the Ex, one of the largest rivers in Devonshire, which, rising in
Exmoor, in Somersetshire, flows past Tiverton, Exeter, and Topsham, and
after a course of about seventy miles discharges itself into the sea. It
lies on the left bank of the river, and is about eleven miles to the
south-eastward of Exeter, and one hundred and sixty-eight from London.
It is sheltered from the north-east and south-east winds; and the
temperature of the air is mild and highly favourable to invalids. As the
bathing-machines are placed within the bar, which breaks the violence of
the sea, visiters are thus enabled to bathe in safety at all times.
There are also excellent warm sea-water baths in the town for such as
require them. There is a convenient market-place at Exmouth; and a new
church was erected by Lord Rolle in 1825. Exmouth and Littleham
constitute a united parish, the population of which is about 3,400. In
1814, the late Admiral Sir Edward Pellew was created a peer, with the
title of Baron Exmouth; and in 1816, after his expedition to Algiers, he
was further advanced to the rank of Viscount.
In the reign of King John, Exmouth appears to have been a port of some
consequence; and in 1347 it furnished ten ships and one hundred and
ninety-three mariners to the grand fleet assembled by Edward III. for
his expedition against France. In the reign of Henry VIII., Leland calls
it "a fisschar tounlet," in which state it appears to have continued
till about the middle of the last century, when it began to increase, in
consequence of the number of persons visiting it for the sake of
sea-bathing. It is said that Exmouth first came into repute as a
watering-place from one of the judges of assize going there to bathe,
and returning with his health very much improved. The following account
of the place, and of the manner in which the visiters passed their time
about sixty years ago, is from a letter published in Polwhele's _History
of Devon_:--"The village is a very pretty one, and composed, for the
most part, of cot-houses, neat and clean, and consisting of four or five
rooms, which are generally let at a guinea a week. We have from some of
the houses, when the tide is in, a beautiful view of the river, which,
united with the sea, forms a fine sheet of water before our doors of
large extent. Lord Courtenay's and Lord Lisburne's grounds, rising in
inequalities on the other shore, complete the perspective. This is the
most gay part of the village; but then its brilliancy is only
temporary--for, the tide returned, instead of a fine sheet of water, we
are presented with a bed of mud, whose perfumes are not equal to those
of a bed of roses.... Exmouth boasts no public rooms or assemblies, save
one card assembly, in an inconvenient apartment at one of the inns, on
Monday evenings. The company meet at half after five, and break up at
ten; they play at shilling whist, or twopenny quadrille. We have very
few young people here, and no diversions; no _belles dames_ amusing to
the unmarried, but some _beldames_ unamusing to the married. Walking on
a hill which commands a view of the ocean, and bathing, with a visit or
two, serve to pass away the morning, and tea-drinking in the evening."
From the preceding account it would appear that Exmouth, "sixty years
since," was but a dull place, even at the height of the season, and more
likely to induce lowness of spirits than to prove a remedy for care,
"the busy man's disease;" for what temperament, however mercurial, could
bear up against the daily round of tea-parties--where silence was only
broken by the "beldame's" scandal--diversified once a week with shilling
whist or twopenny quadrille? Since the period when the above-quoted
letter was written, Exmouth has been greatly improved, and many large
houses have been built for the accommodation of visiters. But since the
cot-houses have been elevated to handsome three-storied dwellings, it is
only fair to add that the rate of lodgings has also been raised in the
same proportion; "five or six rooms, neat and clean," are no longer to
be obtained at a guinea a week. There is now a commodious assembly-room
in the town, where the young and the fair--who are not so scarce at
Exmouth as they appear to have been sixty years ago--occasionally meet
to enjoy the amusement of dancing; while the more elderly have still the
opportunity of cheating time at "shilling whist or twopenny quadrille."
There are also several billiard and reading-rooms, which are places
pleasant enough to while away an hour or two in when it rains; and the
monotony of the morning walk on the hill, and the dulness of the evening
tea-drinking, are now frequently diversified with excursions by water to
Powderham Castle, Dawlish, Topsham, and places adjacent.
[Illustration: BUDLEIGH SALTERTON.]
