The burial included oysters and her teeth and bone reveal a diet rich in carbohydrates and proteins.

Originally, the beach was backed by low sand dunes with marshes behind on the flat land between the sea and the hills behind.

Winner Street owes its name to a corruption of the word "Wynerde", referring to vineyards or, at least to traders in wine in the medieval period.

When thousands turned up hoping to obtain a piece of a huge pudding that had been baked to celebrate the arrival of the railway in 1859 chaos occurred and the event became notorious.

[9] Oldway Mansion is a large house and gardens constructed in the 1870s for Isaac Merritt Singer, who had amassed a considerable fortune with his improvements to the sewing machine.

The building was occupied by Torbay Council[14] until an agreement was signed in September 2012 to develop the site into a hotel and retirement apartments.

The parish included the hamlets of Goodrington and Preston, which were gradually absorbed into Paignton's urban area as it grew.

The local board built itself what is now the Old Town Hall, Paignton, at the corner of New Street and Totnes Road, being completed in 1870.

[21] In 1968, the urban districts of Paignton and Brixham, the municipal borough of Torquay and the parish of Churston Ferrers were all abolished.

A county borough called Torbay was created to cover the whole area (with some adjustments of the boundaries to neighbouring parishes at the same time).

[22] Six years later, in 1974, local government was reformed again, with Torbay becoming a non-metropolitan district and Devon County Council providing county-level services to the area again.

Paignton's economy relies extensively on tourism and the town is marketed as a location for family holidays.

The Torbay Air Show, launched in 2016, is held over the Bay in front of Paignton Sands in early June annually.

[33] The Paignton Picture House (now closed) is believed to have been Europe's oldest purpose-built cinema and was built in 1907.

[35][36] The Royal Bijou Theatre is now demolished, but a blue plaque marking its former location can be found next to the Thomas Cook travel agency in Hyde Road.

[39] From 1889 to 1897 the mathematician Oliver Heaviside lived in Palace Avenue, in the building now occupied by Barclays Bank.

[40] Paignton beach and the nearby Preston Sands, which are continuous at low tide, are used for water sports including kite surfing and dinghy sailing.

Immediately to the east of Paignton Harbour is Fairy Cove, which has no facilities, but features good exposures of the Torbay Breccia, a red sandstone with pieces of rock which washed into it when the area was a desert.

Also within the former Urban District of Paignton lies Goodrington which has another popular beach backed by Young's Park, with its boating lake, and a large outdoor waterpark, Splashdown Quaywest.

Beyond Goodrington are Waterside and Saltern Coves, which have no facilities and are accessed through fields, followed by Broadsands, on the Brixham border.

[41] Hollicombe beach, situated at Paignton's northern boundary with Torquay, features a geological stratotype at its northern end, known as the "Corbyn's Head Member"[42] Elberry Cove is used by jetski enthusiasts, while Saltern Cove is a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to its distinctive geology and its marine biology.

Paignton railway station is situated close to the town centre and is a short walk from the beach along Torbay Road.