The River Torridge is a river in Devon in England; it rises near Meddon. The river describes a long loop through Devon farming country where its tributaries the Lew and Okement join before meeting the Taw at Appledore and flowing into the Bristol Channel. The river is

spate Spate is a surname, and may refer to: * Clive Spate (born 1952), British game show contestant * Oskar Spate (1911–2000), geographer * Virginia Spate (1937–2022), Australian art historian * Ute Späte (born 1961), German chess master Spate m ...

dependent and often flows between wooded banks which can be steep. The

Torridge Torridge may refer to: * Torridge District, a local government district in the county of Devon, England * River Torridge, is a river in Devon in England * Torridge Lass Suffix beginning with F ''Empire Fabian'' ''Empire Fabian'' was an E ...

local government district is named after the river. It was the home of

Tarka the Otter ''Tarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-Life and Death in the Country of the Two Rivers'' is a novel by English writer Henry Williamson, first published in 1927 by G.P. Putnam's Sons with an introduction by the Hon. Sir John Fortescue. It won th ...

Henry Williamson Henry William Williamson (1 December 1895 – 13 August 1977) was an English writer who wrote novels concerned with wildlife, English social history and ruralism. He was awarded the Hawthornden Prize for literature in 1928 for his book ''Tarka ...

's book.

Route

The river rises close to the border with

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

(north of the source of the

River Tamar The Tamar (; kw, Dowr Tamar) is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A part of the Tamar Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities. T ...

). Its two primary sources are Seckington Water, which rises near Baxworthy Cross, and Clifford Water, the longer of the two, which rises alongside the A39 at Higher Clovelly. These run south and join to form the Torridge at Huddisford. It then flows generally east, passing between East Putford and

West Putford West Putford is a small settlement and civil parish in the local government district of Torridge, Devon, England. The parish, which lies about north of the town of Holsworthy, is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of East Put ...

, and near

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

it is joined by the River Waldon, then heads east past

Black Torrington Black Torrington is a village and civil parish in mid Devon, England, situated between the towns of Holsworthy and Hatherleigh. It is located on and named after the River Torridge. Within the village is a small but well maintained 15th-centu ...

and Sheepwash. It is joined by the

River Lew A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wa ...

near

Hatherleigh Hatherleigh is a small market town in west Devon, England. It hosts an arts festival in July, and a carnival in November featuring two flaming tar barrel runs. The Walruses meet on New Year's Day to jump into the River Lew to raise money for ...

, and then by the

River Okement The River Okement is a tributary of the River Torridge in Devon, England. It used to be known as the River Ock. It rises at two places in Dartmoor, as the West Okement and the East Okement. These meet with other minor streams and join togethe ...

near

Meeth Meeth is a small village roughly north-northwest of Okehampton and west-northwest of Exeter. It lies to the west of the River Torridge. In the past, ball clay mines were a major source of employment in the village, lying just to the west, howev ...

.Ordnance Survey of Great Britain It then flows northwards, picking up the River Mere south of

Beaford Beaford is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The village is about five miles south-east of Great Torrington, on the A3124 road towards Exeter. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 393, ...

. After this it makes tight bends, and goes past

Little Torrington Little Torrington is a village and a civil parish near Great Torrington, in the Torridge district, north Devon, England. In 2001 the population of the civil parish of Little Torrington was 420 and in 2011 it was 376, according to census data. L ...

and

Great Torrington Great Torrington (often abbreviated to Torrington, though the villages of Little Torrington and Black Torrington are situated in the same region) is a market town in Devon, England. Parts of it are sited on high ground with steep drops down to ...

heading generally north-west. It is joined by the River Yeo at Pillmouth, and then becomes estuarine by

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...

. Between

Appledore Appledore may refer to: Places England * Appledore, Kent ** Appledore (Kent) railway station * Appledore, Mid Devon, near Tiverton * Appledore, Torridge, North Devon, near Bideford U.S.A. * Appledore Island, off the coast of Maine In fiction * App ...

and

Instow 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. Th ...

it joins the estuary of the

River Taw The River Taw () rises at Taw Head, a spring on the central northern flanks of Dartmoor, crosses North Devon and at the town of Barnstaple, formerly a significant port, empties into Bideford Bay in the Bristol Channel, having formed a large ...

and enters

Bideford Bay 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 Cel ...

. The

Tarka Trail The Tarka Trail is a series of footpaths and cyclepaths (rail trails) around north Devon, England that follow the route taken by the fictional Tarka the Otter in the book of that name. It covers a total of in a figure-of-eight route, centred o ...

walking and cycle route partly follows the course of the

North Devon Railway The North Devon Railway was a railway company which operated a line from Cowley Bridge Junction, near Exeter, to Bideford in Devon, England, later becoming part of the London and South Western Railway's system. Originally planned as a broad ga ...

, which, for a considerable distance, closely followed the line of the river. South of Bideford the railway crossed from one bank to the other, and the Trail provides a good vantage point for viewing the river.

List of bridges

The following is a list of bridges over the River Torridge listed going upstream from the estuary at Bideford: *Torridge A39 Road Bridge *

Bideford Long Bridge Bideford Long Bridge in North Devon spans the River Torridge near its estuary and connects the old part of the town, and formerly important river port, of Bideford on the left bank (west side) with East-the-Water on the right bank (east side). ...

*Halfpenny Bridge, Annery/

Weare Giffard Weare Giffard is a small village, civil parish and former manor in the Torridge district, in north Devon. The church and manor house are situated 2 1/2 miles NW of Great Torrington in Devon. Most of the houses within the parish are situated ...

*Beam Aqueduct, (

Rolle Canal The Rolle Canal (or Torrington Canal) in north Devon, England, extends from its mouth into the River Torridge at Landcross 6 miles southwards to the industrial mills and corn-mills at Town Mills, Rosemoor, Great TorringtonLost ca ...

Beam, Great Torrington Beam is an historic estate in the parish of Great Torrington, Devon, England. Beam House is situated about 1 1/2 miles north-west and downstream of that town, on the right-bank of the River Torridge. Both the Rolle Canal and the railway crossed ...

*Rothern Bridge, Great Torrington *Rolle Bridge, Great Torrington *Taddiport Bridge, Great Torrington *New Bridge, Great Torrington * Iron Bridge, Landcross, Bideford

References

Sources

* {{authority control

Estuaries of England