The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 2

Plymouth harbour, or, as it is generally called, Sutton Pool, is on the land side nearly surrounded by houses, and the entrance to it from the Catwater is protected by two stone piers, about ninety feet apart. Plymouth has a considerable coasting trade with London, Bristol, Hull, Newcastle, and other parts of England, and also carries on a direct trade with the Baltic, the Mediterranean, America, and the West Indies. The principal exports are copper, tin, and lead-ore, manganese, granite, and pilchards. There are about fifty decked fishing-boats belonging to Plymouth, which not only supply its market and that of Devonport with plenty of excellent fish, but also furnish a considerable quantity for Bath, London, and other places. The fish most common in Plymouth market are hake, basse, gurnards, pipers, tub-fish, whiting-pouts, soles, mullets red and grey, and John-Dories. Quin, that he might enjoy the latter fish in perfection, took an express journey from Bath to Plymouth. The export of granite, and other kinds of stone for the purposes of building, is greatly facilitated by a railway, which extends from about the middle of Dartmoor to the quays at Sutton Pool and Catwater. The larger class of merchant-vessels generally anchor in the Catwater; and in time of war it is the usual rendezvous for transports. It is sheltered from south-westerly gales by Mount Battan, and is sufficiently spacious to afford anchorage for six or eight hundred sail of such ships as are usually employed in the merchant service. There are about 320 ships belonging to Plymouth, the tonnage of which, according to the old admeasurement, is about 26,000 tons.

Though the neighbourhood of Plymouth affords so many beautiful and interesting views, the town itself presents but little to excite the admiration of the stranger. It is very irregularly built; and most of the old houses have a very mean appearance, more especially when contrasted with some of recent erection. Several large buildings, within the last twenty or thirty years, have been erected at Plymouth and Devonport, in the pure Grecian style; and the two towns afford ample evidence of the imitative genius of the architects. At the corner of almost every principal street, the stranger is presented with reminiscences of Stuart and Revett's Athens.

Plymouth citadel is situated to the southward of the town, and at the eastern extremity of the rocky elevation called the Hoe. It commands the passage to the Hamoaze, between St. Nicholas' Island and the main-land, as well as the entrance of the Catwater. It was erected on the site of the old fort, in the reign of Charles II., and consists of five bastions, which are further strengthened with ravelins and hornworks. The ramparts are nearly three-quarters of a mile in circuit; and there are platforms for a hundred-and-twenty cannon. The entrance to the citadel is on the north, through an outer and an inner gate. Within the walls are the residence of the lieutenant-governor, officers' houses and barracks for the garrison, with a magazine, chapel, and hospital. In the centre of the green is a bronze statue of George II., the work of an artist named Robert Pitt, and erected, in 1728, at the expense of Louis Dufour, Esq., an officer of the garrison. An excellent panoramic view of Plymouth, Saltram, the Catwater, the Sound, Mount Edgecumbe, and other places, is to be obtained from the ramparts, round which visitors are permitted to walk.

MOUNT EDGECUMBE

The view of Mount Edgecumbe is taken from Cremhill point, a little to the south-east of the entrance of Stonehouse Creek. About the centre of the view is perceived a battery, near to the Old Blockhouse which was erected in the reign of Queen Elizabeth; between the masts of the brig, which is sailing in towards the Hamoaze, the house is seen; and to the left, in the distance, is Cawsand Bay.

