Exmouth /ˈɛksməθ/ is a port town, civil parish and seaside resort situated on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe, 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Exeter.

[5] The two ecclesiastical parishes, Littleham and Withycombe Raleigh,[6] that make up the town of Exmouth today can be traced to pre-Saxon times.

The name of the town derives from its location at the mouth of the River Exe estuary, which ultimately comes from an ancient Celtic word for fish.

The original site is marked by a seating area outside the Glenorchy United Reformed Church close to the Magnolia Shopping Centre.

[8] For some centuries, commercial trade through the port was limited in part by the shallow waters on the approach to the quay, but mainly by the power of Exeter, which owned the dock and controlled all estuary traffic.

[5] New docks designed by Eugenius Birch were opened in 1868, and a short line connected them to the railway goods yard.

Human habitation was restricted by the harsh exposed position on the estuary – civilisation took a hold in a greater and more permanent way in the more comfortable outer lying rural areas.

[5] Morin Uppehille owned the land, granting part of it to John the Miller who in turn built a windmill, and earned his living on the exposed point, aided by the prevailing south-west winds.

In the mid 17th century the area suffered from the ravages of "Turkish pirates"[5] (actually Algerian rovers), who raided the Devon and Cornwall coastlines, attacking shipping and attempting to capture sailors and villagers for sale as slaves in North Africa.

Visitors prevented from visiting Europe by the revolutionary turmoil in France were attracted by the views and medicinal salt waters which were then fashionable.

The Exe Estuary is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is noted in particular for its wading and migrating birds.

Geologically, the low hill known as "The Beacon", in the centre of the present town, is formed of breccias that are an outcrop of a similar formation on the west side of the Exe estuary.

The outflow from the river flows eastwards, parallel to the beach for some distance, limited by sandbanks that are exposed at low tide.

The 16-sided 18th century house called A La Ronde, now in the ownership of the National Trust, lies on the northern outskirts of the town.

At the eastern end of Exmouth is the Barn, a late 19th century house in Arts and Crafts style.

The National Coastwatch Institution Tower on the seafront has been a familiar feature of the Exmouth beach skyline in family photos and postcards for over 100 years.

It was requisitioned in the 40’s and served as a part of the war effort as a defence lookout station watching over our coastline and in peacetime it was reopened as the Harbour View Café (summer 1946) as which it has been trading ever since.

Its lookout days did not end during the war however, since 1998 it has been staffed by the National Coastwatch Institute volunteers, keeping an eye on our coast alongside the Coastguard and RNLI.

As one of over 50 stations around the UK coast they act as eyes and ears, monitoring the coastline and radio channels on alert for anyone in difficulty and any hazards in the waters.

On Christmas Day 1956 he was swept overboard and drowned during a mission on the Maria Noble to save the crew of the Dutch ship MV Minerva 4 miles south east of Orcombe Point.

As of November 2012[update], £3 million has been spent on the regeneration of the Strand, which has seen the removal of much of the grass, flower beds and many of the trees.

It is a handsome structure, in the perpendicular style, standing on the Beacon hill, and having a tower 104 feet high, containing a clock and one bell.

In 1903 a link to Budleigh Salterton was opened the line going eastward over a viaduct which went from Exeter Road to Park Road where it entered a cutting continuing onto Littleham Cross where there was also a station (now a private residence), and from there to Budleigh Salterton, there turning north to rejoin the main London and South Western Railway line.

When the line to Budleigh was lifted the viaduct was left in place for many years, with its final destruction in the late 1980s.

Shortly after the war the house was burnt down and left derelict; eventually it too was demolished, and its grounds were given to the town by the Phear family to become a park.

The trackbed has now been tarmacked and now forms an off-road cycle way and footpath from Exmouth to Knowle, close to Budleigh Salterton.