The second reason for the early settlement of Bideford is that at this point the Torridge formed a natural sheltered harbour opening into the estuary and the Bristol Channel.
In the early days of the “port” ships would simply have been grounded on the sloping bed of the river and offloaded onto the river bank,
About 75 metres from the Long Bridge, near the Kings Arms public house there is a marker in the pavement showing the southern end of the Old Quay in 1663. At that time the area between the Bridge and the marker consisted of buildings with gardens running down to the river effectively blocking direct access from the Bridge to the town.
Since then the Quay has been widened, extended and raised several times significantly changing the location of the river bank.
|
|
|
|
Next... |
|