BUDLEIGH-SALTERTON.
The village of Budleigh-Salterton lies about half-way between Sidmouth
and Exmouth, and at a short distance to the westward of the mouth of the
river Otter. It is pleasantly situated by the sea-shore; and the beauty
of the country in its vicinity, and the convenience afforded for
sea-bathing, have caused it of late years to be much frequented as a
watering-place.
Of the many watering-places with which the requirements of fashion have
sprinkled our southern coasts, there are few which can boast of a more
delightful situation than the subject of our present engraving.
Protected on both sides by the surrounding hills, it is completely
sheltered from the severity of those winds which are frequently the bane
of some of our otherwise most eligible retreats; while its view of the
ocean is uninterrupted by any of those obstacles which add more to the
utility than the beauty of our older sea-bathing towns. The coast of
Devonshire offers peculiar advantages to the invalid; it has a southern
aspect; the winters are milder than in any other part of England, and
the north-east wind, with its concomitant evils, is less felt than in
the more exposed though more popular ports of the Isle of Thanet. In
addition to a genial climate, Devonshire is entitled to some preference
on the score of economy with that large class to whom the cost of even
an occasional residence at the coast is a serious consideration; and
although a temporary sojourn at any watering-place must necessarily be
more expensive than the same time spent in a rural district, the visiter
will find that in none can a greater share of the comforts and even
luxuries of life be obtained upon moderate terms than in
Budleigh-Salterton and its neighbouring towns of Exmouth and Sidmouth.
Another advantage which these smaller towns possess is the freedom from
restraint in which they allow their patrons to indulge. The almost
slavish deference which the higher classes of society are compelled to
pay to certain conventional rules of fashion and etiquette may be
quietly laid aside during a residence at such towns as the one now
before us, and this, too, without fear of forfeiting that claim to
exclusiveness which every grade is so anxious to maintain against the
one below it. Few persons will deny the gratification that they have
derived from an occasional relaxation of those social laws that restrict
our actions in everyday life; and not the least of the benefits which
they receive from their summer visits to the coast may be traced to the
opportunities which they afford for their becoming again, though but for
a few weeks, or even days, "children of a larger growth."
The village of East Budleigh, which is also the name of one of the
hundreds into which Devon is divided, lies about two miles above
Budleigh-Salterton, on the banks of the river Otter. Leland, in his
_Itinerary_, thus notices East Budleigh: "On the west side of the haven
is Budelegh, right almost against Oterton, but it is somewhat more from
the shore than Oterton. Lesse then an hunderith yeres sins, ships usid
this harbour, but it is now clene barrid. Some call this Budeley Haven,
of Budeley town." It has been supposed by Polwhele that the name
Budleigh, or Budely, is derived from the British _budelle_, a stream,
and that it had originated from the number of springs or small brooks
which run through every valley in the parish; for scarcely a house can
be found that is more than a furlong distant from a rivulet.
Hayes, near East Budleigh, is celebrated as the birthplace of Sir Walter
Raleigh. This fact is mentioned in our notice of Ladram Bay; but the
following circumstance, which has since come to our knowledge, will
confirm the remarks we then made, by showing the hero's love for the
place of his birth, and its probable effect upon his after life. His
father having only a lease of the property, it subsequently came into
the possession of a person named Duke, to whom Sir Walter addressed a
letter, dated "From the Court, 26th July, 1584," wherein he expresses a
wish to purchase the farm and house of Hayes, and says that from "the
natural disposition he has to that place, being born in that house, he
would rather seat himself there than any where else." The proprietor,
not wishing to have so great a man for a neighbour, did not comply with
Sir Walter's request. The letter, about fifty years ago, was to be seen
at Otterton House, pasted on a piece of board for its better
preservation.[3]
At St. Mary Ottery, about six miles above East Budleigh, on the opposite
side of the river, the poet Coleridge was born, in 1772. When young he
went to London, where he was educated at Christ's Hospital; and few
reminiscences of the place of his birth are to be found in his poems,
though he has dedicated one sonnet to his "Dear native brook, wild
streamlet of the west,"--the river Otter.
