Board 5. Pier Upper Den Carriageway
Teignmouth became a fashionable resort in the Georgian and Victorian eras with the construction of the seafront buildings you see today. You may be able to spot the part of Powderham Terrace (on the left) that was rebuilt after extensive bomb damage. Look along the roofline at the chimneys.
The Royal Hotel was built in 1825 and received many famous visitors including royalty, celebrities and even the Beatles in the1960s. Since being demolished it has been replaced by the Royal Court flats. The Riviera was built in1826 as the new Assembly Rooms, later becoming the East Devon and Teignmouth Club, an hotel, then a cinema and now refurbished as a cinema/theatre, apartments and a restaurant.
The Pier was constructed in 1865 at a cost of £8,000. It was enlarged in the 1900s to provide a pavilion complete with ballroom and a new landing stage for pleasure steamers. All types of traditional seaside entertainment were performed there. Stuntmen were featured such as one-legged ‘Peg-leg Pete’ who would delight the onlookers by setting himself alight and then diving into the sea.
Crowds would gather on the pier and in small boats to watch water polo matches organised by the Teignmouth Swimming and Life Saving Society. Members of the Teignmouth team were Devon champions for many years.
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Board 6. Den Entrance
The reclaimed grassy area, known as the Den, has seen a great variety of activities over the years.
Board 7. Point Car Park
The River Teign rises in the peaty bogs of Dartmoor and flows 61 miles to its estuary. Shifting sandbars, silting and strong currents have always presented a challenge to both local and visiting sailors.
