The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 2 by W. (William) Finden

Author:W. (William) Finden [Finden, W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503007413
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing
Published: 2014-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

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BUDLEIGH SALTERTON. BUDLEIGH SALTERTON.

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BUDLEIGH-SALTERTON.

The village of Budleigh-Salterton lies about half-way between Sidmouth and Exmouth, and at a short distance to the westward of the mouth of the river Otter. It is pleasantly situated by the sea-shore; and the beauty of the country in its vicinity, and the convenience afforded for sea-bathing, have caused it of late years to be much frequented as a watering-place.

Of the many watering-places with which the requirements of fashion have sprinkled our southern coasts, there are few which can boast of a more delightful situation than the subject of our present engraving. Protected on both sides by the surrounding hills, it is completely sheltered from the severity of those winds which are frequently the bane of some of our otherwise most eligible retreats; while its view of the ocean is uninterrupted by any of those obstacles which add more to the utility than the beauty of our older sea-bathing towns. The coast of Devonshire offers peculiar advantages to the invalid; it has a southern aspect; the winters are milder than in any other part of England, and the north-east wind, with its concomitant evils, is less felt than in the more exposed though more popular ports of the Isle of Thanet. In addition to a genial climate, Devonshire is entitled to some preference on the score of economy with that large class to whom the cost of even an occasional residence at the coast is a serious consideration; and although a temporary sojourn at any watering-place must necessarily be more expensive than the same time spent in a rural district, the visiter will find that in none can a greater share of the comforts and even luxuries of life be obtained upon moderate terms than in Budleigh-Salterton and its neighbouring towns of Exmouth and Sidmouth.

Another advantage which these smaller towns possess is the freedom from restraint in which they allow their patrons to indulge. The almost slavish deference which the higher classes of society are compelled to pay to certain conventional rules of fashion and etiquette may be quietly laid aside during a residence at such towns as the one now before us, and this, too, without fear of forfeiting that claim to exclusiveness which every grade is so anxious to maintain against the one below it. Few persons will deny the gratification that they have derived from an occasional relaxation of those social laws that restrict our actions in everyday life; and not the least of the benefits which they receive from their summer visits to the coast may be traced to the opportunities which they afford for their becoming again, though but for a few weeks, or even days, "children of a larger growth."

The village of East Budleigh, which is also the name of one of the hundreds into which Devon is divided, lies about two miles above Budleigh-Salterton, on the banks of the river Otter. Leland, in his Itinerary, thus notices East Budleigh: "On the west side of the

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