of the River Exe, Exmouth is officially part of East Devon, and one of the largest towns in the area. Thousands descend on Exmouth each year to enjoy its beaches, the surrounding countryside, and various water sports.

Exmouth from Orcombe Point

The Beach

Exmouth is the only seaside town in East Devon with a large sandy beach. All lying east of Exmouth, the other seaside towns and villages such as Budleigh Salterton,  Sidmouth, Branscombe, and Seaton have pebble beaches. Sidmouth does have some small areas of sand at low tide but nothing to compare with  Exmouth's two miles of golden sand stretching from the Exe estuary to the start of the Jurassic Coast's cliffs at Orcombe Point. At low tide, the sand extends beyond Orcombe Point to the popular holiday caravan park of Sandy Bay. 

My family and I are only five of the many hundreds of thousands of visitors of all ages that have enjoyed the beach at Exmouth since the 18th century when the town established itself as a holiday resort. Claiming to be the oldest holiday resort in Devon, Exmouth originally attracted wealthy visitors who could not holiday in Europe at that time due to the troubles caused by the French revolution. The arrival of the railway provided easy access for the less wealthy in the last third of the nineteenth century, and tourism has largely shaped the town into what it is today. In fact, the esplanade at the end of the beach nearest the town centre, has not changed all that much since that time.

The Esplanade,  Exmouth 1906, courtesy Francis Frith. click for more old photos of Exmouth ...

The Esplanade, one hundred years later

My family's favourite point along the beach is the longest of the short rows of sand dunes. My three boys love clambering over these, jumping off the top into the soft sand below, racing each other up and down the steep slopes collapsing into giggling heaps more often than not. In addition, at low tide, we enjoy exploring the expanse of rock pools just a little further east along the beach. 

Weather allowing, the esplanade that runs the whole length of the beach provides for various forms of exercise throughout the year, a relaxed stroll, brisk walk or a jog, run or cycle. Often when working from home, I will take a break at lunch time to cycle to the far end of the esplanade and back, and the views of  the cliffs, dunes, estuary, and South Devon coastline never fail to inspire.

Warning for cyclists: Along most of the esplanade a part of the path is marked as a dedicated cycle path. However, it is all too easy for pedestrians to forget or ignore this, especially young children. In addition, the cycle path at the western end of the esplanade where it is narrower, weaves most bizarrely around a bench and passes right in front of a covered seating area from which people can emerge suddenly without looking.

During the summer the beach and sea-front is frequently crowded with holiday-makers and day-trippers. All the entertainment locations and seafront cafes are open and you have to pay to park along the seafront. During the colder half of the year, parking is free, and the beach and seafront are considerably quieter. However, the views and the light on the water are frequently even more beautiful at this time of year. 

The part of the sea front nearest town has a number of Georgian style hotels and further up the beach there are beautiful public gardens, colourful beach huts, pleasant cafes, and various family activity areas from crazy golf and trampolines to a large model railway. The Exmouth Pavilion also offers a wide range of different live entertainment performances from brass bands to rock bands.

Also located along the sea front is the lifeboat station. Exmouth operates two RNLI lifeboats and has been a lifeboat station for over 200 years, the first station being built in 1803. A sparkling new lifeboat station has just been completed towards the eastern end of the beach, and the old derelict, outdoor swimming pool is currently being redeveloped.

The marina end of the seafront is ideal for relaxing and watching the various boats come and go. Alternatively, Stuart Line Cruises offers the opportunity to embark from here on one of their short cruises around the estuary.

The Estuary

The Exe estuary is an important wildlife site. Its mud flats and sand banks provide a home for more than 20,000 birds a year making it a popular location for bird watchers. The estuary has a number of Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and other nature reserves located on its banks. The Exe estuary also has one of the largest mussel and oyster fisheries in the South West. One end of the oldest working ship canals in England meets the Exe estuary at the Turf Lock Inn and where the estuary starts to narrow, there is the old town of Topsham with its Dutch influenced architecture dating from the times when the town was an important port doing considerable trade with the Netherlands.

The Jurassic Coast

Exmouth also sits at one end of the UNESCO World heritage Site known as the Jurassic Coast. The Jurassic coast stretches eastwards through the popular East Devon coastal towns of Budleigh Salterton, Sidmouth, Beer, and Seaton. It continues through the neighbouring county of Dorset all the way to the town of Swanage. The rocks and cliffs of the 95 miles of coastline are claimed to provide insights into 185 million years of the planet's history with the oldest rocks being located at Orcombe Point, Exmouth.

The Locale

If you follow the river Exe inland for about 10 miles you come to Exmouth's nearest city, Exeter, with its Roman remains and picturesque cathedral area. Exeter is connected to Exmouth by a pretty, meandering road; the somewhat over-ambitiously titled and, in the summer, more-than-somewhat overcrowded A376. The route takes you through a number of small villages including Lympstone and Exton before it reaches Exeter. Fortunately, Exmouth and Exeter are also connected by the last remaining railway branch line in East Devon. The line runs alongside the Exe estuary for several miles with wonderful views before crossing the M5 motorway and entering Exeter, stopping at both Exeter Central station (city centre) and Exeter St. Davids station (mainline connections).

