It covers an area of 644 hectares (1591 acres),[1] and is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Payhembury, Buckerell, Gittisham, Ottery St Mary and Talaton.

[3] The 2012 draft East Devon Local Plan recorded 716 houses within the Built Up Area Boundary.

[4] The original village of Feniton contains the 13th-century Church of St Andrew,[5] the post office, and a number of thatched cottages.

[7] These were accompanied by the building of Feniton Primary School,[8] two village shops (one of which has since closed), and a playing field.

In 1967, when the new village was taking shape, the original Sidmouth Junction railway station and its associated branch line were closed as part of the Beeching cuts.