[3] Polwhele's _History of Devon_, vol ii. p. 219.
[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE BEACH AT SIDMOUTH.
_LOOKING TOWARDS THE SOUTH-WEST._]
VIEW FROM THE BEACH AT SIDMOUTH,
LOOKING TOWARDS THE SOUTH-WEST.
In this view, from a painting by J. D. Harding, the characteristic
features of the coast of Devon are most happily expressed; and the
manner in which the subject is treated at once displays the feeling of
the artist to appreciate, and his ability to depict, the most beautiful
scenery of the English coast. The simplicity of truth is not here
outraged for the sake of pictorial effect, but the whole composition is
at the same time appropriate, natural, and pleasing.
Sidmouth is situated on the southern coast of Devonshire, about 15 miles
south-east of Exeter, and 158 south-west of London. It derives its name
from the little stream called the Sid, which there discharges itself
into the sea. The town is situated at the end of a beautiful vale, and
is sheltered on the east, west, and north by ranges of hills, which are
cultivated to their very summits. It occupies the margin of a small bay,
bounded on the east by Salcombe Hill, and on the west by Peak Hill, each
more than 600 feet above the level of the sea at low water. The
undulating and richly-cultivated vale through which the Sid meanders is
screened towards the north by the Gittisham and Honiton Hills. On the
south it commands an extensive view of the sea. It has a bold and open
shore, and many of its newest houses are built near the beach, which is
protected from the encroachments of the sea by a natural rampart of
shingly pebbles, that rises in four or five successive stages from near
low-water mark, and terminates in a broad and commodious promenade about
one-third of a mile in length. Sidmouth has two suburbs, respectively
called the Western Town and the Marsh. It has a weekly market on
Saturday, and two annual fairs--the one on Easter Tuesday, the other on
the Wednesday after September 1. The church is dedicated to St.
Nicholas. Its revenues were granted, in 1205, by Bishop Marshall, to the
monastery of St. Michael, in Normandy, to which the priory of Otterton
was a cell, but afterwards reduced with those of the other alien
priories. The beauty of its situation, the mildness and salubrity of the
air, and the conveniences afforded for sea-bathing, have caused Sidmouth
to be much frequented within the last forty years as a watering-place;
and there are now many private residences of the nobility and gentry
erected in its immediate vicinity, the proprietors of which, attracted
by the beauty of the scenery, and the mild, sheltered character of the
situation, reside there during the greater part of the year; thus giving
a superiority to the society, which the visitor cannot always find in
sea-bathing towns of a much larger population.
Sidmouth is a place of great antiquity; and in 1348 it supplied three
ships and sixty-two mariners to the great fleet of Edward III. It has
been said that there was formerly a good harbour at Sidmouth, but that
it became so choked up with sand, that no ships could enter. This
account, however, is considered by the Rev. Edmund Butcher to be
inaccurate. He says that no sand has destroyed its harbour; and he is of
opinion that there never was one of any magnitude at the place. He,
however, thinks that there might have been a kind of natural basin, in
which the small vessels of former times might have rode, or even
discharged their cargoes, with less risk than is at present incurred by
vessels which unload on the beach.
[Illustration: CAVES AT LADRAM BAY.
_DEVONSHIRE._]
CAVES AT LADRAM BAY.
Ladram Bay is on the southern coast of Devonshire, and lies between
Sidmouth and the mouth of the river Otter. It is of small extent, and is
neither noticed by any of the historians of the country, nor described
in any guide-book. The Lade rock forms its eastern extremity; and to the
westward it is bounded by a similar promontory, near to which are the
caves represented in the engraving. The bay is only accessible to
pedestrians proceeding from Sidmouth at low water through a cave at its
eastern point; and its approach from the westward is also through a
perforated rock. This small and secluded bay is extremely romantic, and
the cliffs between its extreme points are lofty and nearly
perpendicular. It is frequently visited in summer by picnic parties from
Sidmouth, Otterton, and Budleigh Salterton; and it is said that
smugglers, availing themselves of its retired situation, occasionally
manage to land a cargo there, notwithstanding the vigilance of the
preventive men, who have a look-out near the bay, but not a regular
station. The only house in its immediate vicinity is a fisherman's
cottage, near the end of the road leading to it from Otterton.
