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Croyde | |
---|---|
Croyde | |
Location within Devon | |
Population | 614 [1] |
OS grid reference | SS4439 |
Civil parish | |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BRAUNTON |
Postcode district | EX33 |
Dialling code | 01271 |
Police | Devon and Cornwall |
Fire | Devon and Somerset |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
Croyde is a village on the west-facing coastline of North Devon, England. The village lies on the South West Coast Path near Baggy Point, which is owned by the National Trust. It lies within the North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Croyde village and its beach is on the Bristol Channel.The beach faces westwards toward the Atlantic Ocean which begins at Hartland Point some 22 miles in the distance.
Croyde Stream runs through the village, eventually leading to the beach. The centre of the village is roughly at the intersection of Hobbes' Hill, Jones' Hill and St. Mary's Road. At this spot, Croyde Bridge carries the road over the stream.
Public services are provided by the North Devon District Council (NDDC) based in Barnstaple. The village is in the civil parish of Georgeham, and for ecclesiastical purposes within the Diocese of Exeter.
The village has several small campsites, a small retail area and two large holiday parks; Croyde Bay Holiday Resort (operated by UNISON) and Ruda Holiday Park, operated by Parkdean Resorts.
The past 30 years have seen large increases in younger-age visitors developing around surfing. The impact of tourism on the village has been varied. Some local landowners have benefited from the increased property prices. Tourism has helped to create jobs that were lost in agriculture. Local farming has declined, with former farmland converted into caravan sites and fields for seasonal camping. Like many seaside villages, the phenomenon of second homes has pushed house prices beyond the reach of most local people. There is little year-round employment, because tourism is seasonal, and most businesses are closed out of season.
Since 1999, Croyde has hosted an annual surfing and music festival (GoldCoast Oceanfest) on the weekend closest to the summer solstice.
Croyde has also benefitted from the 'street food revolution,' being the hometown of Lola's Wings, which has a pitch there, and other visiting street food trucks and trailers.
During the summer season, an outdoor market is held every Tuesday in a field off Moor Lane, past Ruda Holiday Park and heading towards Baggy Point.
Croyde supposedly takes its Celtic name from the Viking raider Crydda. However, others have speculated that as the word is similar to the Cornish word 'Curd' that describes the geographical position of the village resting amongst a cradle of hills, it could also have taken its name from this. There is evidence of a settlement that dates before the Saxon Period though, so the correct name is unclear.
Croyde is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Crideholde / Crideholda: Erchenbald from Robert, Count of Mortain. 11 cattle and 100 sheep were recorded in the Domesday Book at Crideholde / Crideholda (Croyde) in 1086.
In the Medieval Period, there was a market sited at Croyde, most likely near the centre of the village where Jones' Hill, Hobbs' Hill, and St Mary's Road meet.
During World War II, in 1943, the hamlet was commandeered by American soldiers who practised manoeuvres for the D-day landings. Most training took place on Saunton Sands/Braunton Burrows. After the war, Croyde returned to being a predominantly holiday resort.
In the 60s, about 150M south east of Withywell Lane, a Royal Observer Corps (ROC) bunker was constructed due to rising tensions with the Soviet Union and the need to watch the skies all over the UK for Soviet planes and or nuclear bombs / missiles. The bunker was disbanded in the 90s after the end of the Cold War and now sits in disrepair.
Croyde has an Anglican church, St Mary Magdalene, and a Baptist chapel [2] which is open on Sundays at 11 am. [3]
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The nearest railway station is Barnstaple, 10 miles (16 km) away. From Monday to Saturday, there is an hourly bus service to Croyde from Barnstaple, with a two-hour frequency on Sundays.
Road transport from the M5 motorway is 47 miles (76 km) via the A361 trunk road.
Ferry services operate between Ilfracombe, roughly around 10–20 miles away, and Lundy Island.
The nearest airport to the village is Exeter International Airport, the second-closest being Bristol International.
Croyde has no education resources in the village. Children have access to Georgeham Primary School; secondary education is provided by Braunton Academy.
