Teignmouth is a town on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign in south Devon, England. The town grew from a fishing port to a fashionable resort of some note in Georgian times with further expansion after the opening of the South Devon Railway on 30 May 1846.
History
The western half of the town was destroyed (apart from the Jolly Sailor public house) by fire during a brief invasion by the French in 1690, the last invasion of England (though not of Britain as the French invaded Carreg Gwastad, near Abergwaun (Fishguard), Pembrokeshire in 1797). French Street with its museum is named in memory of the occasion.
Port
The port, in existence since the 13th century, is still active, mostly handling clay, timber and grain, with many smaller pleasure craft mooring in the wide estuary. The granite for London Bridge was sent from here, having come down the unique granite tracked Haytor Granite Tramway from the quarries near Haytor and then down the Stover Canal and finally along the river Teign to the port at the New Quay, which had been built for the granite traffic in 1821 - 25 by George Templer of Stover House (now a school).
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