Sidmouth

Sidmouth, a watering-place on the south coast of Devonshire, 14 miles by road, but 20¾ by a branch-line (1874), ESE. of Exeter. It lies in a narrow valley at the mouth of the little Sid between the red sandstone cliffs of High Peak (513 feet) on the west, and Salcombe Hill (497) on the east. Its esplanade is protected by a sea-wall (1838), 1700 feet long; and its parish church (1259; almost rebuilt 1860) has a stained west window inserted by Queen Victoria in memory of her father, the Duke of Kent, who died here in 1820. Sidmouth then was the favourite resort that it has once more become since the opening of the railway; its former prosperity as a port, which in Edward III.'s day sent two ships to the siege of Calais, passed away through the silting up of the harbour. The climate is mild, the rainfall the least in Devon, and the beach yields plenty of agates and chaledonies. Pop. (1851) 2516; (1891) 3758.