For upwards of two hundred years the situation of Mount Edgecumbe, whether looking towards it or from it, and the beauty of the grounds in its vicinity have been the subject of general admiration. In visiting Mount Edgecumbe from Plymouth or Devonport, the most usual way is to cross at the ferry from Cremhill point. The gardens generally first claim the visitor's attention. Near the lodge, on the left, is a garden laid out in the Italian style, and surrounded by a bank planted with evergreens. In this garden is the orangery, and opposite to it is a beautiful terrace, on which, and in the grounds below, are several statues. The visitor is next shown the French flower-garden, which is planted with the most beautiful shrubs and flowers, and was the favourite retreat of Sophia, Countess of Mount Edgecumbe, who died in 1806, and to whose memory a cenotaph, consisting of an urn and a tablet, is erected within its bounds. The English garden and shrubbery display less art, but are no less beautiful than the imitative gardens of Italy and France. In it is a bath of the Doric order, and a secluded walk leads to a rocky excavation, overspread with ivy and other creeping plants, amidst lofty evergreens: fragments of antiques are scattered amidst heaps of stones in this romantic dell. In the pleasure-grounds, a path continued along the edge of a cliff, which affords interesting views of the picturesque sinuosities of the coast, leads to a verdant lawn, from which the sides rise with a gentle ascent in a semicircle. The acclivity above the lawn is thickly shaded by a succession of trees, which form a magnificent amphitheatre, and display an endless variety of foliage. From different parts of the amphitheatre, Barn Poole presents the appearance of an extensive lake, without any visible communication with the sea, from which it appears to be separated by the diversified line of coast, that forms its boundary on every side. At the entrance of a wood near this spot is an Ionic circular temple dedicated to Milton, whence the path continues on the margin of the cliff, through plantations and shrubs, which fringe the rocky coast down to the brink of the sea. In the more open part of the park is a mock ruin, intended as a picturesque object from the grounds and from the opposite shore. A cottage near the cliff is overhung with beautiful evergreen oaks, the windows of which command pleasing sea views in opposite directions. After ascending a perpendicular rock, by a winding path of perilous appearance, the great terrace at the arch presents itself, having the appearance of a perforation in the cliff, the base of which is washed by the waves of the Sound.

The walks round the grounds are extremely pleasing, and from many points excellent views are obtained of Plymouth Sound, the Hamoaze, Devonport, and the surrounding country. It seems, however, doubtful if the circumstance of a nobleman's seat commanding a view of a large town, at the distance of less than a mile, be an advantage to it. It is perhaps not altogether pleasant to have a country seat overlooked by, and overlooking, a large town. Dr. Johnson, alluding to the view of Mount Edgecumbe, has observed, that "though there is the grandeur of a fleet, there is also the impression of there being a dock-yard, the circumstances of which are not agreeable."

The house at Mount Edgecumbe was erected about the year 1550, by Sir Richard Edgecumbe, who was sheriff of Devonshire in the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Henry VIII., in the castellated style, with circular towers at the corners. About seventy years ago, those towers were pulled down, and rebuilt in their present octangular form. In the principal rooms is a collection of family portraits, including a few by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

BRIXHAM

"Here busy boats are seen: some overhaulTheir loaded nets; some shoot the lightened trawl;And, while their drags the slimy bottom sweep,Stealthily o'er the face o' the waters creep;While some make sail, and singly or togetherFurrow the sea with merry wind and weather."W. Stewart Rose.

In the Engraving of Brixham Quay, from a painting by Edward Duncan, the view is taken from the eastward. To the right, from the end of the pier, several of the larger class of fishing vessels belonging to the place are perceived lying aground; while, further in the harbour, a merchant brig is seen discharging her cargo. In the foreground, to the left, the attention of a group appears to be engaged by a small ship which a young fisherman holds in his hands.

Brixham lies about a mile and a half to the westward of Berry Head, the southern extremity of Torbay, in the county of Devon, and is about twenty-eight miles south of Exeter, and one hundred and ninety-eight west-south-west of London. As a fishing town, Brixham is one of the most considerable in the kingdom. The total number of fishing vessels belonging to the place is nearly two hundred, of which, about one hundred and ten are from thirty to forty tons burden, and the rest from six to eighteen tons. Besides these, there are several yawls and smaller boats which are employed in the fishery near the shore. For years past about seventy of the larger class of fishing vessels have been accustomed to proceed to Ramsgate, for the purpose of catching fish in the North Sea for the supply of the London market. They usually leave Brixham in November and December, and return again towards the latter end of June. The Brixham fishermen send a great quantity of fish to the Exeter, Bath, Plymouth, and Bristol markets. The principal fish which they take are cod, ling, conger-eels, turbot, whitings, hake, soles, skate and plaice, with herring and mackerel in the season. A quantity of whitings are generally salted and dried at Brixham. On the coast of Devonshire dried whitings are called "buckhorn," a name sufficiently expressive of their hardness and insipidity. Besides the vessels employed in the fishery, there are ships belonging to Brixham which are chiefly engaged in the West India, Mediterranean, and coasting trades. A weekly market, with a market-house at the water-side, was established here in 1799, and in 1804 a stone pier of great strength was erected at the expense of the nation. The population of the place is about 5,000. One of the most memorable events in its history is the landing there of William Prince of Orange, afterwards William III., on the 5th of November, 1688. The view of Torbay, from the cliffs above the town, is in the highest degree interesting, especially when enlivened, as it frequently is, by a fleet of fishing-boats dotting its placid waters, and stretching far into the British Channel.

