Newsletters
August 2023 Summer Newsletter from Way of the Wharves
https://mailchi.mp/abbfcfcffe36/april-newsletter-from-way-of-the-wharves-8146801
April 2023 Spring Update from Way of the Wharves
https://mailchi.mp/019c2850250b/april-newsletter-from-way-of-the-wharves
January 2023 New Year Update from Award Winning Way of the Wharves
https://mailchi.mp/90fd6803b6a5/january-2023-new-year-update-from-way-of-the-wharves
October 2022 Update from Award Winning Way of the Wharves
July 2022 update from Way of the Wharves
May 2022 update from Way of the Wharves
March 2022 update from Way of the Wharves
New Year 2022 and update from Way of the Wharves
October 2021 update from Way of the Wharves
September 2021 update from Way of the Wharves
August 2021 update from Way of the Wharves
Publications
Walk the Wharves Self Guided Heritage Trail Guide
Copies available free in Tourist Information, The Burton, Walter Henry’s and other outlets. Map link
Article: ‘Wool, wharves and water’ December 2022
Part of this article previously published in Devon Life 2022
Book: ‘ A History of East-the-Water, Bideford’ December 2021
‘A History of East-the-Water, Bideford’, received the Local History Society Award in the Devon History Society Book of the Year 2022.
Much that has been written about Bideford’s past has touched upon the story of East- the-Water. Despite the long history of the wharves and their commercial importance to the local area, this is the first book to focus on their history.
After introducing East-the-Water, the wharves and their place on the Torridge Estuary, the book concentrates on the strands that make up this history. This was not just a local story; ships built here voyaged all over the world, at different times tobacco and timber arrived from North America and local families emigrated taking with them traditions and local pottery. Coal mining and gravel extraction, fisheries, agriculture, energy and enterprise as well as the changes brought about by steamships, railways and tourism all helped shape the local community.
Profits from book sales support the work of the Way of the Wharves Charity – researching and promoting the maritime history of the Torridge Estuary and the wharves at East-the-Water.
Book Details
A History of East-the-Water, Bideford. By Michael Teare, Bob Kirby, Anthony Burt with line drawings by Lou Boulter. Published: Peterhouse Press. December 2021.
ISBN: 978-0-946312-20-7. Paperback: 154 pages. Size: 240 x 170mm, spine 9mm.
Book Review: Devon History Society December 2022
Archaeology Report on Wharves Site Barnstaple Street June 2022
The archaeology report was produced for Red Earth, by AC Archaeology, Exeter. Red Earth Bideford Ltd have agreed to let Way of the Wharves make a copy of the full report available on their website. Download here.
A synopsis of the report’s summary:
The wharf is situated on reclaimed land, with various phases of infilling through to the end of the 19th century. Historic sources suggest it has been occupied since the 16th century with various uses, including shipbuilding and the storage and transportation of goods from North Devon’s industries.
The warehouse and the cottage originate from the time of the shipbuilding yard, dating to the 19th century. A key event was the widening of Barnstaple Street in 1923 when a new east elevation wall was constructed and the front of the cottage was narrowed with a new east elevation constructed.
The study indicated there was some level of survival across the site, despite the extensive demolition and clearing of structures, over the late 19th and 20th centuries. A small number of walls and surfaces associated were exposed. These were located at relatively shallow depths and related to previous development and use of the site. Reclamation and made ground deposits dating from the 17th- and/or 18th-century onward were identified. All finds and deposits were dated to the post- medieval or modern periods, with no evidence for earlier remains identified.
Please note that the report is available for information only and no part of the report is to be copied, extracted or used in any other way. Please contact Red Earth for more details or permissions to quote from or use the report.
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