The town of Sidmouth basically lies at the spot where the River Sid meets the sea. And indeed, often one of the most interesting parts of a river is where it meets the sea – with photos here of the mouth of the Sid.
A full and fascinating look at how the River and the sea have interacted over the centuries by R W Gallois focusses on the natural and artificial influences on coastal erosion at Sidmouth – but the earlier sections consider how the River Sid has impacted the development of the town, and vice versa.
Here are a couple of excerpts, available online, with more in the downloadable text:
Like many small coastal towns in the UK, Sidmouth in Devon was founded on the valley sides adjacent to a river outfall that provided a natural harbour. Subsequent expansion of the town in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when living by or visiting the sea became popular for health reasons, involved the entrainment of the river and building on land that was subject to marine flooding…
…until the mid 18th Century when the river was diverted to allow land that had previously been a salt marsh to be built on. The subsequent construction of substantial buildings on top of a ridge of mobile storm-beach gravels added to the problem. Not only did the inland part of the town need to be defended from river flooding and high spring tides, but the storm beach also needed to be stabilised.
For more, there are the pages on this website on the history of the Sid, looking at the mills, the sewage system, the Byes and the Ham amongst other spots.
There are also pages on the catchment history on the River Sid Catchment Group website – with a choice excerpt here:
While land was being taken over by buildings and roads, farming itself was changing. Dairy farms were increasing due to the loss of the cloth trade, and were making use of the rich meadows, fertilised in early spring by the “letting and flooding” which brought silt from the hills where it had been fertilised by the sheep.
And on the SVA’s Sid Valley’s history pages, it’s clear how important the River was to the economy of Sidmouth:
Behind the town lay water-meadows along the banks of the River Sid, ideal for dairy herds. Clotted cream was produced in local dairies, and a ton was sent each week for sale in London!
Even in the late nineteenth century, there were still pastures along the River, well into the town itself:
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