St Marychurch
St Marychurch photos (8 available)
St Marychurch maps (2 available)
Map of Devon
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
St Marychurch books (8 available)
St Marychurch memories
Read and share memories of St Marychurch and Devon inspired by Frith photos
Longing to hear from the St Marychurch Ghosts
Where are you... all my friends... people I knew... people who knew me... MRS ROOK... Roy Chick's family... I have actually spoken to only one person... MISS HOCKIN from the sweet shop in Fore Street... but where are all the ghosts... all the great people who lived in and around Fore Street in the 1940s... young BROWN from Ellacombe (Royal Navy)... friends and congregation from the Catholic Church in Fore Street... and from St Marychurch (Church)... (the bombing.. I lost so many school friends)... HILDA CORIO... are you still alive and well and living in Torquay.. I have so many memories to share with anyone but no one is answering... so come on all you ghosts... think of me living down ...read more here
Contributed by Frederick Watson
St Mary Chuch
I live in the USA, but my home was St Marychurch, a special place run by Catholic nuns during World War 2. I was barely two years old, and I was brought there with my five-year-old sister by my aunt, because my father was killed in action in a Lancaster bomber plane when returning back to England after a raid on Germany. My mother could not take care of us as she had a breakdown. We spent ten years at Marychurch with the refugees and even though I did not know the full consequence of war I can remember the siren and being lifted out of my bed by women in black and white hoods - the nuns. These Catholic nuns ...read more here
Contributed by June Gatewood
Heather and Gorse dance at Teignmouth
There is a beautiful wide paved area at Teignmouth Triangle which is a natural focal point to meet people and maybe sit and chat on one of the many benches nearby. This was the venue chosen by the Heather and Gorse dancers to put on a display of clog morris dancing along with their band of accordians and melodeons.
The dancers kit of blue dresses black waistcoats and dancing clogs attracted the attention of passers by and there was soon a gathering of interested spectators. This was my very first opportunity to play my accordian for Heather and Gorse and it was a magical morning as dancers, musicians and spectators all seemed so friendly - even the sun ...read more here
Contributed by John Howard Norfolk
THE HOME THAT NEVER WAS
A St Marychurch lad I lived in Hampton Farm Cottage, Hampton Farm, Hampton Lane, St Marychurch, Torquay, Devon. I had been away from Torquay for several years - Army Service, etc....... but did eventually return to find that a BY PASS had been cut through the Farm area and there it was in front of me... the road by passing St Marychurch.... but no Farm and no House... not a trace... except for perhaps an end piece of old timber in the wall at the back of the MODEL VILLAGE (where the allotments used to be)... so... if you remember the building of this By Pass and witnessed the destruction of the House and Farm or perhaps even knew me, ...read more here
Contributed by Frederick Watson
Clog Morris Dancing at the Babbacombe Festival
A week long programme of events for the Babbacombe Festival included a display of clog morris dancing by the Heather and Gorse Clog Morris side from nearby Combeinteignhead, accompanied by a large band of four squeezeboxes and percussion.
The dancers performed in the evening at the Precinct close to the Dolphin pub. It didn't take long before a crowd gathered to watch including drinkers from the pub who brought their beers outside to sit on the benches and watch. There was an hour long display of dancing which the onlookers regularly applauded! Great fun, nice people and lovely weather for dancing - not too hot, just a gentle fresh breeze to keep both dancers and musicians cool on ...read more here
Contributed by John Howard Norfolk
Extracts From St Marychurch & Devon books
This view was taken from the building at the very end of Morton Crescent. To the immediate left is the Imperial Hotel,
seen in its original architectural design, changed now after the fire in the 1970s.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
By the middle of the 20th
century we see something
resembling the modern
scene. There is the more
familiar red telephone
box on the traffic island,
a modern post box, and
Belisha beacons to aid
pedestrians wishing to
cross the road. In the
centre of the photograph
is the white tower of the
Pavilion Theatre. Much of
the street furniture was
removed by the start of
the 21st century, leaving
a more traffic-dominated Esplanade.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
The construction of a substantial
sea wall, seen here in section to the
right, led to Exmouth’s prosperity
as a seaside resort. Before the
wall was built, much of the sea
front was marshland and sand
dunes, and subjected to constant
flooding. The first section of the
wall was completed in 1842, paid
for by the local landowner John
Rolle. It was 1,900 feet long and
constructed from Devon limestone.
The designer was John Smeaton, a
veteran engineer and the designer
of London Bridge.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
This fine view looks across the
clock tower and Morton Crescent
to the estuary of the River Exe, with
Starcross and the Haldon Hills in
the distance.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
The wall was designed to deflect the waves that so often come up the English Channel from the south-west on stormy days.
This scene has changed little in fifty years, though now a shelter from the wind stands on the position of the nearest bench
in the photograph. It was donated by local resident William Frederick Stokes in 1964.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".