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 and electoral ward named Northam exists, not covering Westward Ho!. in Devon, England, lying north of Bideford and east of Westward Ho!. A little over a mile away along the coast is a village called Appledore. The population at the 2011 census was 5,427.[2]
History
Northam is thought to have been the site of an Anglo-Saxon castle, and the area between Northam and Appledore is said to have been where the Danish viking Ubba (or Hubba) was repelled (perhaps by Alfred the Great or by the Earl of Devon). This is commemorated in local place names like Bloody Corner and Hubba's Rock (or Hubbleston), which is supposed to be the site where Ubba was killed.[3]
In 1832 a meeting was held in Northam to protest an attempt by Augustus Saltren-Willett, lord of the manor, to take ownership of the commons of Northam Burrows.[4]
Royal North Devon Golf Club was formed at Northam Burrows in 1864; its course is the oldest on its original site in England.[5]
Between 1901 and 1917, the town and golf course were served by Northam railway station.
Northam Burrows
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI),[6] Northam Burrows is a saltmarsh and dune landscape, adjacent to the Torridge Estuary.
It is part of the North Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, sits within the North Devon Biosphere, and .
It is also home to the oldest golf course in England, the Royal North Devon Golf Club.
Sport and recreation
Northam has a King George's Field as a memorial to King George V.
Torridge Pool, off Churchill Way, has lane and learner pools but despite the name, it has a wider role as a leisure centre with gym and sauna.
Facilities
Northam has a public library. This burned down in 2005 destroying the building and 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.[7] The public library was threatened with closure in 2014 due to cuts in the County's budget.[8]
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
- Stagecoach 19 = Barnstaple to Appledore
W.Ho! Buses serve the Square, Sandymere Rd and Atlantic Way. Appledore buses serve Lenards Rd and Churchill Way.
Footnotes
- ↑ "Bideford & Northam profile" (PDF). Devon County Council. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
- ↑ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 16 February 2015.
- ↑ Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, London, pp.564-5, biography of Lethbridge, Christopher, p.565
- ↑ North Devon Journal
- ↑ Dowell, Phil, The English Golf Coast, Melrose Books, 2006, ISBN 1-905226-43-8.
- ↑ Northam Burrows SSSI
- ↑ "Missing title". The Times. 17 July 2005.
- ↑ http://www.northdevonjournal.co.uk/Friends-Northam-Library-fight-continues/story-22289386-detail/story.html
References
Stuckey, Douglas (1962). The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway 1901-1917. Pub. West Country Publications.
