BRIXHAM, a sea-port, market-town, and parish,
in the hundred of HAYTOR, county of DEVON, 27 miles
(S.) from Exeter, and 198 (W.S.W.) from London, containing
4503 inhabitants. This town, at which William,
Prince of Orange, landed on the 5th of November, _1688,
is pleasantly situated near the southern extremity of
Torbay, on the west side; it is irregularly built, but
contains many good houses, several of which are erected
on the cliffs projecting above the harbour. The inhabitants
are amply supplied with water; the air is salu-
Wious, the environs pleasant, and its vicinity to the
well-frequented bathing-place, Torquay, renders it dejsirable
as a place of residence. The port, which is
^member of the port of Dartmouth, carries on a considerable
coasting trade, in which one hundred and
twenty vessels, of from sixty to one hundred and fifty
tons' burden, are employed. The harbour, consisting
of two basins, communicating with each other, js safe
and commodious; the outer basin has' been' recently
formed, by the erection of a second pier, at the expense
of £5300, rais'ed by the inhabitants. During
spring tides the water rises to the height of twenty-four
feet at the pier-head. There are One hundred and five
vessels, of from twenty to forty-five tons' burden, and
sixty-four smaller boats,, engaged in the fishing trade,
which is carried on to a considerable extent: the fish
caught are chiefly turbot and soles, for the supply of
the London, Bath, and Exeter markets. The trade of
the town has" derived considerable increase from this
being the rendezvous of men of war, which lay in thehr
supply of water at this'port:- a considerable number of
shops has been established on the shore, for the sale
of slops and other articles. There are some extensive
quarries of marble in the vicinity. The market days
are Thursday and Saturday, established under the authority
of an act of parliament passed in 1799: it is
in contemplation to erect a new market-house. The
fair is on Whit-Tuesday and the two following -days.-
The parish is divided into Higher and Lower Brixham:
the living is a discharged vicarage, with, the perpetual
curacies of Churston-Ferrers and Kingswear annexed>
in the archdeaconry of Totness, and diocese of
Exeter, rated in the king's books at £52. 15., and in
the patronage of the Crown. The church, dedicated to
the Virgin Mary, and situated in Higher Brixham, is an
ancient structure, containing some interesting monuments,
among which is the cenotaph of the late Judge
Buller: it has lately received an addition of eight hundred
sittings, seven hundred of them, free, the Incorporated
Society for the enlargement of churches and
chapels having granted £700 for that purpose, The
chapel at Lower Brixham- was erected by subscription
among the inhabitants, aided by a grant of £1200
from the parliamentary commissioners; it is a neat
building, in the English style of architecture, and contains
three hundred free sittings. There are places
pf worship for Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists. A
National school, founded by the society, has been incorporated
with an older establishment, endowed in 1634,
and also in 1692: the master has a house and garden,
with a salary of about £60 per annum: two schoolrooms
have been built near his dwelling, by subscription,
wherein about four hundred children of both
sexes are instructed. At Higher Brixham is Lay Well,
the water of which ebbs and flows about nine times in
an hour; the variation is about an inch and a quarter.
Some ancient coins were found, in 1730, on Bury
Head, which is said to have been the site of a Roman
fortress.