Beatrix Potter was a frequent visitor to Sidmouth in the early twentieth century, visiting in March 1899, April 1901, April 1902, September 1904 and Easter 1910.

Holidays and visits to relatives were a regular feature of the Potter family’s years, and as a child and young woman, Beatrix would accompany her parents on several visits and holidays each year.

While holidaying in Devon, Beatrix Potter took the opportunity to make watercolours and sketches of the landscapes she saw, which she used later as a reference when creating the fictional town of “Stymouth” for her 1930 book “Little Pig Robinson”. One of her watercolours shows a view of Sidmouth beach, which, unusually for Potter, features people as part of the picture. It was painted in 1902, just a few months after she printed a small second edition of her first, and most popular book “Peter Rabbit”.

Beatrix Potter’s time holidaying in the South-West in the late 19th century inspired her to write “Little Pig Robinson”, one of her longer stories. The story serves as a sequel to Edward Lear’s poem “The Owl and the Pussycat” and tells of the way the pig living in “the land where the Bong tree grows” came to live on this island. The beginning of the book is set in the “pretty little” seaside town of “Stymouth” – a fictional amalgamation of Sidmouth, Teignmouth and Lyme Regis. The book was criticised for being too long but was popular when it was published in 1930 and was reprinted several times.