Northam, Devon

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Coordinates: 51°02′21″N 4°12′37″W / 51.0393°N 4.2104°W / 51.0393; -4.2104

Northam
Northam Church by Roger A Smith.jpg
Northam Church
Northam is located in Devon
Northam

 Northam shown within Devon
Population 11,632 (2001 est.)[1]
OS grid reference SS450290
District Torridge
Shire county Devon
Region South West
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town BIDEFORD
Postcode district EX39
Dialling code 01237
Police Devon and Cornwall
Fire Devon and Somerset
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England
UK Parliament Torridge and West Devon
List of places: UK • England • Devon

Northam is a small town in Devon, England, lying north of Bideford and south of Westward Ho!. It is thought to have been the site of an Anglo-Saxon castle, and is said to have been where Hubba the Dane attacked Devon and was repelled (perhaps by Alfred the Great or by the Earl of Devon). A little over a mile away along the coast is a town called Appledore. Between the towns of Appledore and Northam, is 'Bloody Corner'. There is a rock called 'Hubba's Rock' which is supposed to be the site where Hubba the Dane was killed by the Anglo-Saxon (or Devonshire) fyrd. Northam is also the place of birth of 'House of Horrors' serial killer Rosemary West.

Contents

[edit] Sport and recreation

Northam has a King George's Field as a memorial to King George V.

[edit] Landscape

Northam Burrows lies adjacent to the Taw Torridge Estuary and is an evocative landscape of saltmarsh and dunes. It is part of the North Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

[edit] Railway

The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway (B,WH&A,R) was most unusual amongst British railways in that although it was built as a standard gauge line it was not joined to the rest of the railway network, despite the London and South Western Railway having a station at Bideford, East-the-Water, meaning on the other side of the River Torridge from the main town.

The line was wholly situated on the peninsular made up of Westward Ho!, Northam and Appledore with extensive sand dunes the Torridge and Taw estuary. Northam station and the line closed in 1917 having been requisitioned by the War Office, and is now used as part of the Tarka Trail cycle route which forms part of the South West Coast Path.

[edit] Bus services

  • First 1/2 - Barntstaple to Westward Ho!/Appledore
  • Stagecoach 21/21A = Barnstaple to Westward Ho!/Appledore

W.Ho Buses serve the square and Sandymeare Rd, Appledore buses serve Leonards Rd, and Atlantic Way.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The people
  • Stuckey, Douglas (1962). The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway 1901-1917. Pub. West Country Publications.

[edit] External links

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