River Exe 3.35

The River Exe in England rises at Exe Head, near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, 8.4km from the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It flows for 60 miles (96 km) and 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 3km south of the city centre.TopographyThe river's name derives from *Iska, a Common Brittonic root meaning "water" or "abounding in fish", and a cognate of pysg the plural word for "fish" in Welsh. The same root separately developed into the English Axe and Esk, the Welsh Usk, and the Scottish whisky.