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The land was given by Mr Mallock to the Council as a gift. Corbyn Head was taken over by the Council in March 1907, it had been offered to the town some years earlier but had not been taken up. Local folklore has it, the name Corbyn, is named after Samuel Corbyn who was hanged there as a result of his Piracy to ships around the South West coastline. This has never been proved but information about this is sought and hopefully one day it can be proved or disproved.
Years ago there was an elaborate scheme to prevent further coastal erosion, the extension of the promenade around Corbyn's Head. A Car Park sufficient for 250 cars and even a Torquay Airport was planned which would have given an entirely different look to the coastal stretch between Corbyn Head and Livermead Sands. If these bold and imaginative plans had been seriously considered in 1934, Torquay seafront would have no doubt looked very much different today.
The headland was once wooded but because of Dutch elm disease the trees have disappeared. The remains of an old stone landing pier can be identified just off the beach. This was used hundreds of years ago by Torquay fishermen. Also a sea stack beneath Corbyn Head, shown in many postcard views earlier this Century, had been completely eroded away. Worry not though if you are sitting on one of the many seats, calculations suggest that the area should be safe until at least the 23rd Century.
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