On the Exeter road (A376), right at the edge of Exmouth, is A-La-Ronde. This National Trust property is a Byzantine style, thatched house, 45 ft high with sixteen sides. It has twenty rooms set out around a central octagonal hall. A-La-Ronde was constructed in 1795 by Jane and Mary Parminter, a pair of eccentric spinster sisters.

On the opposite shore of the estuary from Exmouth, in South Devon, are the beach resort and national nature reserve of Dawlish Warren, the village of Starcross and Powderham castle. 

Bicton Park Botanical Gardens, fifteen minutes drive from Exmouth, provides an excellent place for a day out if you have a young family and its indoor play area alone has proven to be worth the entrance fee during school holidays if the weather is not so good. The various different gardens, gentle walks, shell house, and cafe are popular with older folks too. If Bicton is not to your tastes there is always Crealy adventure park about the same distance from Exmouth in the opposite direction. This has a number of different rides for all ages, a water play area, and two large indoor play areas, amongst other things but is slightly more expensive than Bicton and can be very busy in peak season.

Slightly further afield, for those with a car, the East Devon towns of Beer with its Pecorama model railway attraction, Seaton with its narrow gauge heritage tramway, Sidmouth with its elegant regency period architecture and seafront, and the Dartmoor and Exmoor national parks make for a variety of days out.

The other main route into the town is the Salterton Road (B3178) that takes you to neighbouring, sleepy Budleigh Salterton, with its beautiful pebble beach that  hides the mouth of the River Otter at its far end.  

Should you need to, you can also escape from Exmouth using Hulham Road, Marley Road or St Johns Road.Should you take any of these roads and turn left at the end of themto head towards Ottery St Mary, within a mile or so, you will find yourself crossing Woodbury Common.

Woodbury Common

Woodbury Common is a piece of high ground from with stunning views of the Exe estuary on one side and views down to the English Channel on the other. It is also the site of an ancient hill fort. Woodbury Common is located in an internationally recognised Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Woodbury and its six neighbouring commons lie on ancient geological formations comprising thick layers of rounded pebbles embedded in sand. Managed by the Clinton Devon Estates, Woodbury Common is a great place for walking, cycling, or a picnic, etc.

The common has an area for flying radio-controlled model aircraft, but much of it consists of trails through large swathes of yellow gorse and purple heather.

In addition, parts of the common are used for training new recruits by the Royal Marines who have a training camp nearby.  As a result, Exmouth has a significant population of retired marines, and many others are connected with the marine camp in some way.

The Town

The town itself is lively with plenty of activities for all ages. In the town centre there are branches of Iceland, WHSmith, Boots, SuperDrug, and a good range of local specialist shops, an indoor market, the usual seaside shops selling everything that you might possibly need for a day on the beach (and loads of stuff that you will not) plus restaurants, pubs (bars) and cafes of all sorts. On the outskirts of town along the Salterton road there are large branches of Tesco, Halfords, and B&Q, and for fast food fans, a drive-through MacDonalds that competes with the KFC in the town centre.

After a highly enjoyable process of selection, my family and I have decided that our favourite Indian restuarant in town is Tandoori Nights and our favourite Chinese resturant is the Golden Dragon (1, The Beacon, Exmouth, Devon EX8 2AG). So far, our favourite carvery is the one provided by the Nutwell Lodge and despite it being the only Mexican restuarant in town, we can heartily recommend The Mexican.

Exmouth has a cricket club located near the beach, a very pleasent place to spend an evening having a beer with friends while watching the sun set slowly over your kids practising playing cricket. There are also two football teams (Exmouth Town and Exmouth Amateurs) and two rugby clubs (Exmouth RFC and Withycombe RFC).

Phear Park

Located in the middle of Exmouth, Phear Park is a large open space of grass and beautiful old trees. In addition the park holds

• a number of outdoor, hard court tennis courts, 
• an enclosed mud and grass bike track for children, 
• a skate-board and BMX area, 
• two adjoining playground areas with slides and climbing frames for children of different age groups
• a hard surface basket-ball / soccer court
• the Phear Park Bowling Club
• a eighteen-hole 'pitch and put' course,  a nine-hole putting green, and a crazy golf course

The park used to be part of the grounds of Marpool Hall and was bequeathed to the towns people of Exmouth by its owners the Phear family. The hall itself was demolished in the 1950's to make way for the current bowling club pavillion. When the weather is nice, the park is a great place to take the kids during school holidays or on a weekend for few hours. 

Phear Park

Rolle College

Exnouth used to have a significant student population attending the Rolle College teacher training campus located in the town but this has now moved to the Plymouth as part of the University of Plymouth.

Controversy now surrounds the possible re-development of the old campus and its recreation grounds and the alleged backing down on promises by politicians and the University of Plymouth about the use of the land.

Other Exmouths

There is another Exmouth at the tip of the North West Cape in Western Australia. The town is located 789 miles (1,270 kilometres) north of the state capital Perth and 2,092 miles (3,366 kilometres) southwest of Darwin.
Read more about Exmouth, Australia ...