The River Teign is a river in the
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
, England. It is long and rises on
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers .
The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous P ...
, becomes an estuary just below
Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the So ...
and reaches the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
at
Teignmouth
Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about 12 miles south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14,749 at th ...
.
Toponymy
The river-name 'Teign' is first attested in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 739, where it appears as ''Teng''. The name is pre-Roman, related to the
Welsh ''taen'' meaning 'sprinkling', and means simply 'stream'.
[ Eilert Ekwall, ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'', p.462.]
The river lends its name to several places, including Teigncombe,
Drewsteignton
Drewsteignton is a village, civil parish and former manor within the administrative area of West Devon, England, also lying within the Dartmoor National Park. It is located in the valley of the River Teign, west of Exeter and south east of ...
,
Canonteign
Canonteign (originally "Canons' Teign") is an historic tything in the parish of Christow, near Chudleigh, in South Devon, England and situated in the valley of the River Teign. The 'canon' in the name refers to the Augustinian canons regular, ei ...
,
Teigngrace
Teigngrace is a civil parish centred on a hamlet that lies about two miles north of the town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. According to the 2001 census, its population was 235, compared to 190 a century earlier. The western boundary of the p ...
,
Kingsteignton
Kingsteignton ( ), is a town and civil parish in South Devon, England. It lies at the head of the Teign Estuary to the west of Teignmouth in the Teignbridge district. It is bypassed by the A380 and is also on the A383, A381, B3193 and B3195 ...
(at one time, one of England's largest villages),
Bishopsteignton
Bishopsteignton is a village and civil parish in South Devon, England, between Newton Abbot and Teignmouth, close to the Teign Estuary. The village is on a steep hill, and has a post office cum pharmacy and a small, family-run village shop. T ...
,
Teignharvey, and the second largest settlement along its course,
Teignmouth
Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about 12 miles south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14,749 at th ...
. However, the villages of
Combeinteignhead and
Stokeinteignhead, on the other side of the estuary from Bishopsteignton, are not named after the river.
Course
The River Teign rises on
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers .
The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous P ...
, as do many other major Devonian rivers. It has two separate sources: one rises at Teign Head, forming the North Teign which flows northeast where it is crossed by a
clapper bridge
A clapper bridge is an ancient form of bridge found on the moors of the English West Country (Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor and Exmoor) and in other upland areas of the United Kingdom including Snowdonia and Anglesey, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, La ...
near Teigncombe. On its bank near the confluence with the Walla Brook is the
Tolmen Stone that is perforated by a large circular hole. The second source rises near
Grey Wethers
Grey Wethers consists of a pair of prehistoric stone circles, situated on grassy plateau to the north of Postbridge, Dartmoor, in the United Kingdom.
Description
The circles are each approximately in diameter, and less than five metres apa ...
and forms the shorter South Teign which flows through the Fernworthy Forest and a reservoir of the same name. The two rivers combine at Leigh Bridge near
Chagford to form the Teign, which leaves the moor on its eastern side, flowing beneath
Castle Drogo
Castle Drogo is a country house and mixed-revivalist castle near Drewsteignton, Devon, England. Constructed between 1911 and 1930, it was the last castle to be built in England. The client was Julius Drewe, the hugely successful founder of the ...
in a steep-sided valley. Near
Dunsford there is a nature reserve on the east bank.
It then flows southwards at the east edge of the moor through a steep-sided valley along which ran the
Teign Valley Line providing rail service to the villages in the vicinity until its closure in 1967. Passing
Chudleigh and
Chudleigh Knighton
Chudleigh Knighton is a small village in Devon, England, near to Newton Abbot and Bovey Tracey.
Amenities
Chudleigh Knighton Church of England Primary School has around 167 pupils, aged 5 to 11. The school has six classrooms on two floors.
Ther ...
, the river flows through the
Bovey Basin where
ball clay
Ball clays are kaolinitic sedimentary clays that commonly consist of 20–80% kaolinite, 10–25% mica, 6–65% quartz. Localized seams in the same deposit have variations in composition, including the quantity of the major minerals, accessory ...
is extracted, then between Kingsteignton and
Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the So ...
, where, during its operation from 1898 to 1974, the
Newton Abbot power station
The Newton Abbot power station was a power station originally built in 1898 at Jetty Marsh, Newton Abbot as a small station to serve the local community. It was subsequently significantly expanded, and changed from direct current to alternating ...
drew its cooling water from the river, discharging it back into the
River Lemon
The River Lemon is a 9.9 mile (16 kilometre) river in the county of Devon in southwest England. It is a tributary of the River Teign, starting on Dartmoor by Haytor, and ending in Newton Abbot. It rises on the south-east side of Dartmoor nea ...
, which joins the Teign downstream.
Below Newton Abbot the river turns abruptly to the east and becomes tidal, widening to form the Teign Estuary, a large
ria
A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea.
Definitions
Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...
that reaches the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
at Teignmouth.