The sandy 875-yard (800 m) beach, which as of 2022, holds 'Blue Flag' status, lies at the back of the sheltered Croyde Bay. A large dune system has formed past the high-tide mark. Sand underlies the land surface between the beach and the centre of Croyde village, 600 yards (550 m) to the east. The beach forms the middle section of a trio of sandy beaches north of the Taw Estuary. Three-and-three-quarter-mile-long (6.0 km) Saunton Sands is 2⁄3 mile (1.1 km) to the south, and 1.8-mile-long (2.9 km) Woolacombe Sands, divided into Putsborough and Woolacombe beaches, is 0.93 miles (1.50 km) to the north. Barbecues and contained fires are not permitted on Croyde beach.
Croyde is used for surfing; the rides are generally short as the waves tend to pitch up and break quickly. There is a point break off Down End. There is a reef break at the northern (Baggy Point) end of the beach that works for about 60 minutes during some high tides. The shape of the bay funnels waves towards the beach. The beach is also steeper than either Woolacombe, Putsborough or Saunton Sands. Due to this, rip currents are extremely strong especially near the rocks at either end of the beach or at low tide, even when there is only a small swell. These currents present danger to the strongest of swimmers. Any bathing should be done within the lifeguard-patrolled area. The break is very compact at low tide, resulting in many injuries.
The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for 630 miles (1,014 km), running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more challenging trails. The total height climbed has been calculated to be 114,931 ft (35,031 m), almost four times the height of Mount Everest. It has been voted 'Britain's Best Walking route' twice in a row by readers of The Ramblers' Walk magazine, and regularly features in lists of the world's best walks.
Braunton is a large village, civil parish, ecclesiastical parish and former manor in Devon. The village is situated 5 miles (8 km) west of Barnstaple. It is one of the largest villages in Devon with a population at the 2021 census of 10,217 people. There are two electoral wards. Their joint population at the above census was 8,218. Within the parish is the fertile, low-lying Braunton Great Field, which adjoins the undulating Braunton Burrows, the Core Area in North Devon Biosphere Reserve, the largest psammosere in England. It confronts the Atlantic Ocean at the west of the parish at the large beach of Saunton Sands, one of the South West's international-standard surfing beaches.
Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides access from the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford, and Bude. It lies at the south end of Northam Burrows and faces westward into Bideford Bay, opposite Saunton Sands and Braunton Burrows. There is an electoral ward with the same name. The population at the 2011 census was 2,112.
Instow is a village in north Devon, England. It is on the estuary where the rivers Taw and Torridge meet, between the villages of Westleigh and Yelland and on the opposite bank to Appledore. There is an electoral ward with the same name. The ward's total population at the 2011 census was 1,501.
Camber Sands is a beach in East Sussex, England, in the village of Camber, near Rye. It is the only sand dune system in East Sussex, and is east of the estuary of the River Rother at Rye Bay stretching 3 miles (4.8 km) to just beyond the Kent border, where shingle and pebbles take over again. It is one of three stretches of non-tidally submerged sand east of Poole Bay on England's south coast, the others being West Wittering and Avon Beach. Two holiday resorts near Camber Sands are owned by Pontins and Parkdean Resorts just off New Lydd Road and Lydd Road respectively in the adjoining village of Camber.
Saunton is a village located approximately two miles from Braunton on the North Devon coast in the South West of England.
Braunton Burrows is a sand dune system on the North Devon coast. It is privately owned and forms part of the Christie Devon Estates Trust. Braunton Burrows is a prime British sand dune site, the largest sand dune system (psammosere) in England. It is particularly important ecologically because it includes the complete successional range of dune plant communities, with over 470 vascular plant species. The short turf communities are very rich in lichens and herbs, and the dune slacks are also rich. The many rare plants and animals include 14 with UK Biodiversity Action Plans. For example, this is one of only two sites in the UK for the Amber Sandbowl Snail Catinella arenaria, which is found on the wet dune slacks.
Woolacombe is a seaside resort on the coast of North Devon, England, which lies at the mouth of a valley in the parish of Mortehoe. The beach is 2 miles (3.2 km) long, sandy, gently sloping and faces the Atlantic Ocean near the western limit of the Bristol Channel.
Mortehoe is a village and former manor on the north coast of Devon, England. It lies 10 miles north-west of Barnstaple, near Woolacombe and Lee Bay, and is sited in a valley within the hilly sand-dune-like land behind Morte Point, almost directly above Woolacombe. The parish population at the 2011 census was 1,637.