There are several curious caverns and perforated rocks on the southern
coast of Devon. Just within the promontory called the Bolt-head, at the
western end of Salcomb-bar, is a cavern called the Bull-hole, which is
believed by many persons of the neighbourhood to extend for about three
miles to a similar cavern in a creek near Sewer-mill. The tradition is
that a bull entered at one cavern, and came out at the other; and hence
the name of the Bull-hole. Nearly at the top of the cliff of Bolberry
Down, about a mile to the eastward of the Bolt-tail, is a cavern called
Ralph's-hole, which is about twenty feet long, seven feet wide, and
eight feet high. It is nearly four hundred feet above the sea; and the
rock by which it is approached is within three feet of the precipice,
and only admits of one person passing at a time. It is said that a man
named Ralph made this cave his abode for many years in order to avoid
being arrested, and that with a hay-fork as a weapon to defend the
entrance he set the bailiffs at defiance; his residence, however, was
more remarkable for its security than its convenience; and if the
blessing of freedom is not included in the balance of advantages and
evils, Ralph would probably have found a more comfortable home in any of
her Majesty's gaols than in his sea-beaten fortress. A few miles
further westward, directly off Thurlston sands, in Bigberry bay, is a
perforated rock, about thirty feet high, called Thurlston rock. At very
low ebb-tides it is left dry, but as the flood increases, the sea washes
over it, making a noise in stormy weather that is heard at a great
distance.
The village of Otterton, in the immediate vicinity of these caves, is
remarkable for the peculiarity of possessing a church with a tower at
the eastern end. At this place there was formerly an alien priory
subject to St. Michael's, in Normandy. The river Otter is a fine trout
stream, and affords much amusement to the patrons of the rod and line;
but it is navigable for boats only at high-water, when small craft can
ascend as far as Otterton, about two and a half miles from its mouth. A
view from Peak-hill, an eminence in this neighbourhood, frequently
excites the admiration of visitors, commanding as it does the beautiful
vale of Sidmouth, with the village and beach on the east, the vale of
the Otter on the west, bordered by Haldon and other hills, and extending
to the sea on the south.
Bicton House, on the banks of the Otter, is the seat of Lord Rolle; it
is a spacious edifice, standing in a park plentifully stocked with
beach, elm, and oak, and abounding in deer. At the time of Domesday
survey, this manor was held by the somewhat burdensome tenure of
maintaining the county gaol; but from this service it has been many
years relieved by Act of Parliament. Sir Walter Raleigh was born at
Hayes, in the parish of East Budleigh, a small village about four miles
from Sidmouth; and much of his love for maritime enterprise was probably
derived from his early associations with this romantic coast, so well
calculated to impress the youthful mind with a passion for the sea and
its wonders.
[Illustration: WEYMOUTH.]
WEYMOUTH
Weymouth and Melcombe-Regis lie on opposite sides of the same river, the
latter on the east, and the former on the west. They are connected by a
bridge, the central part of which can be swung open, to allow of the
passing and repassing of ships. The name of Weymouth is generally given
to the united towns, which are both in the county of Dorset, and about
130 miles to the south-westward of London.
Weymouth derives its name from the Wey, or Way, a small river which
there discharges itself into the sea. It is a place of great antiquity;
it is mentioned in a charter granted by Ethelred, about the year 880,
giving certain lands there to his faithful minister, Altsere. In the
Domesday Survey there are no less than eight places in the county with
the name of _Wai_ or _Waia_; that, however, which is described as having
twelve _salterns_, or salt ponds, was undoubtedly the Weymouth of the
present time. In the reign of Edward II. Weymouth returned two members
to Parliament; and in 1347, probably in conjunction with Melcombe, it
supplied 15 ships and 263 mariners to the grand fleet of Edward III.
