Board 2. St Michael’s Churchyard
You are standing by the parish church of East Teignmouth which has occupied this site for a thousand years, though the present building dates from the 1820s. Charles Babbage, the “father of the computer”, was married in St Michael’s in 1814. His family lived further up the hill in the old Rowdens.
Behind you in the distance the top of St James the Less, the parish church of West Teignmouth, is just visible. When this church was rebuilt in the 1820’s the unusual octagonal building was incorporated into the original twelfth century sandstone tower. This tower is the oldest building in Teignmouth.
Just up the road to your left is the United Reformed Church, rebuilt in 1883 to replace the old Zion Chapel (built 1790).
Above this is the Roman Catholic Church. The original church was erected in 1842 with the support of the exiled Queen Marie Amelie of France. Unfortunately it was constructed over the “cut and cover” railway tunnel. In 1875, when the railway company decided to uncover these tunnels, the church was dismantled stone by stone and rebuilt in Plymouth. The present church dates from 1877. This was not the only building to be relocated by the railway. Many small dwellings, the town hospital and the Wesleyan Chapel were also affected.
For next board: Walk through the churchyard and onto the Promenade.
Your next boards
Board 3. St Michael's East Side on Promenade
The little hamlet of East Teignmouth developed around the old Saxon church of St Michael with fishermen’s cottages and salterns or salt huts for the processing of salt.
Board 4. Church Rocks Wreck
Just 170 metres offshore from the sea wall lies an important shipwreck of an armed trading vessel dating from the late sixteenth century.
