In 1844 Topsham was described as a town, situated just above the influx of the river Clyst into the Exe, and about 6 miles from the sea, which is so celebrated for the salubrity of its air that it is reported to have lost only one person when the plague was raging at Exeter and in the vicinity, in the reign of Charles II; and during the desolation produced in the neighbourhood by the cholera, in 1832, it entirely escaped the contagion. The place is lighted with gas; and on the strand are some neat residences, fronted with gardens, extending to the water's edge.