| Sidmouth | |
|---|---|
 Looking west along Sidmouth beach | |
 Coat of arms | |
  Sidmouth Location withinDevon | |
| Population | 12,569 |
| OS grid reference | SY124874 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Sidmouth |
| Postcode district | EX10 |
| Dialling code | 01395 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | visitdevon.co.uk/sidmouth |
| 50°40′48″N3°14′20″W / 50.680°N 3.239°W /50.680; -3.239 | |
Sidmouth (/ˈsɪdməθ/) is a town on theEnglish Channel inDevon,South West England, 14 miles (23 km) southeast ofExeter. With a population of 13,258 in 2021,[citation needed] it is a tourist resort and a gateway to theJurassic CoastWorld Heritage Site. A large part of the town has been designated aconservation area.
The origins of Sidmouth pre-date recorded history. TheSid valley has been in human occupation since at least theIron Age as attested by the presence ofSidbury Castle, and possibly earlier given the presence ofBronze Ageburial mounds on Gittisham Hill[1] and Broad Down.[2] Thevillage ofSidbury itself is known to beSaxon in origin with the Churchcrypt dating to the seventh century. However, the Sid Valley was divided into two ecclesiastical land holdings, with Sidbury andSalcombe Regis being gifted byKingAthelstan toExeter Cathedral, and Sidmouth, which was part of themanor ofOtterton, was gifted byGytha Thorkelsdóttir (the mother ofKingHarold Godwinson) to theBenedictines atMont-Saint-Michel.[3]
Sidmouth appears in theDomesday Book of 1086 asSedemuda, meaning "mouth of theSid".[4] Like many such settlements, it was originally a fishing village.
By the 1200s, Sidmouth had expanded to become amarket town of similar size to Sidbury and generating more income for theabbot of Mont-Saint-Michel than Otterton. By this time, Sidmouth already had aparish church, as the OttertonCartulary refers to a grant of 30 acres of land to Guilielmas, the vicar in Sidmouth, as aglebe, and excavations in 2009 during the remodelling of the parish church revealed foundations dating from that time. It is likely that the church was already dedicated toSt Giles, as the annual fair was held on his feast day 1 September.[3] According to one of the many blue plaques found around Sidmouth, not far from the church was achapel dedicated toSt Peter built sometime before 1322, the remaining wall of which is now part of Dukes Hotel.[5]
During the 14th century, Sidmouth enjoyed a degree of prosperity from the wine trade and, as part of the manor of Otterton, was transferred by KingHenry V from Mont-Saint-Michel toSyon Abbey. KingHenry VIII confiscated it again during thedissolution of the monasteries and sold it off, whereafter it changed hands several times before being acquired by theMainwaring baronets, whose family provided two of the vicars of Sidmouth parish.[3]
Although attempts have been made to construct a harbour, none has succeeded. A lack of shelter in the bay prevented the town's growth as a port. Despite this, a part of the town is known as 'Port Royal' which is likely due to the town's having provided two ships and 67 men toKing Edward III during theHundred Years' War with which to attackCalais.[6] The most concerted effort was a short-lived attempt in the 1830s at the west of the seafront; this included the construction of theSidmouth Harbour Railway along the seafront and into a tunnel at the cliffs to the east that would have transported stone from Hook Ebb. Only a few traces of the railway and tunnel survive today.[7] TheRoyal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) operated alifeboat station at Sidmouth between 1869 and 1912.[8]
According to one of theSid Vale Association Blue Plaques, afort was built in Sidmouth in 1628, due to fear of a French invasion or naval attack, on the part of the seafront that is known as 'Fortfield' and which is now thecricket pitch.[9]
Another of the Blue Plaques of theSid Vale Association, confirms that the Old Shippub (now aCosta Coffee) had operated as a tavern in Sidmouth since the 1400s and was used bysmugglers.[9] The infamousJack Rattenbury, who was born nearby inBeer, Devon operated in the area, and was known to associate with the Mutter family ofLadram Bay (after whomMutter's Moor on Peak Hill overlooking Sidmouth is named).[6][10]
Sidmouth remained a village until the fashion for coastal resorts grew in the Georgian and Victorian periods of the 18th and 19th centuries. A number ofGeorgian andRegency buildings still remain.[11] In 1819,George III's sonEdward, Duke of Kent, his wife, and baby daughter (the futureQueen Victoria) came to stay at Woolbrook Glen for a few weeks. In less than a month he had died of pneumonia. The house later became the Royal Glen Hotel; a plaque on an exterior wall records the visit.[12] Sidmouth wasconnected to the railway network in 1874, by a branch line fromSidmouth Junction, which from there called atOttery St Mary andTipton St John. This was dismantled in 1967 as a result of theBeeching Axe.[13]
In 2008, Canadian millionaire Keith Owen, who had been on holiday in the town and planned to retire there, bequeathed about £2.3 million to the community's civic society, theSid Vale Association, upon learning that he had only weeks to live due to lung cancer.[14] The bequest was used as acapital fund to generate an annual interest dividend of around £120,000 for community projects.[15]
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(December 2024) |
At the2011 census the population was 12,569, with a median age of 59.[16]
At the2021 census the population of Sidmouth Town was 4,400 and 2,300 households.[17]
Sidmouth lies at the mouth of theRiver Sid in a valley betweenPeak Hill to the west andSalcombe Hill to the east. It is surrounded by theEast Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is on theJurassic Coast, aWorld Heritage Site, and theSouth West Coast Path. The red-coloured rock of theOtter Sandstone in the cliffs to the west of the town indicates thearid conditions of theTriassic geological period.
