Northam, Devon
| Northam | |
 Northam Church |
|
  Northam |
|
| Population | 7,489 (2011)[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 |
Coordinates: 51°02′21″N 4°12′37″W / 51.0393°N 4.2104°W
Northam is a small town in Devon, England, lying north of Bideford and east 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' where is a rock called 'Hubba's Rock' (or 'Hubbleston'[2]) which is supposed to be the site where Hubba the Dane was killed by the Anglo-Saxon (or Devonshire) fyrd. An electoral ward exists not covering Westward Ho!.The population at the 2011 census was 5,427.[3]
Sport and recreation
Northam has a King George's Field as a memorial to King George V.
Facilities
Northam has a public library. This burned down in 2005 destroying the building an 90% of the books, in a fire believed to have been caused by the action of a hands-free magnifier on a pile of leaflets.[4] The public library was threatened with closure in 2014 due to cuts in the County's budget.[5]
Landscape
Northam Burrows lies adjacent to the 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) It is also home to the oldest golf course in England, the Royal North Devon Golf Club.
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 peninsula 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
- Stagecoach 21/21A = Barnstaple to Westward Ho!/Appledore
W.Ho! Buses serve the Square, Sandymere Rd and Atlantic Way. Appledore buses serve Lenards Rd and Churchill Way.
History
In 1832 a packed meeting in Northam was held to protest at the attempt by Augustus Willett, Lord of the Manor, to take over Northam Burrows.[6]
References
- ↑ "Bideford & Northam profile" (PDF). Devon County Council. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- ↑ Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, London, pp.564-5, biography of Lethbridge, Christopher, p.565
- ↑ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 16 February 2015.
- ↑ "Missing title". The Times. 17 July 2005.
- ↑ http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/Friends-Northam-Library-fight-continues/story-22289386-detail/story.html
- ↑ North Devon Journal
- Stuckey, Douglas (1962). The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway 1901-1917. Pub. West Country Publications.
External links
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