Above the Esplanade and its garden rises the Beacon, where the first houses were built when Exmouth began to develop as a holiday resort in 1972. The rapidity of its growth is indicated by the fact that by 1818 assembly rooms were already established here.
Many of the houses built in that period still remain, some of them having been converted and enlarged to form present-day hotels and guest houses.
The most prominent building in this area is Holy Trinity Church, built between 1823 and 1825, and enlarged at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Nearby are the Manor Grounds where the information bureau was situated.