Northam, Devon

Northam
Northam Church
Northam  Northam shown within Devon
Population	7,489 (2011)
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 Village called Appledore. Between the Villages 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.

Sport and recreation

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

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, sits within the North Devon Biosphere, and is a SSSI (Northam Burrows SSSI)

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.

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.

References

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

External links

• Northam at the Open Directory Project
• Northam Town Council
• Torridge District Council
• North Devon AONB website