History
TEIGNMOUTH has had a rich and fascinating maritime history and has been a fishing village since very early times. There have been a number of disputes with the French over the years and Teignmouth survived two attacks by the French during the middle-ages. The town used to have a boat-building yard and during the Napoleonic Wars in the 1800s sixty-eight boats were built there. It was because of the boat building yard and the harbour that the town was heavily bombed during the second world war. Luckily the Edwardian houses adjacent to the foreshore have survived after some restoration work.
The French raid of 1690 which is documented in the town museum is thought to have been the last time a town in England was invaded by a foreign power when on 26th July of that year the French fleet which was lying just off the coast opened fire on Teignmouth. The inhabitants escaped by fleeing to the hills behind the town and according to written records the French came ashore to attack the town by burning and plundering. The raid left the town in ruins. The town was rebuilt and eventually became one of the earliest seaside resorts and by 1750 was a watering place when nearby Torquay was still only a small village.
The twinning association was formed in 1979 when following the signing of our charter a small group of Teignmouth townsfolk crossed the channel for the first group visit to Perros-Guirec. A tree to commemorate the visit was planted in what was to become known as 'Place Teignmouth'. One of the cannon-balls left by the French in the 1690 raid was ceremoniously returned to the French at this first twinning visit!
This visit was the start of regular group visits between the two towns. It usually works out that a group of townsfolk visits Perros-Guirec every second year and a group from Perros-Guirec visits Teignmouth in the intervening years.
In 2009 when the Teignmouth twinning Assocoation visited Perros-Guirec , a second tree (a lime tree) was planted near to the original one to commemorate 30 years of twinning and the close association that has developed between the two towns.