East Devon

§ This page gives an overview of the East Devon local authority district, bringing together key facts, maps, and data to help you quickly understand the area. One of 361 district profiles on Baseview.

Overview ⁞ East Devon stretches from the Jurassic Coast to inland countryside, offering a mix of seaside resorts, river valleys, and market towns. The coast features towns such as Sidmouth, Seaton, and Budleigh Salterton, known for their cliffs, beaches, and promenades. Inland, Axminster and Honiton are traditional centres, with Honiton renowned for lace-making and antiques. The River Exe valley and East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty provide rolling hills, woodlands, and nature reserves. The coastline, part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, displays dramatic geological formations, making East Devon a district of scenic variety.

The administrative boundary of East Devon can be viewed on OpenStreetMap: District Boundary of East Devon.

Map of East Devon
Administrative Boundary of East Devon (Local Authority District)

Key Facts about East Devon

What region is East Devon in? East Devon is in the South West of England, a region within the UK.

What county is East Devon in? East Devon is located in the county of Devon.

Is East Devon a city? No, East Devon is not a city. (Note: the UK has 76 officially designated cities.)

Who governs East Devon? The local authority for this district is: East Devon District Council - responsible for district-level services. Since Devon is a two-tier area, county-level services are handled by: Devon County Council.

▶ Official website of East Devon District Council 🔗 eastdevon.gov.uk

Website of East Devon District Council
Website of East Devon District Council (captured on 2025-09-20)

Which police force covers East Devon? Policing in East Devon is provided by Devon & Cornwall Police 🔗 devon-cornwall.police.uk, which serves 12 local authority districts: Cornwall ⁞ East Devon ⁞ Exeter ⁞ Isles of Scilly ⁞ Mid Devon ⁞ North Devon ⁞ Plymouth ⁞ South Hams ⁞ Teignbridge ⁞ Torbay ⁞ Torridge ⁞ West Devon.

This district page, East Devon, is a sub-page of this county page: Devon and this region page: South West. It zooms in to local authorities and parliamentary constituencies, and provides a list of wards in this district. We have this list page for easy browsing of all UK local authority districts: List of Local Authority Districts.

Constituencies in East Devon

A constituency is a specific geographical area that elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to represent them in the House of Commons. The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies. We have this list page for easy browsing of all UK parliamentary constituencies: List of Constituencies.

Wards in East Devon

East Devon is divided into 30 wards, listed below in alphabetical order.

  • Axminster
  • Beer & Branscombe
  • Broadclyst
  • Budleigh & Raleigh
  • Clyst Valley
  • Coly Valley
  • Cranbrook
  • Dunkeswell & Otterhead
  • Exe Valley
  • Exmouth Brixington
  • Exmouth Halsdon
  • Exmouth Littleham
  • Exmouth Town
  • Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh
  • Feniton
  • Honiton St Michael's
  • Honiton St Paul's
  • Newbridges
  • Newton Poppleford & Harpford
  • Ottery St Mary
  • Seaton
  • Sidmouth Rural
  • Sidmouth Sidford
  • Sidmouth Town
  • Tale Vale
  • Trinity
  • West Hill & Aylesbeare
  • Whimple & Rockbeare
  • Woodbury & Lympstone
  • Yarty

In the UK, a ward is a subdivision of a local authority area, used mainly for electoral and statistical purposes. Defined by the ONS, wards represent the primary unit for local elections, each returning one or more councillors to the local council. Wards are also used as a key geography for presenting population and census data.

Parishes in East Devon

East Devon is fully parished: 72 civil parishes, listed A-Z below.

  • All Saints
  • Awliscombe
  • Axminster
  • Axmouth
  • Aylesbeare
  • Beer
  • Bicton
  • Brampford Speke
  • Branscombe
  • Broad Clyst
  • Broadhembury
  • Buckerell
  • Budleigh Salterton
  • Chardstock
  • Clyst Honiton
  • Clyst Hydon
  • Clyst St. George
  • Clyst St. Lawrence
  • Clyst St. Mary
  • Colaton Raleigh
  • Colyford
  • Colyton
  • Combe Raleigh
  • Combpyne Rousdon
  • Cotleigh
  • Cranbrook
  • Dalwood
  • Dunkeswell
  • East Budleigh
  • Exmouth
  • Farringdon
  • Farway
  • Feniton
  • Gittisham
  • Hawkchurch
  • Honiton
  • Huxham
  • Kilmington
  • Lands Common to Axminster and Kilmington C.P.s
  • Luppitt
  • Lympstone
  • Membury
  • Monkton
  • Musbury
  • Nether Exe
  • Newton Poppleford and Harpford
  • Northleigh
  • Offwell
  • Otterton
  • Ottery St. Mary
  • Payhembury
  • Plymtree
  • Poltimore
  • Rewe
  • Rockbeare
  • Seaton
  • Sheldon
  • Shute
  • Sidmouth
  • Southleigh
  • Sowton
  • Stockland
  • Stoke Canon
  • Talaton
  • Uplyme
  • Upottery
  • Upton Pyne
  • West Hill
  • Whimple
  • Widworthy
  • Woodbury
  • Yarcombe

A civil parish is the lowest tier of local government in England, used for villages, small towns, and suburbs. They have their own local authority, either a parish council or a parish meeting, which provides local services like managing parks, allotments, and streetlights, and represents the community's views to larger councils.

Built-up Areas in East Devon

East Devon covers 48 built-up areas, listed below in alphabetical order.

  • Allercombe
  • Axminster
  • Axmouth
  • Beer
  • Bishopswood *
  • Brampford Speke
  • Broadclyst
  • Budleigh Salterton
  • Chardstock
  • Clyst Honiton *
  • Clyst St Mary
  • Colaton Raleigh
  • Colyford
  • Colyton
  • Cranbrook (East Devon)
  • Dunkeswell
  • East Budleigh
  • Ebford
  • Exeter *
  • Exmouth
  • Exton (East Devon)
  • Farringdon
  • Feniton
  • Honiton
  • Kilmington
  • Lyme Regis *
  • Lympstone
  • Membury
  • Musbury
  • Newton Poppleford
  • Offwell
  • Otterton
  • Ottery St Mary
  • Raymond's Hill *
  • Seaton (East Devon)
  • Sidbury
  • Sidmouth
  • Smeatharpe *
  • Stoke Canon
  • Tipton St John
  • Topsham *
  • Tytherleigh
  • Uplyme *
  • West Clyst *
  • West Hill (East Devon)
  • Whimple
  • Woodbury
  • Woodbury Salterton

In the UK, a Built-up Area (BUA) is a continuous urban area of at least 20 hectares (0.2 km²), defined by the ONS as land where buildings are generally no more than 200 metres apart, such as towns, cities, or large villages. (Note: A BUA name marked with an asterisk (*) indicates that the area is situated partly in the district of East Devon.)

East Devon compared with other districts in the UK

This section shows how East Devon compares with other local authority districts in the UK, using a variety of measures and rankings.

East Devon has 30 electoral wards.

East Devon compared with other districts
Smaller: 292  Similar: 11  Larger: 58 (compared with 361 districts)

East Devon has a population of 158,239 (2024 mid-year estimate by ONS)

Population of East Devon compared with other districts
Population of East Devon, compared with other districts in England and Wales

More local statistics and data for East Devon can be found on the ONS statistics for East Devon.