146 TEIGNMOUTH AND SHALDON BRIDGE. 



walls and abutments on each side, making the whole 

 length of the bridge, from high-water mark on the 

 one side to high-water mark on the other, 1,671 feet, 

 or just one third of a mile. The arches are con- 

 structed of iron and timber, supported on columns, 

 and the road-way and footpaths are of the conjoined 

 width of 24 feet. The entire cost of the undertaking 

 was about £26,000., of which £19,000. were ex- 

 pended in the construction of the works, and tl)e 

 remainder in the purchase of the ferry-rights, and 

 the defraying other incidental expenses. 



The advantages of this bridge are very great, both 

 in a local and national point of view, the former 

 arising from the substitution of a commodious 

 bridge and approaches for an inconvenient and dan- 

 gerous ferry, which could only be avoided by a 

 circuit of fourteen miles, and the latter in opening, 

 by means of the bridge and the roads lately made in 

 the neighbourhood, a direct communicatjon from 

 Exeter, along the coast, to Torbay, — a communi- 

 cation long desired by military and naval men, and 

 which may prove of the greatest importance to this 

 country in unforeseen emergencies. This bridge 

 forms also a connecting link with the new coast- 

 roads between Exeter and Plymouth, which pass 

 through a highly picturesque district, and the towns 

 of Starcross, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Torquay, Paign- 

 ton, and Dartmouth. 



Since its erection, Teignmouth and Torquay, which 

 before were much frequented as fashionable watering 

 places, have considerably increased in size, as well 

 as in accommodations and attractions. The former 

 is principally resorted to during the summer season, 

 (although many highly respectable families often 

 remain during the winter also) on account of the 

 peculiar facilities it affords for sea-bathing, the 

 salubrity of the air, and the many attractive and 

 picturesque walks and rides with which the neigh- 

 bourhood abounds. The latter is justly celebrated 

 as a winter residence, on account of the excessive 