Erosion of the cliffs to the east of the river mouth threatens homes and the coastal footpath, and is a serious concern.[18][19]
The wide esplanade has been a prominent feature sinceRegency times. A series of southwesterly storms in the early 1990s washed away much of the shingle beach protecting the masonry. A set of artificial rock islands was constructed to protect the sea front, and tons of pebbles were trucked in to replace the beach.[20]
Sidmouth has a number of conservation projects, notably thearboretum which in 2012 designated all land owned by Sidmouth Town Council as 'civic arboretum', the first town in the United Kingdom to do so.[21][22]
The highest temperature recorded between 1926 and 2017 in Sidmouth is 31.0 °C (87.8 °F) on 10 August 2003, and the coldest is −10.0 °C (14.0 °F) on 1 January 1979.[23]
| Climate data for Sidmouth 1m asl (1991–2020) (extremes 1926-2017) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 17.0 (62.6) | 16.4 (61.5) | 18.9 (66.0) | 22.5 (72.5) | 26.9 (80.4) | 29.4 (84.9) | 29.2 (84.6) | 31.0 (87.8) | 27.8 (82.0) | 22.0 (71.6) | 17.8 (64.0) | 16.1 (61.0) | 31.0 (87.8) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.2 (48.6) | 9.4 (48.9) | 11.0 (51.8) | 13.3 (55.9) | 16.3 (61.3) | 18.8 (65.8) | 20.7 (69.3) | 20.7 (69.3) | 18.8 (65.8) | 15.5 (59.9) | 12.2 (54.0) | 9.8 (49.6) | 14.7 (58.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 6.4 (43.5) | 6.3 (43.3) | 7.7 (45.9) | 9.5 (49.1) | 12.5 (54.5) | 15.1 (59.2) | 17.0 (62.6) | 17.0 (62.6) | 15.1 (59.2) | 12.3 (54.1) | 9.1 (48.4) | 6.9 (44.4) | 11.3 (52.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 3.5 (38.3) | 3.2 (37.8) | 4.3 (39.7) | 5.8 (42.4) | 8.7 (47.7) | 11.4 (52.5) | 13.3 (55.9) | 13.4 (56.1) | 11.3 (52.3) | 9.0 (48.2) | 6.1 (43.0) | 4.0 (39.2) | 7.9 (46.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −10.0 (14.0) | −8.9 (16.0) | −7.8 (18.0) | −2.6 (27.3) | −0.6 (30.9) | 3.0 (37.4) | 6.0 (42.8) | 5.6 (42.1) | 2.2 (36.0) | −2.8 (27.0) | −4.0 (24.8) | −7.0 (19.4) | −10.0 (14.0) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 85.3 (3.36) | 66.8 (2.63) | 68.3 (2.69) | 60.5 (2.38) | 51.4 (2.02) | 54.8 (2.16) | 50.3 (1.98) | 70.5 (2.78) | 62.6 (2.46) | 89.4 (3.52) | 97.2 (3.83) | 94.8 (3.73) | 851.7 (33.53) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 13.4 | 11.2 | 10.6 | 10.2 | 8.9 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 9.6 | 8.6 | 12.3 | 13.4 | 14.0 | 128.1 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 66.5 | 89.5 | 126.0 | 171.6 | 194.9 | 200.4 | 215.7 | 194.4 | 151.2 | 112.1 | 80.0 | 63.3 | 1,665.5 |
| Source 1: Met Office[24] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Starlings Roost Weather[25] | |||||||||||||
Sidmouth's main road access is via the A3052. This provides access to Exeter and theM5 motorway 12 miles (19 km) away.
