Sidmouth
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Arms of Sidmouth Town Council |
Sidmouth is a small town of 14,400 on the east
Devon coast in south west
England about 15 miles south east of
Exeter. Situated at the mouth of the
River Sid, it is surrounded by the
East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is on the
Jurassic Coast world heritage site and the
South West Coast Path, a
long distance footpath that skirts almost all of the coast in the West Country of England. The principal income of the town is from
tourism. The town is also popular as a retirement community, with about 60% of the population being over retirement age.
Sidmouth holds an annual
folk festival in early August attracting
musicians and visitors from around the world. As of 2005 all commercial sponsors had pulled out of the festival. To save the festival and keep tourism strong, many shop owners in Sidmouth organised the festival themselves. This resulted in a much smaller scale event than previous years and offered no international entertainment.
Sidmouth has many independent retailers, including a surprisingly big department store. There are several pubs, restaurants, coffee houses and tea rooms. The town also boasts an indoor swimming pool, a college, sports hall, cinema, and golf course. Of particular note is the museum. A very carefully selected accumulation of local memorabilia, artefacts, and geological samples provides a comprehensive and fascinating picture of the area's geology and history.
A wide esplanade has been a seafront feature since
Regency times. A series of south westerly storms in the 1980's washed away much of the shingle beach protecting the masonry. A series of artificial rock islands were constructed to protect the sea front and tonnes of pebbles were trucked in to replace the beach.
Erosion remains a serious concern east of the mouth of the River Sid. The cliffs have been heavily eroded, threatening cliff top homes and the coastal footpath.
Sidmouth has been a frequent winner of the
Britain in Bloom awards. Most recently it was awarded the
2001 award in the Small Town category and it won the
2005 award for the Coastal Resort category.
Once a relatively small fishing village and failed port, Sidmouth became a fashionable resort for the gentry in the early nineteenth century. The town's numerous fine
Georgian and
Regency villas and mansions are now mostly hotels. The
Lockyer Observatory and Planetarium, completed in 1912, fell into disuse and ruin but was saved from demolition by the appeals of local enthusiasts to East Devon District Council. The observatory now operates as a science education project and is regularly open to the public.
In 1819
George III's son
Edward, Duke of Kent, his wife and baby daughter, came to stay at Wolbrook Glen for a few weeks. In less that a month he had died of
pneumonia. His daughter was the future
Queen Victoria. The house later became the
Royal Glen Hotel, and a plaque on an exterior wall records the visit.
At one time Sidmouth was connected to the railway network by a branch line, but this was dismantled under the
Beeching Axe in the 1960s.
*
The Belmont Hotel*
Sidmouth railway station* Sidmouth appears as "Stymouth" in
Beatrix Potter's children's story
The Tale of Little Pig Robinson (1930). The author includes views of the beach and other parts of the Dover countryside in the work.
* It is referred to as "Idmouth" in
Thomas Hardy's
Wessex.
* It is called "Baymouth" in
William Makepeace Thackeray's
Pendennis.
*
Sidbury UTD AFC - Sidbury's football team. The village nearby to Sidmouth.
*
Sidmouth Herald - local newspaper for the Sidmouth and Ottery St Mary area. All the latest news, sport, events, jobs, property and motors.
*
Sidmouth (DMOZ.org)*
Sidmouth Town Council*
Virtual Tour of Sidmouth
