Teignmouth is not mentioned in the Domesday Survey, but in 1276 what is now West Teignmouth appears as a mesne borough held by the dean and chapter of Exeter; what is now East Teignmouth continuing with the bishop, who was accused in that year of holding in his manor a market which should be held in the borough.
The bishop's manor was alienated in 1550 to Sir Andrew Dudley, but West Teignmouth remained with the dean and chapter until early in the 19th century.
But the dean and chapter objected to the absence of a structural choir, nave and aisles, and wished to follow the medieval cathedral arrangement.
The dean and chapter of Canterbury have held possession of it ever since the Dissolution.
The archbishop holds a visitation of his diocese personally every three years, and he is the only diocesan who has kept up the triennial visitation of the dean and chapter of his cathedral.'