Irregular bus services connect to Exeter up to every half-hour byStagecoach South West and to Honiton or Seaton. Sidmouth is also served by AVMT Buses' service 899, which runs from Seaton to Sidmouth via Beer and Branscombe .
Since the closure of theSidmouth Railway in 1967, the nearest railway stations areFeniton,Honiton orWhimple, all on theWest of England line. Feniton is the nearest of these stations, being 8 miles (13 km) away.[26]
Sidmouth has its own town council, presided over by a chair elected from councillors. There are eight wards, with 19 councillors in all. The town clerk is the senior paid officer, with a team of full-time and part-time staff. The town is responsible for many of the locally run services, including the information centre. Sidmouth lies within the areas ofEast Devon District Council andDevon County Council. The electorate of the Sidmouth ward at the 2011 census was 13,737.[27]
Sidmouth was in theHoniton parliamentary constituency from its recreation in 1885 until its abolition in 1997, and theEast Devon constituency from its recreation in 1997 until its abolition, since when it has been in theHoniton and Sidmouth constituency.
The parish church is dedicated to St Giles and St Nicholas. It was rebuilt in 1860; the architect wasWilliam White. Of the medieval structure, only the 15th-century tower has been retained. Oddments ofNorman and later stonework were included in the rebuilding. Features of interest include the Duke of Kent Memorial Window, whichQueen Victoria gave in 1867, and thereredos bySamuel Sanders Teulon. Parts of the original fabric, such as the windows, were reused by the historianPeter Orlando Hutchinson in building a folly adjoining his house. He was also responsible for saving the stained glass in the vestry.[28][29] The folly is the Old Chancel in Coburg Terrace which was started by Hutchinson in 1859, in protest over the destruction of the original church fabric during rebuilding.
Sidmouth Museum, next to the church, has local memorabilia, historical artefacts, and geological samples.[30]
The church of All Saints, alsoAnglican (Taylor, architect, 1837), is in the Early English style with lancet windows and "oddly clumsy" pinnacles.[31] There were also Unitarian,Wesleyan (later Methodist) and Congregational chapels; the Unitarian chapel was founded in the 17th century by Presbyterians and the Wesleyan and Congregational ones in 1837 and 1846 respectively.[32]
After theReformation, theCatholic Church returned to Sidmouth in 1880 with the arrival of exiled FrenchJesuits who were joined in 1881 by theSisters of the Assumption. Theconvent erected a purpose built chapel which opened for publicmass in 1884. By the 1920s the Catholic population had grown to require a parish church. Land at Radway was acquired in 1930 and the Church of theMost Precious Blood was built, with the first Mass being celebrated on 10 November 1935.[33]
Sidmouth is home to theNorman Lockyer Observatory and Planetarium, located on Salcombe Hill. The facility, completed in 1912, fell into disuse but was saved from demolition by the appeals of enthusiasts to East Devon District Council. The observatory now operates as a science education project and is open to the public.[34]
Sidmouth Folk Festival is an annualfolk festival in early August attracting musicians and visitors. It became less financially viable over the years and in 2005 the last of the commercial sponsors, essential for its existence, pulled out. To continue the tradition, individuals grouped together to form Sidmouth FolkWeek Productions, a limited company. Since the change of format, the event has been held on a smaller scale, with no arena at the Knowle, though marquees are still erected in the Blackmore Gardens and The Ham at the eastern end of the town. The popular late-night extra feature is also run atBulverton on the edge of Sidmouth next to the main campsite.
During the summer, Sidmouth Town Band, abrass band, play a series of concerts in the Connaught Gardens each Sunday at 8pm from late May until early September. The earliest record of the band is from a photograph of 1862.[35][36]
Sidmouth has featured in various literary works, e.g. as "Stymouth" inBeatrix Potter's children's storyThe Tale of Little Pig Robinson (1930), in which the author included views of the beach and other parts of the Devon countryside. InThomas Hardy'sWessex it is the inspiration for "Idmouth". "Baymouth" inWilliam Makepeace Thackeray'sPendennis, and "Spudmouth" inThe Merry Adventures of Robin Hood byHoward Pyle, are both based on the town. InG. A. Henty's bookWith Wolfe in Canada, the hero James Walsham is from Sidmouth, and parts at the beginning and end of the book take place there. The poetElizabeth Barrett lived in the town from 1832 until 1835.[37] The area of rock pools around Jacob's Ladder is used as the location forH. G. Wells'The Sea Raiders. In 1962, authorR. F. Delderfield had a house, 'Dove Cottage' (now 'Gazebo'), built on Peak Hill.
