Facing you to the left is the Town Hall,
The Corporation, as it was then called was formed in 1574 and replaced in 1836 by the first properly elected Council. Initially this Council met in an old building on the site immediately opposite which today houses the Bridge Building.
Although the Town Hall is in “Early Tudor” style it was opened in 1851, the style being chosen to commemorate Bideford’s glorious Elizabethan past. The Town Hall was extended in 1906 when the Council purchased a chemist shop sited on the corner, the shop was removed – along with a number of skeletons thought to be those of French Prisoners of War!
|
|
|
To the right is the Tavern in the Port occupying a prominent corner site that used to house a building called “Old Place” that was possibly the town house of Sir Richard Greenville.
Sir Richard Grenville
Sir Richard Grenville was a leading Elizabethan sailor and entrepreneur and his achievements make him as important as his cousins Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake. He was a driving force for change and growth and obtained a charter for the town in 1574, playing a major role in the transformation of Bideford from a small fishing port into a significant trading centre.
He was also a great adventurer and amongst his many exploits he probably established the first English colony in North America. In 1587 he sailed with English settlers and established a colony on Roanoke Island, off the coast of modern North Carolina. In 1590 when an English ship returned to Roanoke they found the colony deserted and no clue as to what had happened to the settlers. This was the beginning of the still unanswered question of what had become of Colony”. Currently research is underway to try and establish DNA links that would prove that the first English colonists came from Bideford and North Devon.
Sir Richard fought alongside Sir Francis Drake in the wars against Spain and died a hero’s death in 1591 aged 48, when, although he could have escaped, he chose to stand with a single ship and face fifty three Spanish ships. His crew fought off the Spanish for 12 hours badly damaging 15 galleons but eventually they were overwhelmed and several days later he died of his wounds.
Take the lane between the Town Hall and the Tavern in the Port public house into Church Walk.
Next...
This work Copyright © by Bideford 500 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
