| Kingswear | |
|---|---|
 Kingswear as seen fromDartmouth | |
  Kingswear Location withinDevon | |
| Population | 1,217 (2011) |
| OS grid reference | SX881510 |
| Civil parish |
|
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | DARTMOUTH |
| Postcode district | TQ6 |
| Dialling code | 01803 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| 50°20′53″N3°34′23″W / 50.348°N 3.573°W /50.348; -3.573 | |
Kingswear is a village andcivil parish in theSouth Hams area of theEnglish county ofDevon. The village is located on the east bank of the tidalRiver Dart, close to the river's mouth and opposite the small town ofDartmouth. It lies within theSouth Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and has a population of 1,332,[1] reducing to 1,217 at the 2011 census.[2]
Kingswear is noted for being therailway terminus for Dartmouth, a role continued to this day by the presence of thePaignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway in the village. Two vehicle ferries and one pedestrian ferry provide links to Dartmouth.
The village itself contains several small tourist-oriented shops andpublic houses, and is home to theRoyal Dart Yacht Club.Kingswear Castle, a privately owned 15th century artillery tower, is situated on the outskirts. Kingswear also contains theChurch of St Thomas, which is a member of theAnglicanDiocese of Exeter and whosepatron saint isSaint Thomas of Canterbury.
Kingswear is not mentioned in theDomesday Book. However, it is believed that the settlement of Kingston, in the civil parish about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the east of the village, dates from the time of theAnglo-Saxons, with evidence ofStone Age settlers. The first documentary mention of Kingswear was c.1170 whenWilliam de Vinci gave the local church half of the land in the village.[3]
After the murder ofThomas Becket in 1170, Becket's tomb inCanterbury became a place of pilgrimage. Pilgrims travelling by sea from further west, and fromBrittany, were known to use Kingswear as a landing place. The current church was built, and dedicated to St Thomas, as a staging point on the pilgrim route. The church was rebuilt in 1847.[3][4]
By 1365 a ferry was operating from Kittery Point, the westernmost tip of Kingswear, to Dartmouth. In 1636, settlers sailed from here to the mouth of thePiscataqua River inNorth America to found the town now known asKittery,Maine.[3]
In 1864 theDartmouth and Torbay Railway reached Kingswear, providing connections toExeter andLondon. The line became part of theGreat Western Railway in 1876. The planned extension across the river to Dartmouth never took place, and instead rail passengers used a railway-owned ferry. The Royal Dart Hotel was constructed adjacent to the station, and provided accommodation for passengers waiting to sail to overseas destinations.[3][5]
In the second half of the 19th century theKingswear Regatta was held over two days in the summer.[6] It was reestablished in 2006 and has been held annually since.[7]
During theSecond World War the Royal Dart Hotel becameHMS Cicala and headquarters of theBritish 15th Destroyer Flotilla.[8] Journeys were made from there to the northern beaches ofBrittany, landing agents and equipment for theFrench Resistance and bringing back escaping allied soldiers and airmen. TheFree French Navy operated motor launches and motor torpedo boats from Kingswear and was based in Brookhill, a large house dating from about 1820 on the outskirts of the village.[3]
In 1948 the railway became the Kingswear branch of the newly nationalisedBritish Rail, but by 1968 the closure of the line was being proposed. Instead, the line was purchased by a private company. Since 1973, the line has operated a seasonal steam operated service, principally as a tourist attraction. The line is now known as thePaignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway.[3][5]
In 2007 the village briefly figured in the national press when the parish council co-optedBritish National Party member Peter Pirnie as a councillor. He resigned after a row broke out over his party affiliation.[9]
As of the year 2001, the parish had apopulation of 1,332. The equivalent figures for 1801 and 1901 are 300 and 841, and the figure for 2001 is the highest census return over the last 200 years.[10]
Kingswear railway station is located on the river front in the centre of Kingswear, and is the terminus of theDartmouth Steam Railway, a seasonally operatedheritage railway. The nearestNational Rail stations areTotnes station, on the main line fromExeter toPlymouth, andPaignton station, the terminus of a branch fromNewton Abbot. The steam railway's Paignton terminus is adjacent to the National Rail station. Bus services operated byStagecoach connect Kingswear withBrixham andPaignton, and other bus services in Dartmouth can be reached by ferry.It was intended to build a station in Dartmouth as part of a proposed continuation towards Plymouth but when the railway could not cross the Dart, they built a terminus in Kingswear instead and the line to Plymouth from Newton Abbot was routed via Totnes and South Brent. The Station Cafe in Dartmouth was originally Dartmouth Station which was built when the new embankment was opened in 1885. The village is also served by Greenway Halt railway station, also on the Dartmouth Steam Railway.
Kingswear is linked toDartmouth, on the other side of the River Dart, by three ferries. TheHigher Ferry and theLower Ferry are both vehicular ferries. ThePassenger Ferry, as its name suggests, carries only passengers. The nearest bridge across the Dart is inTotnes, some 12 miles (19 km) away by road.[11]
The 630-mile (1,010 km) longSouth West Coast Path crosses from Dartmouth on the ferry and then follows the coast around towardsBrixham.
In recent history, Kingswear and the River Dart were used as filming locations for the filmsThe French Lieutenant's Woman,Ordeal by Innocence and the television seriesThe Onedin Line, where Kingswear represented the New World andDartmouth the Old World, thus giving rise to the comments of the local tour guides that this was the shortest ever crossing of the Atlantic. Kingswear also figured inDown to Earth, though mainly for shots of neighbouring Dartmouth.
The Royal Dart Hotel between the ferries played a vital role in the Second World War. It was called HMS Cicala then.
