Abbotsham
| Abbotsham | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 The parish church, Abbotsham | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SS421262 |
| Location: | 51°-0’49"N, 4°15’7"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Bideford |
| Postcode: | EX39 |
| Local Government | |
Abbotsham is a village in northern Devon. In 2011 it had a recorded population of 489.
It is a little village, with one Post Office and General Store, a primary school, a church and a pub. There is also a village hall. The Big Sheep amusement farm park located in Abbotsham.
History
The area is called Hama in the Domesday Book. The village formed part of the original endowment of Tavistock Abbey in the late tenth century, from which it takes its name. St Helen parish church, originally built by the Normans, was rebuilt in the thirteenth century and features many carved statues and bench-ends.[1]
A mile to the north of the village is Kenwith Castle, built c1760 in the Georgian Gothic style and now part of a retirement complex with 31 stand alone bungalows and sheltered accommodation.[2]
Abbotsham Road Station
Abbotsham once had its own railway station at Abbotsham Road on the Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway, which was built entirely on this peninsula with no direct connection across the River Torridge to the British railway network. The locomotives were furnished with skirts to protect pedestrians as at one point the line ran along the quay at Bideford. The line had eleven halts which largely served visitors visiting the coast or travelling to swim off the beaches around Westward Ho!. The railway, authorised in 1896, was opened as far as Northam by 1901 and to Appledore in 1908. It closed in 1917.[3]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Abbotsham) |
References
- ↑ Abbotsham Community
- ↑ Kenwith Castle - British Listed Buildings
- ↑ Stuckey, Douglas (1962). The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway 1901-1917. Pub. West Country Publications.