Torquay is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies 18 miles (29 km) south of the county town of Exeter and 28 miles (45 km) east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay and across from the fishing port of Brixham.
Torbay is a unitary authority with a borough status in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It is governed by Torbay Council, based in the town of Torquay, and also includes the towns of Paignton and Brixham. The borough consists of 24.27 sq mi (62.9 km2) of land around the east-facing Tor Bay, part of Lyme Bay on the English Channel. A popular tourist destination, Torbay's sandy beaches, mild climate and recreational and leisure attractions have given rise to its nickname of the English Riviera. The neighbouring districts are South Hams and Teignbridge.
Paignton is a seaside town on the coast of Tor Bay in Devon, England. Together with Torquay and Brixham it forms the borough of Torbay which was created in 1968. The Torbay area is a holiday destination known as the English Riviera. Paignton has origins as a Celtic settlement and was first mentioned in 1086. It grew as a small fishing village and a new harbour was built in 1847. A railway line was opened to passengers in 1859 creating links to Torquay and London. As its population increased, it merged with the villages of Goodrington and Preston. Paignton is around 25 miles (40 km) north east of Plymouth and 20 miles (32 km) south of Exeter.
The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for 630 miles (1,014 km), running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more challenging trails. The total height climbed has been calculated to be 114,931 ft (35,031 m), almost four times the height of Mount Everest. It has been voted 'Britain's Best Walking route' twice in a row by readers of The Ramblers' Walk magazine, and regularly features in lists of the world's best walks.
Sidmouth is a town on the English Channel in Devon, South West England, 14 miles (23 km) southeast of Exeter. With a population of 12,569 in 2011, it is a tourist resort and a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. A large part of the town has been designated a conservation area.
Dawlish is a seaside resort town and civil parish in the Teignbridge district in Devon, England. It is located on the south coast of England at a distance of 12 miles (19 km) from the city of Exeter and a similar distance from the town of Torquay. The 2011 Census population was recorded at 11,312, rising to 13,355 in a 2019 estimate. Dawlish had grown in the 18th century from a small fishing port into a seaside resort, as had its near neighbour, Teignmouth, in the 19th century.
Oddicombe Beach is a popular beach, noted for its interesting breccia cliffs, below the Babbacombe district of Torbay, Devon in England. The beach is linked to Babbacombe town by the Babbacombe Cliff Railway.
St Marychurch is an area of Torquay, in the Torbay district, in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It is one of the oldest settlements in South Devon. Its name derives from the church of St Mary, which was founded in Anglo-Saxon times. The ward population taken at the 2011 census was 11,262.
Babbacombe Cliff Railway, also known as the Babbacombe Cliff Lift, is a funicular railway in the town of Torquay in the English county of Devon. It links Babbacombe Downs with Oddicombe Beach. The line formerly ran every day between 09:30 and 17:30, with a closure period in winter for maintenance. A bell is rung 30 and 15 minutes before closing.
Kingskerswell is a village and civil parish within Teignbridge local government district in the south of Devon, England. The village grew up where an ancient track took the narrowest point across a marshy valley and it is of ancient foundation, being mentioned in the Domesday Book. It has a church dating back to the 14th century and the ruins of a manor house of similar date. The coming of the railway in the 1840s had a large effect on the village, starting its conversion into a commuter town. The village is a major part of the electoral ward called Kerswell-with-Combe. This ward had a population of 5,679 at the 2011 census.
The History of Torquay, a town in Torbay, on the south coast of the county of Devon, England, starts some 450,000 years ago with early human artefacts found in Kents Cavern. There is little evidence of any permanent occupation at Torquay until the eleventh century records in the Domesday Book, though it is known that visits were made by Roman soldiers and there was a small Saxon settlement called 'Torre'. In 1196 Torre Abbey was founded here, which by the time of its dissolution in 1539, had become the richest Premonstratensian Monastery in England. The buildings were bought by Sir George Cary in 1662. The Cary family and the Briwere family between them owned much of the land now occupied by Torquay. By the 19th century, most of the land was owned by three families: the Carys, the Palks, and the Mallocks.
King's Cliffe is a village and civil parish on Willow Brook, a tributary of the River Nene, about 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Corby in North Northamptonshire. The parish adjoins the county boundary with the City of Peterborough and the village is about 12 miles (19 km) west of the city centre. The village is not far from the boundary with Lincolnshire and about 6 miles (10 km) south of Stamford.
Coffinswell is a small village in South Devon, England, just off the A380, the busy Newton Abbot to Torquay road. It lies within Teignbridge District Council.
Brampford Speke is a small village in Devon, 4 miles (6 km) to the north of Exeter. The population is 419. It is located on red sandstone cliffs overlooking the river Exe. Its sister village of Upton Pyne lies to its southwest, and Stoke Canon is across the river, to the east. To the south is the hamlet of Cowley with its chapel of ease, which was formerly part of the ecclesiastical parish of Brampford Speke.
Ipplepen is a village and civil parish located within the Teignbridge district of the county of Devon in south-west England. A priory was located there. There is an electoral ward with the same name. The population at the 2011 census is 2,469.
The Babbacombe Theatre is a theatre in Babbacombe in Torquay, South Devon, England. Refurbished in 2009, the venue has been part of the Bay's tourism industry since the 1930s, and is known for staging variety shows, particularly since 1986 when Colin Matthews took over the venue.
John Stabb (1865–1917) of Torquay, Devon, England, was an ecclesiologist and antiquary of the county of Devon. He is best known for his three-volume publication Some Old Devon Churches, their Rood Screens, Pulpits, Fonts, etc., which he illustrated with several hundred of his own photographs.
Sir John Prescott Hewett, was a British Indian civil servant who served as Lieutenant Governor of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh and later as a Conservative MP for Luton.
John Hewett, Vicar of Babbacombe was a High Church Anglican priest and founder of the church of All Saints', Babbacombe and a friend and confidant of Anne Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, Duchess of Sutherland as well as the priest for Alexandra of Denmark whilst Princess of Wales. Hewett was also father of Sir John Prescott Hewett and of Rear Admiral George Hayley Hewett.