J.R.R. Tolkien was a regular visitor to Sidmouth and wrote parts of the early part ofLord of the Rings while on holiday with his family in 1938.[38] Chapters drafted during the holiday encompass the hobbits escape of the Shire through the Old Forest and up to their arrival at Bree.[38][39][40]
Sidmouth was also a favourite spot for SirJohn Betjeman. He chose it as the subject of the first programme of the television seriesJohn Betjeman in the West Country that he wrote and presented in 1962. The script takes the form of an extended poem and was republished in 2000 as a short book.[41]
The town has been the setting for television dramas, such as a 1987 adaptation ofWilliam Trevor's novelThe Children of Dynmouth, anITV adaptation ofAgatha Christie'sMarple in summer 2005, and the 2022HBO seriesThe Gilded Age.[citation needed]
TheSidmouth Herald is the local newspaper.
Manor Pavilion houses an arts centre and a theatre that hosts both amateur and professional productions.[42] There is also the Radway Cinema.[43]
Sidmouth has been a frequent winner ofBritain in Bloom awards. Most recently it won the Small Town category in 2001 and the Coastal Resort category in 2005.
The Sid Vale Association, the firstcivic society in Britain, was founded in 1846 and is based in Sidmouth.
In 2016, a worldwide architectural competition was held in the town to provide ideas for the future redevelopment of Sidmouth's eastern town and seafront. The competition was initiated by Sidmouth ArchitectHenry Beech Mole.[44][45]
In October 2018, it was discovered that an unusually large 64-metre (210 ft)fatberg was constricting the sewers. A team of scientists from theUniversity of Exeter studied it and attributed it to the ageing population and its food habits. It was removed and turned into energy at a local power plant.[46][47][48]
Sidmouth istwinned withLe Locle in Switzerland.
The Esplanade is thesea front road from the red cliffs of Salcombe Hill in the east towards Jacob's Ladder Beach at the west.Peak Hill can be seen in the distance.
Jacob's Ladder is a series of wooden steps leading up to Connaught Gardens from Jacob's Ladder Beach and its red cliffs.
Connaught Gardens date from around 1820. They were named after theDuke of Connaught, the third son ofQueen Victoria, who officially opened the gardens in 1934. The bandstand there is used by bands in many weeks of the summer season.
This grassy slope up and alongPeak Hill follows the red cliffs above Jacob's Ladder Beach. It provides a wide view eastwards over the whole town towards Salcombe Hill.
The principal revenue is from tourism, with a wide range of hotels and guest houses, as well asself catering accommodation in the local area.[49] Sidmouth is a retirement location, so pensioner spending is another source of income.
The largest employer is East Devon District Council, the headquarters of which are at the former Knowle Hotel. The headquarters were transferred to Honiton in 2019. There is a large independentdepartment store, Fields of Sidmouth, which has been on the same site for over 200 years.[50] There are pubs, restaurants, coffee houses and tea rooms; also an indoor swimming pool, a sports hall at the leisure centre, and a golf course.
Sidmouth College is acomprehensive school which takes children aged between 11 and 18 from as far afield as Exmouth and Exeter.[51] In February 2012, with 852 pupils on the roll, the college was deemed 'Good' byOfsted.[52] The judgment of improvement in the college's provision followed the previous inspection (May 2009) when it was deemed 'satisfactory'.[53] In the 2005 Ofsted report, when there were 869 students on the roll, it was also deemed 'satisfactory'.[54]
Sidmouth College is situated in the Sid Valley. It admits students from East Devon.
There is one statejunior school, which takes children from between the ages of 8 and 11. There are two stateinfant schools. There is, additionally, a private school:St John's International School (formerly known as theConvent of the Assumption) which takes children from two to 18, including overseas boarders. In 2007, it was taken over byInternational Education Systems (IES).[55]
Sidmouth International School is an Englishlanguage school for foreign pupils.
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)fat and non-flushable products such as wipes are the main culprits, and that fatbergs are a consequence of the individual and collective impact that our behaviour has on our environment. . That's not just applicable to Sidmouth, but across our region
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