A Brief History of the Area
The Manor of Northam dates back to the Norman invasion and is well recorded in the Domesday Book, being part of lands owned by a Saxon Lord called Bristric, and this appears to be the first recorded evidence of what was in the area. There is evidence of pre-historic settlements and much evidence during the Saxon era, when Vikings raided the area.
The Village of Northam was probably the main settlement in ancient times, with a smaller one at Appledore and the Village of Westward Ho!, not being formed until the19th Century and is simply described in White’s History, Gazetteer and Directory of Devon (1850)] as “a large and well-built village, pleasantly seated on the peninsula between Barnstaple Bay and the river Torridge, from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 miles North of Bideford.
The population at the 2011 census was 5,427. Its parish comprises about 2700 acres of land, including the pretty little seaport of Appledore and a large plain of turf common, called Northam Burrows, on which the inhabitants have common right.