Bideford - The Heart of North Devon

Bideford Town - Stay in town and discover North Devon

It is Bidefords' good fortune that the elements tend to smile on North Devon. You may have to contend with a bracing breeze, laced with the salt of the nearby sea, but, by English standards, it is an enviable place to live and work. And, of course, this is not lost upon the thousands of visitors who return each year to enjoy the charm and character of the town and district.

It has been said, somewhat uncharitably, that the majority of people who come to Bideford are in their middle years…yet the tourism figures show it is a particular favourite with families, indeed all age groups. And that is, perhaps, not surprising when you consider the “season” here lasts eight months of the year. Do not be misled by the town’s Victorian facade. It is a perky little town, steeped in history, true, but fully alive to the modern needs of today’s tourists.
Bideford is ideally positioned for touring North Devon. Around the town, within easy driving distance, lie numerous places of interest including Westward Ho! beach, Atlantic Village Shopping Mall and the picturesque fihing village of Clovelly - just to name a few of the local attractions.

The Royal Hotel

Few buildings in Bideford can boast such an historically interesting and varied career as this hotel at the east end of the Long Bridge. In 1698, the premises were built as the Colonial Buildings by a wealthy merchant, John Davie, as his private residence. In time it became the town’s workhouse, prison, and now, finally, an hotel. Within the building there are panelled rooms with moulded plaster ceilings, ornamented with foliage, figures of cherubs, festoons of fruit and flowers, serpents and birds. There is a magnificent oak staircase which leads up to the Kingsley drawing room, where, it is said, Charles Kingsley wrote part of Westward Ho!

In more recent years, the building has had a wider sphere of importance. In its “Green Room” is to be found the official plaque of “Combined Operations”, recording the fact that many far-reaching decisions were made there by officers during World War II. In 1949, a plaque was also placed on the building commemorating its origins as the Colonial Building.