History - Bideford

The historic market town of Bideford, known internationally for it's massive New Years Eve celebrations, is full of maritime and local history and experienceDevon’s tailor-made itineraries take you off the beaten track, to experience English heritage and the adventures of Sir Richard Grenville and the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island. Today, Bideford is a taste of old England and much of its history is waiting to be explored.

"Everyone who knows Bideford cannot but know Bideford Bridge for its very soul..... around which the town, as a body, has organised itself..."(Charles Kingsley)

Bideford Long Bridge spans the rapid flowing River Torridge. It dates from Medieval times and has 24 arches, all of different sizes. The original bridge, begun c1280, was made of oak and had a chapel at each end. Tradition has it that Bishop Quivel of Exeter was granted indulgences to raise the money for its cost. Loose stone was placed around the timber footings, forming scour protection known as stirling, some of which is still visible today. Later additions have included widening the bridge to provide a footpath. In Victorian times stone parapets were replaced with cast iron and these were, in turn, replaced with masonry in the 1920's. The Burton Art Gallery houses a particularly detailed scale model of the bridge through the ages. The Gallery also has an oak beam from the original Bideford bridge which was discovered during repairs to the later, stone bridge.

Bideford dates back to Roman times and was a place of trade in the 13th century and still is so today, with the regular Pannier markets and trade in ball clay from ships on the quay. In the 16th century, Sir Richard Grenville’s lead helped the town to prosper with its rise in trade with the ‘new world’. In the early 17th and 18th centuries, enterprising merchants, plus the expansion of the fishery, helped the continued rise of Bideford as a port. Bideford pottery was exported to Wales, Ireland and the American colonies in the 17th and early 18th centuries, contributing to prosperity. Hundreds of potters kept the industry going over three centuries.

After 1855, the railway enabled travel to other ports to take emigrants on steamships, as well as for the movement of freight and goods. Tourism expanded after Charles Kingsley’s book ‘Westward Ho!’ and the arrival of the railway that brought people to see the ‘little white town’. By the early 1960’s rail traffic had declined and the car, lorry and bus were taking over. The Barnstaple to Torrington line is now part of the Tarka trail and has been given over to cycling and walking, as a slow and peaceful way to enjoy the countryside.

Today Bideford can be explored on foot, following the Heritage Trail. Many examples of architecture date back from the 13th century, including the Long Bridge, St Mary’s Church, the Pannier Market, old Customs House and narrow winding streets full of history. The historic schooner the ‘Kathleen and May’ is moored in Bideford. It is the last remaining wooden-hulled, three-masted top sail schooner in the world.