Appledore Devon Family History Guide
Appledore is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Devon, created in 1841 from Northam Ancient Parish.
Alternative names: Northam St Mary
Other places in the parish include: East Appledore and West Appledore.
Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1844
- Bishop’s Transcripts: None
Nonconformists include: Baptist, Independent/Congregational, Methodist, and Wesleyan Methodist.
Adjacent Parishes
Historical Descriptions
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
APPLEDORE, a seaport village and a chapelry in Northam parish, Devon. The village stands on the bay at the mouths of the rivers Torridge and Taw, 3 miles N of Bideford r. station; and has a head post office, designated Appledore, North Devon. It has pleasant environs, a fine bathing-beach, and good accommodation for strangers; so that it has become an esteemed watering place. It is a sub-port to Bideford; and a number of its inhabitants are engaged in the coasting trade and in dockyards. Hubba, the Dane, landed here in the time of King Alfred, but was taken in the neighbourhood, and put to death. The chapelry includes the village, and was constituted in 1844. Pop., 2,210. Houses, 513. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £150. Patron, the Vicar of Northam. The church is a neat edifice; and there are chapels for Independents, Baptists, and Wesleyans.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
APPLEDORE, a small sea-port town, in the parish of Northam, union of Bideford, hundred of Shebbear, Great Torrington and N. divisions of Devon, 3 miles (N.) from Bideford; containing 2174 inhabitants. This spot is celebrated in history for the many battles between the Saxons and the Danes which took place in the immediate vicinity, more especially for the decisive and important victory obtained by Earl Odun and the men of Devon, over a large army of Danes under the command of Hubba, who, in the reign of Alfred, landed here with thirty-three ships. The invaders were repulsed with great slaughter and the loss of their leader, who, being taken prisoner, was beheaded on a hill in the neighbourhood, on which a stone has been erected to mark the spot, and which still retains the name of Hubberstone hill. The town is pleasantly situated on the shore of Barnstaple bay, and, from its facilities for sea-bathing, the mildness of its climate, and the romantic beauty and variety of the surrounding scenery, has been gradually growing into importance as a favourite watering-place. The beach, which is from two to three miles in length, is a firm level sand, affording an excellent promenade; and there are other agreeable walks and rides in the vicinity. The streets are for the greater part narrow and inconvenient, but leading down to the beach, they are ventilated by a current of pure air; and the atmosphere, impregnated with saline particles from the sea, and softened by the adjacent hills, is considered very favourable for invalids. There is a market well supplied with fish, and with every other kind of provisions. The Burrows, a fine tract of land, on which every inhabitant householder has the right of common, is defended from the sea by an embankment called Pebbleridge, which is nearly two miles in length, 150 feet broad at the base, and considerably higher than high-water mark. The parish church at Northam being about a mile and a half distant, a district church has been lately erected here by subscription, containing 550 sittings, of which 275 are free: the living is a perpetual curacy in the gift of the Vicar, with a net income of £150. There is a place of worship for Independents.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Records
FamilySearch - Birth Marriage & Death Census Migration & Naturalization Military Probate & Court
Historical Newspapers
Western Morning News
Western Times
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette
North Devon Journal
Express and Echo
Maps
Vision of Britain historical maps
Administration
County: Devon
Civil Registration District: Bideford
Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Archdeaconry of Barnstaple
Diocese: Exeter
Rural Deanery: Hartland
Poor Law Union: Bideford
Hundred: Shebbear
Province: Canterbury