Location
A1 Pacific No 60163 "Tornado" passes Great Cliff in 2009
Great Cliff, an attractive development of 2-bedroom apartments, stands in a prominent position right on the seafront in Dawlish, on Marine Parade, overlooking the great sweep of Lyme Bay.
Dawlish is set on the edge of beautiful rolling countryside as it meets the impressive cliffs of the South Devon coastline. There are three beaches all within walking distance: Boat Cove, Coryton Cove and the main beach, which stretches all the way to Dawlish Warren.
The full address of the property is:-
9 Great Cliff
Marine Parade
Dawlish
Devon
England
EX7 9EX
Please click here for the location map
Please click here for on-line bookings
Please click here for enquires
Brief History of Marine Parade and Great Cliff
Marine Parade was originally home to an early fishing settlement. Many of the original houses which existed back in the mid 1840's were temporarily bought by the South Devon Railway in order to reduce opposition to the construction of the railway. As it was, the line had to be somewhat lower than present, on a gradient of 1:30 from the station in order to protect the residents' sea views (the line is now on a gradient of 1:96 through higher ballasting). Most, if not all of the fishing settlement disappeared in a bid to build elegant Victorian and Edwarian homes, from the late 1800's to the 1920's. One of the original buildings was the Baths, built in 1828 and substantially altered in 1895, to become a gentlemen's club and then a restaurant. This property is currently a B & B and restaurant, known as "Oceans".
With regard to the Great Cliff site, it was at the beginning of the 19th Century that a local Solicitor - Mark Kennaway, had a house built here, known as Kennaway's House, later to be named Great Cliff House. The house was purchased by the South Devon Railway in 1844 who used the property as their offices and as a Directors' meeting place whilst building the railway from Exeter to Plymouth in the 1840's. The South Devon Railway then vacated the property which was let to Joseph Samuda in 1844/8, (patentee of the atmospheric system) who came to Dawlish to supervise its working on the SDR. During the first half of the 19th Century, the house was extended to become three large private residences facing the sea, with one smaller property at the rear. The properties were occupied by various residents over the next one hundred years.
In 1950, the properties were combined to form one large property which was then operated as The Great Cliff Hotel. In 1955 it was recorded that the hotel was run "under the personal supervision of resident proprietress Mrs F.L. Swift", open all year, had hot and cold water in all bedrooms, gas fires in main bedrooms and interior sprung mattresses. The Great Cliff Hotel then became the Great Cliff Hotel for Residents in 1971. During 2004, a structural survey found the property partially unsound which led the then owner - Michael Swift to sell the property. The building was subsequently demolished in 2005, making way for the current Great Cliff building which was built in 2006.
Although many fine houses were built in Dawlish, Marine Parade was definately the place to live with elegant properties, sea views and, from 1902, a new sea wall and promenade adjacent to the railway and Marine Parade. The Dawlish Gazette suggested that this be known as "The Kings Walk" to comemorate the the coronation of Edward VII - a name which is still heard of today. Traditionally, this was the area where gentlemen and ladies would take the sea air, before retiring for the night.