Crossings
Fingle Bridge is a Grade II*
listed structure
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
that crosses the river near Drewsteignton on Dartmoor.
Until 1827 the most downstream bridge was
Teign Bridge at Teigngrace. When it was being rebuilt in 1815 it became apparent that at least four successive bridges had been erected at various times with or over the remains of the previous constructions. Mr. P. T. Taylor, who investigated the matter at the time, gave as his opinion that:
the last or upper work was done in the sixteenth century, and that the red bridge had been built on the salt marsh in the thirteenth century; since which time there has been an accumulation of soil to the depth of ten feet. He supposes the wooden bridge to be old as the Conquest, and the white stone bridge to have been Roman work.
In 1976 a viaduct was built across the top of the estuary just below Newton Abbot to carry the newly diverted
A380 road A38 or A-38 may refer to:
* A38 (dairy product), a fermented dairy product sold in Denmark
* A38 (ship), a party boat on the Danube in Budapest, Hungary
* A38 motorway (Netherlands)
* A38 road (England)
* A38 (Sydney), an arterial route in Sydne ...
. The viaduct is about long and has eleven spans.
Since 1827 the lowest road crossing has been
Shaldon Bridge that now carries the
A379
The A379 is a road in the English county of Devon. It links points on the edges of that county's two principal cities, Exeter and Plymouth, by an indirect and largely coastal route.
The A38 provides a faster and more direct inland route bet ...
near the mouth of the estuary. A passenger ferry between Teignmouth and
Shaldon
Shaldon is a village and civil parish in South Devon, England, on the south bank of the estuary of the River Teign, opposite Teignmouth. The village is a popular bathing place and is characterised by Georgian architecture.
At the United Kin ...
operates a little lower down.
Navigability
Ships and barges
The
port of Teignmouth, just inside the mouth of the estuary, is visited by ships mostly handling clay, timber and grain.
The lower reaches of the river are navigable up to
Newton Abbot
Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the So ...
, although now only to shallow draft boats and those less than 2.9 metres high due to the Shaldon Bridge.
The tidal Whitelake Channel of the river connects it to two disused short canals that were both built to serve the
ball clay
Ball clays are kaolinitic sedimentary clays that commonly consist of 20–80% kaolinite, 10–25% mica, 6–65% quartz. Localized seams in the same deposit have variations in composition, including the quantity of the major minerals, accessory ...
trade in the area. The
Stover Canal heads to Teigngrace (with the River Teign also supplying the header pond); it was built to serve
ball clay
Ball clays are kaolinitic sedimentary clays that commonly consist of 20–80% kaolinite, 10–25% mica, 6–65% quartz. Localized seams in the same deposit have variations in composition, including the quantity of the major minerals, accessory ...
operations, but later it was the terminus of the
Haytor Granite Tramway
The Haytor Granite Tramway (also called Heytor) was a tramway built to convey granite from Haytor Down, Dartmoor, Devon to the Stover Canal. It was very unusual in that the track was formed of granite sections, shaped to guide the wheels of ho ...
, carrying granite. The second connection was to the
Hackney Canal, only 0.6 miles long, that connected the river to a ball clay quarry at Hackney Clay Cellars in
Kingsteignton
Kingsteignton ( ), is a town and civil parish in South Devon, England. It lies at the head of the Teign Estuary to the west of Teignmouth in the Teignbridge district. It is bypassed by the A380 and is also on the A383, A381, B3193 and B3195 ...
(now the site of a retail park), through what is now
Newton Abbot Racecourse.
Personal watercraft
The river has been kayaked at least from Leigh Bridge (the confluence of the North and South Teign) at to Steps Bridge at , rated as grade 2 to 3. There is also a single high-grade, very technical drop.
Fishing
The Teign estuary is known for
flounder fishing; a British record specimen was caught here in 1994. Other species include
grey mullet in the estuary,
brown trout further up the river and some salmon and
sea trout throughout. Some coarse fish are caught in the lower reaches of Teign, although it is not officially a coarse fish river. This includes
carp as far as the tidal marshes under the A380 at Newton Abbot.
See also
*
Rivers of the United Kingdom
For details of rivers of the United Kingdom, see
* List of rivers of England
* List of rivers of Scotland
* List of rivers of Wales
* Northern Ireland: see List of rivers of Ireland and Rivers of Ireland
* Longest rivers of the United Kingdom
Ov ...
*
Haytor Granite Tramway
The Haytor Granite Tramway (also called Heytor) was a tramway built to convey granite from Haytor Down, Dartmoor, Devon to the Stover Canal. It was very unusual in that the track was formed of granite sections, shaped to guide the wheels of ho ...
– The Teign and its commercial past.
*
Teign Valley Railway
References
Further reading
*
External links
Video footage of the Teignmouth - Shaldon Ferry during the Shaldon Regatta
{{authority control
Rivers of Devon, Teign, River
Teign