Sidmouth is a small town that is approximately 15 miles South East of Exeter on the Jurassic coast of Devon. The population is around 15,000 and the town has a number of quality hotels and restaurants that cater for its visitors. It is a sedate resort that combines a wide esplanade, good beach with some dramatic coastal scenery of the red cliffs, that has a timeless appeal to all ages.
Sidmouth is another Devon seaside resort that mainly developed in the Regency - Victorian periods. Its most famous visitor was Queen Victoria who came here as a small girl just before her father The Duke of Kent and Grandfather George III dies. This visit is remembered in a Blue plaque on the building which is now The Royal Glen Hotel Sidmouth has a number of grand houses from that period with more blue plaques commemorating the distinguished people that used it as a summer retreat.
However Sidmouth has a history that far pre-dates that period. It was referred to as Sedemuda in the Domesday book and one of the oldest buildings in the town is the Old Ship Inn which could date back as far as the 14th Century where you can imagine smugglers and local fishermen meeting over the years.
Other notable buildings include Lockyer Observatory and Planetarium that is now used for science educational exhibitions.
Other unusal facts include that Beatrix Potter referred to Sidmouth as Stymouth in one of her books, while Thomas Hardy renamed it Idmouth in his Wessex novel.