A brief history of Bideford

Today we are going to have a look around the town of Bideford where I live, and see some of the history that made it the town it is today.

[@Batesey117]

Great footage, we came over from Australia for a holiday last year and spent around a week in Devon and we stayed in Bideford. Beautiful township, was really surprised how nice a town it was! Will come back in the future

[@KathysFlog]

Thank you. I loved the short time I lived at East the Water with a great view of the bridge.

[@caravaggiosaccomplice7841]

Great video. Bideford has a terrific atmosphere and the folks are very warm and friendly. The historic C19th cottages are really beautiful too. I hope the town keeps its charm forever.

[@loribee2654]

Great video. It's very true that living here you just don't really think much about it, it's just Bideford, amazing to think what has made our little town what it is today 😁👍

[@stevengiles77]

Yeah absolutely, it's fascinating what you can find out when you start looking into things.

[@jaxville6532]

Born and bred in Bideford, amazing video thank you!!

[@circa77]

Thank you, much appreciated.

[@mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm420]

Fanks. Really enjoyed it.

[@DavidThomas-ge4wv]

Great video and great town. Lived here for six years in the seventies and really miss it. I can't believe I have not walked up Chudleigh Fort yet! Thanks for sharing.

[@circa77]

Thank you, it's surprising what you miss right on your doorstep when you live somewhere, I've only been here about 2 years, and only just learned about the place.

[@NorwayHikesTrails]

Thank you for sharing and wishing you a wonderful weekend.

[@circa77]

Thank you, hope you have a great weekend too.

[@veteranvlogger_swarnajit]

Wonderful video that, you have created. Architectural views of hotels, buildings, landscape are very much beautiful and unbelievable and like to visit and see. Thanks for such a nice video. I liked your Video. SUBSCRIBED to your Channel. Thanks

[@circa77]

Thank you, very much appreciated, I'm glad you enjoyed, it's a very interesting town when you take the time to look around properly.

[@MrJonesy]

Happy days. Worked in Royal Hotel and the amazing Pot Black factory. c1983 Roof Tops Arcade with Wimpy below. Aswad played at Catch22. Knock off ray-bans due to Levi adverts. The Anchor, Black Ketch, Celler Bar under the Gannet. Happy days.

[@colinrichardson4918]

Thanks mate. Really nice video and I learnt a couple of things I never knew despite growing up in Bideford in the 1970's.

[@circa77]

Thanks, much appreciated, and yeah, their is usually always something people never knew about where they grew up. All the best.

[@egorax336]

thank you so much, this video helped me so much with a project

[@PK-ze3oq]

Great video. The cells in the hotel would be amazing to see. The witch house and graveyards would be a good project. Thanks for sharing!

[@circa77]

Yeah, it would be really interesting to see them, where is the witch House ? I have so much more to learn. Thanks again, all the best.

[@PK-ze3oq]

@@circa77 It's up on old town. The pink terrace opposite the fire station/graveyard. There's an info board opposite the house. I think the two graveyards either side of fire station house past communities of different religions (?)

[@circa77]

Ohh awesome, thank you, I will have to go and check that out.

[@TurboTimsWorld]

Thank You xx

[@chairmakerPete]

Have friends living in Appledore, and they always diss Bideford as a run-down place with a drugs problem. I don't know if that's fair, but I'll make a point of visiting next time because it looks just fine to me! (Given all places have their own problems). Thank you. Great vid! 👍

[@circa77]

Yeah, I guess like a lot of places you have the good areas and bad areas, I have seen many people out on the street drinking and smoking weed, but luckily I have never encountered any problems with any people.

[@marlonvero6499]

Great video mate 👍

[@circa77]

Cheers, much appreciated.

[@ChippingfordModelRailway64]

Great video, thanks for sharing. I’m local and it’s so true that most of the history goes unnoticed as we potter around day to day. I do stop on occasion and have a wonder about the old buildings and architecture from time to time. Really like bit about the train station and royal hotel, have you got any more info on this area as I’m really interested in this? I’ve been to the heritage centre and local library to find out for myself, do you know when and why the hotel has 2 rear entrances to the station platform? Subscribed 👍 Cheers Ivi

[@circa77]

Hi, thanks for your comment, and to be honest, I'm not sure about the rear entrance to the hotel, I'm sure I only scratched the surface whilst doing my research on the area, and I'm sure their is plenty more to be found out, I may look into it a little more at some point. Thanks again, all the best.

[@robdon6839]

Hi my name is Rob, and I am a professional archaeologist and historian who has grown up in Bideford. I studied at University of Exeter and UCL Institute of archaeology. Much of my research is focused around Bideford and Torridge District and North Devon in general. I would just like to point out that the name Bideford DOES NOT mean 'by the ford' - the original form of the name is found in an ancient Charter of AD 1172 (before the Domesday Survey) and is as follows: BRIDAFORDES - the name is wholly Saxon. The word '-fordes' does indeed mean 'ford'. The prefix of 'Brida-' is a name, probably that of St. Bridget. The late Peter Christie (RIP) thought that it may simply be a Saxon personal name, however, I pointed out that following Saxon linguistic rules that would have made the word BRIDAFORDA not BRIDAFORDES if that was the case. The ford may have been called Bridget's Ford prior to the Norman Conquest, and especially important for celtic missionaries etc at the time. This may also point to the possible naming of a Nunnery that once stood on the west bank of the Torridge, the remnants of which are still visible, the ancient Saxon name for the River Torridge was 'TORIC' and is also found in two very early charters of around AD 729. This may be the first time that you will have heard of the things that I am telling you, with the possible exception of the Nunnery as this is my own unpublished research, and I had to translate from the latin and Saxon myself , something that no other historian has dared to do for the area. With regard to the Romans... at present there is no hard reliable archaeological or documentary evidence to suggest the presence of Roman military at Bideford. We are just beginning to identify Romanitas in the archaeological record, that is the education of the Iron Age population to become Romano-British. There are a few sites around in North Devon but none identifiable along the River Torridge as yet... I am of the opinion that the Roman's would not have ignored the Taw and Torridge and that sites will come to light in the future. I would be very grateful if you could reference me in any communications or writing where you may mention the Nunnery or the etymology of the name Bideford as this is a requirement for accepted academic discourse. I am really pleased that someone is taking an interest in the history of Bideford... there is a lot more to the story than has been published. Also you may be interested that there is a disappeared village name Bybury on the Torridge Road... I researched this for my BA.

[@robdon6839]

That should have been Torrington Road...

[@badge-masterjay6430]

Lived her 1985 to 1990 should never have left…

[@asrielhuman5067]

I’ve never seen you before 🤔

[@circa77]

I've probably never seen you either haha.