The North Devon Football League is a football competition based in England, established in 1904. The top division of this league, the Premier Division, operates at level 12 of the English football league system and has been a feeder to the Devon Football League since 2019, and previously, the South West Peninsula League. The North Devon Gazette sponsors the league and so the full, sponsored name of the league is the North Devon Gazette Football League.
Putsborough is a hamlet in Georgeham Civil Parish on the west-facing coast of North Devon, England. It is about 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) north of the village of Croyde and 1 mile (1.6 km) west-northwest of the village of Georgeham. 0.5 miles (0.8 km) north of the hamlet is Putsborough Sands, which forms the southern part of the two-mile-long (3 km) beach of Woolacombe Sand on Morte Bay.
Saunton Sands is a beach near the English village of Saunton on the North Devon coast near Braunton, popular for longboard surfing. Beyond its southern end, Crow Point, England is the mouth of the River Taw estuary. It is part of the Taw-Torridge estuary Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is at the centre of the UNESCO-designated North Devon's Biosphere Reserve, where Braunton Burrows lies at the heart.
Georgeham is a village and civil parish near Croyde, in North Devon. The appropriate electoral ward is termed Georgeham and Mortehoe with total population at the 2011 census of 3,748. Georgeham is a historic village lying close to some of the most dramatic beaches of the North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which are flanked by the rocky headlands of Baggy Point and Saunton Down, although there are no views of the sea or coastline from the village itself. The character of the village is typically rural. The majority of the historic development in the village is east and south-west of the church. The village is also characterized by thatched cottages arranged in an irregular fashion along narrow lanes. There is a Victorian village school, a medieval church and two 17th Century public houses, the main one in the middle of the village, The King's Arms, and another one up a small lane, The Rock.
Braunton Academy is a coeducational secondary school with academy status in Braunton, North Devon, England. The school specialises in mathematics and computing.
The North Devon Coast is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Devon, England, designated in September 1959. The AONB contributes to a family of protected landscapes in the Southwest of England and a total of 38% of the region is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as Category V Protected Landscapes. The twelve Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty extend to 30% of the region, twice the proportion covered by AONBs in England as a whole and a further two National Parks, Dartmoor and Exmoor, cover an additional 7%.
Baggy Point is a headland in north Devon, England. It separates Croyde Bay and Morte Bay which includes the beaches of Woolacombe and Putsborough.
Kingsley School Bideford is a co-educational private day and boarding school in Bideford, Devon, England. The school was founded in 1884 as Edgehill College, and merged with Grenville College in 2009 to form Kingsley.
Bideford Bay, also known as Barnstaple Bay and often shown on maps as Barnstaple or Bideford Bay, is a large area of water on the northwest coast of Devon in South West England, at the southwestern end of the Bristol Channel where it joins the Celtic Sea. The bay extends from Hartland Point in the southwest to Baggy point the northeast, and is partly sheltered by the island of Lundy, 12 miles (19 km) offshore. It takes its alternative names from the towns of Bideford and Barnstaple, located respectively on the rivers Torridge and Taw which flow into the bay. The alternative spelling Barnstable Bay, in use long after that spelling became obsolete for the town, is also sometimes seen.
Morte Bay is a bay on the northwest coast of Devon in southwest England. It stretches from Whiting Hole about 500m north of Baggy Point in the south to Morte Point in the north. At the back of the bay is a long stretch of beach known as Woolacombe Sand though that southern section of the beach which is in the parish of Georgeham is known as Putsborough Sand. The village of Woolacombe is at the northeastern corner of the bay. To its south are the hills of Woolacombe Down and Pickwell Down which provide an eastern backdrop to the beach and the wider bay. The South West Coast Path and Tarka Trail follow the coast around the bay. The cliffs on the northern side of the bay are formed from the Morte Slates whilst those on the southern side are formed from the Upcott Slates. Underlying the bay itself and forming the higher ground to its east are the Pickwell Down Sandstones.
Pickwell is a small settlement with a converted manor house in the civil parish of Georgeham, in the North Devon district, in the county of Devon, England.