Brixham with its picturesque cottages and quant harbour has a thriving tourist industry and a new marina with all the trappings of luxury boating, it definitely has to be on your list of places to visit while you are here in Devon.
The town's outer harbour is protected by a long breakwater, which at about a mile long makes a pleasant & interesting walk, it is also useful for sea angling.
The fishing port of Brixham is home to one of England and Wales most successful fishing fleets and regularly lands more value than any UK port outside of Scotland.
It is thought that the name 'Brixham' came from Brioc's village. 'Brioc' was an old English personal name and '-ham' is an ancient term for village.
The town is hilly, and built around the harbour which remains in use as a dock for fishing trawlers; in addition, it has a focal tourist attraction in the replica of Sir Francis Drake´s ship the Golden Hind that is permanently moored there.
In summer, the Cowtown carnival is held; this is a reminder of when Brixham was two separate communities, with only a marshy lane to connect them. Cowtown was where the farmers lived, at the top of the hill, while about a mile away, the seamen made their homes near the harbour in Fishtown.
Brixham is where William III of Orange landed with his Dutch army, on 5th November, 1688, during the Glorious Revolution, and many local people still have Dutch surnames, being direct descendants of soldiers in that army. A road leading from the harbour up a steep hill to where the Dutch made their camp, is still called Overgang, meaning 'transition' in Dutch.