At an early period the manor of Brixham was held by the Nevants and the Valletorts; but after divers ownerships it was divided into twelve quarters, one of which was purchased by twelve fishermen of Brixham Quay, and divided into as many shares; some of these have been much farther subdivided, yet their owners, be their shares ever so small, have the local denomination of Quay Lords.

Brixham Church Town is about a mile distant from the quay. The church is a spacious structure of the date of the fourteenth century, with an embattled tower, and the peculiarities of the architecture of that period. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and contains several monuments of considerable antiquity, the inspection of which will repay the antiquarian for the visit.

Torquay, one of the most fashionable watering-places on the Devonshire coast, is situated on the opposite side of Torbay, at a distance of about five miles by water; but if the journey be made by land, the curve of the bay extends it upwards of nine. It is sheltered from the north winds by the promontory of Hope's Nose, and a range of lofty hills which form its northern boundary. It is rapidly increasing in extent, and is spoken of in terms of the highest admiration by most of the visitors. The houses are chiefly built of a kind of marble found in the vicinity, and are so scattered among the hills and dales as to command delightful views of the surrounding country. On the coast the rock scenery is truly magnificent, and from the heights the eye ranges over a wide extent of cultivated land, abounding in every variety of nature, and terminated by the distant outline of the mountain tops.

EXMOUTH

The town of Exmouth, as its name imports, is situated at the mouth of the Ex, one of the largest rivers in Devonshire, which, rising in Exmoor, in Somersetshire, flows past Tiverton, Exeter, and Topsham, and after a course of about seventy miles discharges itself into the sea. It lies on the left bank of the river, and is about eleven miles to the south-eastward of Exeter, and one hundred and sixty-eight from London. It is sheltered from the north-east and south-east winds; and the temperature of the air is mild and highly favourable to invalids. As the bathing-machines are placed within the bar, which breaks the violence of the sea, visiters are thus enabled to bathe in safety at all times. There are also excellent warm sea-water baths in the town for such as require them. There is a convenient market-place at Exmouth; and a new church was erected by Lord Rolle in 1825. Exmouth and Littleham constitute a united parish, the population of which is about 3,400. In 1814, the late Admiral Sir Edward Pellew was created a peer, with the title of Baron Exmouth; and in 1816, after his expedition to Algiers, he was further advanced to the rank of Viscount.

In the reign of King John, Exmouth appears to have been a port of some consequence; and in 1347 it furnished ten ships and one hundred and ninety-three mariners to the grand fleet assembled by Edward III. for his expedition against France. In the reign of Henry VIII., Leland calls it "a fisschar tounlet," in which state it appears to have continued till about the middle of the last century, when it began to increase, in consequence of the number of persons visiting it for the sake of sea-bathing. It is said that Exmouth first came into repute as a watering-place from one of the judges of assize going there to bathe, and returning with his health very much improved. The following account of the place, and of the manner in which the visiters passed their time about sixty years ago, is from a letter published in Polwhele's History of Devon: – "The village is a very pretty one, and composed, for the most part, of cot-houses, neat and clean, and consisting of four or five rooms, which are generally let at a guinea a week. We have from some of the houses, when the tide is in, a beautiful view of the river, which, united with the sea, forms a fine sheet of water before our doors of large extent. Lord Courtenay's and Lord Lisburne's grounds, rising in inequalities on the other shore, complete the perspective. This is the most gay part of the village; but then its brilliancy is only temporary – for, the tide returned, instead of a fine sheet of water, we are presented with a bed of mud, whose perfumes are not equal to those of a bed of roses… Exmouth boasts no public rooms or assemblies, save one card assembly, in an inconvenient apartment at one of the inns, on Monday evenings. The company meet at half after five, and break up at ten; they play at shilling whist, or twopenny quadrille. We have very few young people here, and no diversions; no belles dames amusing to the unmarried, but some beldames unamusing to the married. Walking on a hill which commands a view of the ocean, and bathing, with a visit or two, serve to pass away the morning, and tea-drinking in the evening."