Melcombe owes its adjunct, "Regis"--King's--to its having been a part of
the demesne lands of the crown in the time of Edward I. It is not
mentioned in the Domesday survey; but it appears to have been summoned
to return two members to Parliament several years earlier than Weymouth,
though the latter, in all charters, has precedence as the more ancient
town. The inhabitants of the two places had frequent quarrels respecting
their rights to the harbour and the profits thence accruing; and, in
consequence of those dissensions, the towns were deprived of the
privileges of a staple port by Henry VI. In the thirteenth year of the
reign of Elizabeth the two towns were united into one borough, having
their privileges in common, and jointly returning four members to
Parliament. By the Reform Bill the number of members returned by the
united towns has been limited to two.
The following is Leland's account of the two places at the time of his
visiting them, in the reign of Henry VIII.: "Ther is a townlet on the
hither side of the haven of Waymouth caullid Milton or Melcombe], beyng
privilegid and having a mair. This town, as it is evidently seene, hathe
beene far bigger then it is now. The cause of this is layid on to the
Frenchmen, that in tymes of war rasid this towne for lak of defence. For
so many houses as be yn the town, they be welle and strongly buildid of
stone. There is a chapelle of ease in Milton. The paroch church is a
mile of: a manifest token that Milton is no very old town ... Milton
standith as a peninsula, by reason of the water of the haven that a
little above the toun, spreedith abrode and makith a bay, and by the bay
of the mayne sea that gulfith it in on the other side. The tounlet of
Waymouth lyith strait agaynst Milton on the other side of the haven, and
at this place the water of the haven is but of a small brede; and the
_trajectus_ is by a bote and a rope bent over the haven, so that in the
fery bote they use no oars. Waymouth hath certein liberties and
privileges, but ther is no mair yn it. Ther is a key and warf for
shippes."[4]
In the same manner as at many other towns on the southern coast, the
trade of Weymouth appears to have declined considerably from the time
that the English ceased to have any possessions in France; and the
comparatively small depth of water in the harbour has tended to prevent
the increase of its shipping in modern times. The harbour at Weymouth is
what is called a tide-harbour. The channel is about fourteen feet deep
at high water; and at the quays on each side the ships lie aground at
low water. The large lake at the westward of Melcombe-Regis receives at
spring tides a vast body of water, which, on its return scours the
harbour and prevents the accumulation of sand. The number of ships
belonging to the port of Weymouth is about eighty-five, the aggregate
tonnage of which is 7175 tons.
The increase of Weymouth within the last forty or fifty years is chiefly
owing to the number of persons who take up a temporary residence there
to enjoy the benefit of sea-bathing, for which the excellent beach
affords the greatest convenience. It is said that the place first began
to obtain celebrity on this account about 1763, in consequence of Ralph
Allen, Esq., of Prior Park, near Bath, having derived great benefit
while residing there, and recommending it to his friends. Weymouth was
visited, in 1789, by George III., who resided there for about ten weeks,
and was so much pleased with the place that in several succeeding years
it was honoured with a royal visit.
[4] Leland's Itinerary, vol. iii., p. 79. Edition 1769.
[Illustration: HURST CASTLE.
_THE PRISON OF KING CHARLES I._]
HURST CASTLE
"Here Walter Scott has woo'd the Northern muse;
Here he with me has joyed to walk or cruise;
Hence have we ranged by Celtic camps and barrows,
Or climb'd the expectant bank, to thread the Narrows
Of HURST, bound westward to the gloomy bower
Where CHARLES was prisoned in yon island-tower."
W. STEWART ROSE.
Among the numerous objects which confer particular interest and beauty
on the neighbourhood of Lymington, the most prominent is Hurst Castle,
of which a striking view is presented in the annexed Engraving. It was
erected by Henry the Eighth, as a fortress for the protection of this
part of the Channel from piratical inroads and hostile aggression, and
to give his "loving subjects" a strong and lasting pledge of his
"paternal solicitude" for their welfare. It is situated near the
extremity of a remarkable, natural causeway, or point of land, which
runs boldly into the sea to a distance of nearly two miles, and exhibits
these massive battlements to great advantage. Its works of defence
consist of a circular tower, strengthened by semicircular bastions; and
when armed and garrisoned in a manner becoming the important trust
confided to it, must have presented a very formidable appearance.