In the reign of King John, Exmouth appears to have been a port of some consequence; and in 1347 it furnished ten ships and one hundred and ninety-three mariners to the grand fleet assembled by Edward III. for his expedition against France. In the reign of Henry VIII., Leland calls it "a fisschar tounlet," in which state it appears to have continued till about the middle of the last century, when it began to increase, in consequence of the number of persons visiting it for the sake of sea-bathing. It is said that Exmouth first came into repute as a watering-place from one of the judges of assize going there to bathe, and returning with his health very much improved. The following account of the place, and of the manner in which the visiters passed their time about sixty years ago, is from a letter published in Polwhele's _History of Devon_:--"The village is a very pretty one, and composed, for the most part, of cot-houses, neat and clean, and consisting of four or five rooms, which are generally let at a guinea a week. We have from some of the houses, when the tide is in, a beautiful view of the river, which, united with the sea, forms a fine sheet of water before our doors of large extent. Lord Courtenay's and Lord Lisburne's grounds, rising in inequalities on the other shore, complete the perspective. This is the most gay part of the village; but then its brilliancy is only temporary--for, the tide returned, instead of a fine sheet of water, we are presented with a bed of mud, whose perfumes are not equal to those of a bed of roses.... Exmouth boasts no public rooms or assemblies, save one card assembly, in an inconvenient apartment at one of the inns, on Monday evenings. The company meet at half after five, and break up at ten; they play at shilling whist, or twopenny quadrille. We have very few young people here, and no diversions; no _belles dames_ amusing to the unmarried, but some _beldames_ unamusing to the married. Walking on a hill which commands a view of the ocean, and bathing, with a visit or two, serve to pass away the morning, and tea-drinking in the evening."