A blue plaque is to be unveiled in Teignmouth later this month to at the site of the former Morgan Giles shipyard to celebrate one of the greatest maritime designers of the 20th Century.

The plaque, at Leander Court on The Strand in Teignmouth, will be unveiled on July 22; exactly 104 years after Francis Morgan Giles bought the site to relocate his successful yacht design and building business to the southwest coast.

The Morgan Giles Teignmouth shipyard operated from 1920 to 1968 and produced over 1000 vessels including cruising and racing yachts, dinghies, motor cruisers and World War 2 Admiralty ships. The vessels were sold all over the world and many are still sailed today.

The site was redeveloped in the 1980s into two apartment blocks, Morgans Quay and Leander Quay and is now owned by Firstport Retirement Property Services Ltd.