Nestling alongside the River Torridge, Bideford is more than a resort. It is a market town and a port, too, with an active fishing industry. Cargo ships call in to load and unload and the MS Oldenburg, which plies between Bideford and Lundy Island, is often to be seen tied up by the quayside. Bideford being its port.

First mention in the history books of the Quay was in 1619 when there were beaches at the river's edge. As the ship-building trade boomed, the Quay was developed and there are still marker stones in the pavement as a testament to that reconstruction. Sir Walter Raleigh is believed to have brought his first cargo of tobacco to Bideford and the town soon became one of the largest tobacco trading centres of that period.

Local merchants also imported vast quantities of wool during the reign of Charles 1 and had so great a share of the trade with Newfoundland that, in 1699, they sent out more ships than any other in England apart from London and Topsham.

 Spanning the Torridge is Bideford's most notable land (or water) mark, the ancient Long Bridge, with its 24 arches. First built in about 1280 as a pack horse bridge, it gave up its wooden origins centuries ago and, in its current metamorphosis, is a sturdy, stone structure.

The original wooden bridge replaced a ford and it is generally believed that this ford was the source of the town's name (by the ford). It was in the 16th century that a genuine attempt to establish the crossing as a monument of permanence was made.

It was rebuilt in stone and widened, thus taking on the shape which is now familiar today. The bridge is built at a slight angle, perhaps to give it added strength to withstand the forces of the tides. History tells us that in the 13th century there was a chapel at each end one to St Mary the Virgin and the other to All Saints.

 
Charles Kingsley's Statue on The Quay With
The "Wonky Conker" with it's "Helping Hand"

Boats Moored at Bank End In Front Of The
Mist Shrouded Torridge Bridge