Kingswear shares with the Port of Brixham a small peninsula with the Channel to the East and the River Dart to the West. The main part of Kingswear is the Village situated on the river bank around Darthaven Marina, and consists of about 250 houses, three pubs, the village shop, the post office and a small bistro. A mile away towards Torquay is a relatively new development at Hillhead. On the Dart there are various hamlets which form a part of Kingswear, Galmpton Creek, the National Trust gardens of Greenway where Agatha Christie once lived, Maypool, Noss and Hoodown Hill.

On the East side of the peninsula are the beautiful Coleton Fishacre house and gardens, built for the D’Oyly Cartes, another National Trust property, close to several farms and the historic Day Mark which dominates the harbour mouth, a tall tower built in the 19th century to guide arriving vessels.

Kingswear’s Church, St. Thomas of Canterbury, was originally built in honour of Thomas A Becket, rebuilt In 1847, but still containing an interesting ancient font and a tomb top. Kingswear is proud of its two halls, the Village Hall built in 1928, overlooking Darthaven and the Sarah Roope Trust Room provided by a local benefactor, Miss Roope in the late 18th century.

At the river mouth Kingswear Castle has been renovated and available as a holiday home. It is said to have been built by Henry VIII shortly before the matching Dartmouth Castle was erected. Four ferries cross the Dart from Kingswear. In the North the is a passenger ferry running between Greenway and the village of Dittisham. Another passenger ferry crosses the river from close to The Square to Dartmouth every 15 minutes. The Lower Car Ferry between the Square and Dartmouth is propelled by a tug lashed alongside the car float. Another car ferry, a paddle steamer, carries cars approachlng by the A 379
road to Dartmouth. During the last war the Royal Dart Hotel was requisitioned as H.M.S. Cicala, HQ of Coastal In the South West, allegedly sunk by “Lord Haw Haw” and which
controlled the activities of British and French coastal force flotillas.