From the preceding account it would appear that Exmouth, "sixty years since," was but a dull place, even at the height of the season, and more likely to induce lowness of spirits than to prove a remedy for care, "the busy man's disease;" for what temperament, however mercurial, could bear up against the daily round of tea-parties – where silence was only broken by the "beldame's" scandal – diversified once a week with shilling whist or twopenny quadrille? Since the period when the above-quoted letter was written, Exmouth has been greatly improved, and many large houses have been built for the accommodation of visiters. But since the cot-houses have been elevated to handsome three-storied dwellings, it is only fair to add that the rate of lodgings has also been raised in the same proportion; "five or six rooms, neat and clean," are no longer to be obtained at a guinea a week. There is now a commodious assembly-room in the town, where the young and the fair – who are not so scarce at Exmouth as they appear to have been sixty years ago – occasionally meet to enjoy the amusement of dancing; while the more elderly have still the opportunity of cheating time at "shilling whist or twopenny quadrille." There are also several billiard and reading-rooms, which are places pleasant enough to while away an hour or two in when it rains; and the monotony of the morning walk on the hill, and the dulness of the evening tea-drinking, are now frequently diversified with excursions by water to Powderham Castle, Dawlish, Topsham, and places adjacent.

BUDLEIGH-SALTERTON

The village of Budleigh-Salterton lies about half-way between Sidmouth and Exmouth, and at a short distance to the westward of the mouth of the river Otter. It is pleasantly situated by the sea-shore; and the beauty of the country in its vicinity, and the convenience afforded for sea-bathing, have caused it of late years to be much frequented as a watering-place.

Of the many watering-places with which the requirements of fashion have sprinkled our southern coasts, there are few which can boast of a more delightful situation than the subject of our present engraving. Protected on both sides by the surrounding hills, it is completely sheltered from the severity of those winds which are frequently the bane of some of our otherwise most eligible retreats; while its view of the ocean is uninterrupted by any of those obstacles which add more to the utility than the beauty of our older sea-bathing towns. The coast of Devonshire offers peculiar advantages to the invalid; it has a southern aspect; the winters are milder than in any other part of England, and the north-east wind, with its concomitant evils, is less felt than in the more exposed though more popular ports of the Isle of Thanet. In addition to a genial climate, Devonshire is entitled to some preference on the score of economy with that large class to whom the cost of even an occasional residence at the coast is a serious consideration; and although a temporary sojourn at any watering-place must necessarily be more expensive than the same time spent in a rural district, the visiter will find that in none can a greater share of the comforts and even luxuries of life be obtained upon moderate terms than in Budleigh-Salterton and its neighbouring towns of Exmouth and Sidmouth.

Another advantage which these smaller towns possess is the freedom from restraint in which they allow their patrons to indulge. The almost slavish deference which the higher classes of society are compelled to pay to certain conventional rules of fashion and etiquette may be quietly laid aside during a residence at such towns as the one now before us, and this, too, without fear of forfeiting that claim to exclusiveness which every grade is so anxious to maintain against the one below it. Few persons will deny the gratification that they have derived from an occasional relaxation of those social laws that restrict our actions in everyday life; and not the least of the benefits which they receive from their summer visits to the coast may be traced to the opportunities which they afford for their becoming again, though but for a few weeks, or even days, "children of a larger growth."

The village of East Budleigh, which is also the name of one of the hundreds into which Devon is divided, lies about two miles above Budleigh-Salterton, on the banks of the river Otter. Leland, in his Itinerary, thus notices East Budleigh: "On the west side of the haven is Budelegh, right almost against Oterton, but it is somewhat more from the shore than Oterton. Lesse then an hunderith yeres sins, ships usid this harbour, but it is now clene barrid. Some call this Budeley Haven, of Budeley town." It has been supposed by Polwhele that the name Budleigh, or Budely, is derived from the British budelle, a stream, and that it had originated from the number of springs or small brooks which run through every valley in the parish; for scarcely a house can be found that is more than a furlong distant from a rivulet.

Hayes, near East Budleigh, is celebrated as the birthplace of Sir Walter Raleigh. This fact is mentioned in our notice of Ladram Bay; but the following circumstance, which has since come to our knowledge, will confirm the remarks we then made, by showing the hero's love for the place of his birth, and its probable effect upon his after life. His father having only a lease of the property, it subsequently came into the possession of a person named Duke, to whom Sir Walter addressed a letter, dated "From the Court, 26th July, 1584," wherein he expresses a wish to purchase the farm and house of Hayes, and says that from "the natural disposition he has to that place, being born in that house, he would rather seat himself there than any where else." The proprietor, not wishing to have so great a man for a neighbour, did not comply with Sir Walter's request. The letter, about fifty years ago, was to be seen at Otterton House, pasted on a piece of board for its better preservation.3

At St. Mary Ottery, about six miles above East Budleigh, on the opposite side of the river, the poet Coleridge was born, in 1772. When young he went to London, where he was educated at Christ's Hospital; and few reminiscences of the place of his birth are to be found in his poems, though he has dedicated one sonnet to his "Dear native brook, wild streamlet of the west," – the river Otter.

VIEW FROM THE BEACH AT SIDMOUTH, LOOKING TOWARDS THE SOUTH-WEST

In this view, from a painting by J. D. Harding, the characteristic features of the coast of Devon are most happily expressed; and the manner in which the subject is treated at once displays the feeling of the artist to appreciate, and his ability to depict, the most beautiful scenery of the English coast. The simplicity of truth is not here outraged for the sake of pictorial effect, but the whole composition is at the same time appropriate, natural, and pleasing.

Sidmouth is situated on the southern coast of Devonshire, about 15 miles south-east of Exeter, and 158 south-west of London. It derives its name from the little stream called the Sid, which there discharges itself into the sea. The town is situated at the end of a beautiful vale, and is sheltered on the east, west, and north by ranges of hills, which are cultivated to their very summits. It occupies the margin of a small bay, bounded on the east by Salcombe Hill, and on the west by Peak Hill, each more than 600 feet above the level of the sea at low water. The undulating and richly-cultivated vale through which the Sid meanders is screened towards the north by the Gittisham and Honiton Hills. On the south it commands an extensive view of the sea. It has a bold and open shore, and many of its newest houses are built near the beach, which is protected from the encroachments of the sea by a natural rampart of shingly pebbles, that rises in four or five successive stages from near low-water mark, and terminates in a broad and commodious promenade about one-third of a mile in length. Sidmouth has two suburbs, respectively called the Western Town and the Marsh. It has a weekly market on Saturday, and two annual fairs – the one on Easter Tuesday, the other on the Wednesday after September 1. The church is dedicated to St. Nicholas. Its revenues were granted, in 1205, by Bishop Marshall, to the monastery of St. Michael, in Normandy, to which the priory of Otterton was a cell, but afterwards reduced with those of the other alien priories. The beauty of its situation, the mildness and salubrity of the air, and the conveniences afforded for sea-bathing, have caused Sidmouth to be much frequented within the last forty years as a watering-place; and there are now many private residences of the nobility and gentry erected in its immediate vicinity, the proprietors of which, attracted by the beauty of the scenery, and the mild, sheltered character of the situation, reside there during the greater part of the year; thus giving a superiority to the society, which the visitor cannot always find in sea-bathing towns of a much larger population.

Sidmouth is a place of great antiquity; and in 1348 it supplied three ships and sixty-two mariners to the great fleet of Edward III. It has been said that there was formerly a good harbour at Sidmouth, but that it became so choked up with sand, that no ships could enter. This account, however, is considered by the Rev. Edmund Butcher to be inaccurate. He says that no sand has destroyed its harbour; and he is of opinion that there never was one of any magnitude at the place. He, however, thinks that there might have been a kind of natural basin, in which the small vessels of former times might have rode, or even discharged their cargoes, with less risk than is at present incurred by vessels which unload on the beach.