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River

River Exe

88 km from source to mouth · United Kingdom.

United KingdomUnited KingdomFlows into English Channel

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouthExeter
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

88km

Average flow

16m³/s

Basin

1,500km²

Drop

120m

from 119 m to -1 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

88 km of river and 18 stops on the way: 7 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

119 m-1 m
Sourceat 119 m0 km
Dulverton1,052 people9 km
Cove Bridge27 km
Tiverton22,291 people39 km
Silverton1,494 people55 km
River Culmtributary70 km
Exeter130,709 people77 km
English Channelat -1 m88 km
020406088 km
  1. 0 kmSourceat 119 m
  2. 9 kmDulverton1,052 people
  3. 27 kmCove Bridge
  4. 30 kmIron Bridge over River Exe
  5. 39 kmTiverton22,291 people
  6. 48 kmBickleigh Bridge
  7. 55 kmSilverton1,494 people
  8. 70 kmRiver Culmtributary
  9. 77 kmExeter130,709 people
  10. 77 kmWall of Larkbeare House Fronting the River
  11. 79 kmHeavitree22,000 people
  12. 84 kmExminster3,368 people
  13. 85 kmExe viaduct
  14. 86 kmTopsham4,146 people
  15. 86 kmTopsham Lock
  16. 86 kmTopsham Lock Cottage
  17. 87 kmTopsham Quay
  18. 88 kmExe Estuary
  19. 88 kmRiver Creedytributary
  20. 88 kmEnglish Channelat -1 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in the United Kingdom

At the mouth it carries 16 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 157 seconds. It drops from 119 m to -1 m, 1.4 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 1,500 km², about the size of GP. 193,000 people live in it. Highest water: from December to January; lowest: from June to July. Its dams hold back little of its water (2.1% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

  • ExeterLargest city on its banks · 130,709 people
  • Exeter International Airport (EXT)Nearest airport with scheduled flights, 8 km from the cityCar hire at EXT airport (Exeter, Devon)Discover Cars · Affiliate link
  • On the water18 ferry piers, marinas, boat rentals and boat ramps along the river (OpenStreetMap)
  • Kayak and canoe1 put-ins and rapids mapped (OpenStreetMap)
  • From June to SeptemberThe best months to visit

River Exe, month by month

Highest water: from December to January

Lowest water: from June to July. Best months to visit: from June to September.

62
4°100 mmJan
51
5°77 mmFeb
38
6°69 mmMar
24
9°53 mmApr
19
11°60 mmMay
13
15°52 mmJun
11
16°52 mmJul
15
16°65 mmAug
22
14°71 mmSep
35
10°86 mmOct
46
7°89 mmNov
57
5°100 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 11 m³/s in the lowest month to 62 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Car hire at EXT airport (Exeter, Devon)Discover CarsSee 

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

River Exe: the basin in numbers

1,243 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Lightly regulatedReservoirs can hold 2.1% of a year's flow.
  • 193,000people live in the basin
  • 155/km²people per km²
  • 182maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,076mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 9.2°Caverage air temperature
  • 30%protected areas
  • 0.1%covered by lakes
  • 0.0km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 28% Cropland
  • 46% Pasture
  • 5% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

River Exe: what you find on the way

  • 42WeirsSalmonponds Weir, Pynes Weir, Head Weir and 39 more
  • 6Locks
  • 1Canoe put-ins
  • 10Boat ramps
  • 8Ferry piersExeter Quay and 7 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.3 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

River Exe in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 5beaches at the mouth and on the banksCoastya
  • 6mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Beaches (5)

At the mouth (25 km) and on the banks, by Coastya

  1. Oddicombe Beach22 km away16.5°C
  2. Babbacombe Beach22 km away16.5°C
  3. Smugglers Cove17 km away · cove16.7°C
  4. Mackerel Cove19 km away · cove16.7°C
  5. Blackaller's Cove19 km away · cove16.7°C

Open Coastya ↗

Mountains at the source (6)

Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

  1. Dunkery Beacon14 km away520m
  2. Wind Hill7.8 km away261m
  3. Holdstone Down14 km away
  4. Five Burrows Hill5.0 km away
  5. Culbone Hill9.6 km away
  6. Staddon Hill14 km away

Open Peakyas ↗

From space

The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

River Exe: satellite view of the source
The source14 km across
River Exe: satellite view of the mouth
The mouth10 km across

Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

Photos

River Exe in pictures

ExeEstuaryAtPowderham
Stephen Lea · CC BY-SA 3.0

Tributaries

Where it flows, and what flows into it

Tributaries (5)

Also: River Culm, River Barle, River Creedy, River Haddeo, River Batherm

Nearby

Rivers nearby

River TamarUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom98 km50 m³/s58 km awayRiver SevernUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom354 km110 m³/s134 km awayRiver WyeUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom215 km100 m³/s118 km awayRiver AvonUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom96 km56 m³/s121 km awayRiver AvonUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom154 km31 m³/s172 km awayRiver ThamesUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom334 km66 m³/s278 km awaySeineFranceFrance777 km500 m³/s313 km awayVireFranceFrance128 km13 m³/s225 km away

Where these numbers come from

Name, length, placesWikidata (Q1238790) · CC0
Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed from the source to the mouth given by Wikidata
FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
Our other atlasesCoastya, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

The family

Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit