Seaton depends
for its deserved popularity upon its open position, in which it
differs from most Devon and Dorset resorts; its bracing air, due to
the wide expanse of the Axe valley, and above all to the beautiful
surrounding country. Treasure hunts along the beach for garnets and
beryls are among the excitements of a fortnight in Seaton.
The unimposing way in which the Axe enters the sea will be remarked at
once. It is supposed that the Danes made use of the river mouth as a
harbour for their pirate ships and it was without doubt a port of some
importance in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. For the siege
of Calais it provided two ships. But Leland (temp. Henry VIII) remarks
that the silting up of the Axe had made the harbour useless for all
but "small fisschar boates." The river now has great difficulty in
getting to the sea at all through the high bank of shingle.
A good deal of Honiton lace is made both here and at Beer, though this
East Devon industry is slowly dwindling in the several localities in
which it was once an important commercial item.
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