River Exe
The River Exe ( EKS) in England rises at Exe Head, near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, 8.4 kilometres (5 mi) from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south (English Channel) coast of Devon. Historically, its lowest bridging point was at Exeter, though there is now a viaduct for the M5 motorway about 3 kilometres (2 mi) south of the city centre.
Topography
The river's name is an anglicisation of the Latin isca, itself a modified form of a Brittonic root meaning "water" or, more exactly, "abounding in fish". (The same root separately developed into the English Axe and Esk, the Welsh Usk, and the Scottish whisky.) It seems to be a cognate of pysg (pl. of pysgod), the Welsh word for 'fish'. The river gave the name of Exeter ("fortress on the Exe") and many other settlements along its course, including Exford, Up Exe, Nether Exe, Exwick, Exton, Exminster, and Exebridge, where it is joined by the River Barle. The seaside town of Exmouth is at the east side of the estuary mouth, and Dawlish Warren is at the west, with its long sand spit extending across the mouth.