Brixham

Brixham, a market-town and seaport of Devonshire, England, on Tor Bay, 25 miles S. of Exeter (32½ by rail). It is an irregular place, sprinkled over three valleys and four hillsides; picturesque, though possessed of no architectural features, and fishy as even few fishing-towns. Great quantities of fresh fish are sent to London, Bath, and Bristol; several vessels are engaged in the foreign and coasting trade; there is a little shipbuilding; and the place is a favourite seabathing resort. There are iron-mines, limestone quarries, mineral-paint works, and a bone cave on Windmill Hill, discovered in 1858, which contained bones of the mammoth, rhinoceros, horse, reindeer, hyena, bear, &c., besides palæolithic flint implements (see CAVE). Kent's Cavern (q.v.) is beyond Torquay (q.v.), at the other end of the bay. At Berry Head is a Roman camp. It was at Brixham that William of Orange landed, November 4, 1688. Pop. (1851) 5627; (1881) 5366; (1891) 6224.