Croyde is a village on the west-facing coastline of
North Devon
North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lyn ...
, England. The village lies on the
South West Coast Path
The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises ...
near to Baggy Point, which is owned by the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
. It lies within the
North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Croyde village and its beach faces the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
near the western limit of the
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel ( cy, Môr Hafren, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Seve ...
.
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
North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lyn ...
District Council (NDDC) based in
Barnstaple
Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, but ...
. The village is in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
of
Georgeham, and for ecclesiastical purposes within the
Diocese of Exeter
The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is part of the Provinc ...
.
Today
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
Parkdean Resorts is a holiday park operator in the United Kingdom. It was formed in November 2015 through the merger of Parkdean Holidays and Park Resorts. As of 2022 it operates 66 holiday parks across England, Scotland, and Wales, and is the ...
.
The past 30 years has seen large increases in younger-age visitors develop around
surfing
Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...
. The impact of
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
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
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...
. Local
farming
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...
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
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...
, and most businesses are closed out of season.
Since 1999, Croyde has hosted an annual surfing and music
festival
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...
(GoldCoast Oceanfest) on the
weekend closest to the
summer solstice
The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer s ...
.
Croyde has also benefitted from the 'street food revolution,' being the hometown of Lola's Wings who have a pitch there, and other visiting street food trucks and trailers.
During the summer season, there is an outdoor market each Tuesday which is held in a field off Moor Lane past ''Ruda Holiday Park'' heading towards Baggy Point.
History
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
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
as Crideholde / Crideholda:
Erchenbald from
Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain, 2nd Earl of Cornwall (–) was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother (on their mother's side) of King William the Conqueror. He was one of the very few proven companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hast ...
. 11 cattle and 100 sheep were recorded in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
at Crideholde / Crideholda (Croyde) in 1086.
In the
Medieval Period
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, 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
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
. Most training took place on
Saunton Sands
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-Torri ...
/
Braunton Burrows
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 (see Tapeley Park). Braunton Burrows is a prime British sand dune site, the largest sand dune system ( psam ...
. 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
The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December ...
(ROC) bunker was constructed due to rising tensions with the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
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
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because t ...
and now sits in disrepair.
Religious sites
Croyde has an Anglican church, St Mary Magdalene, and a Baptist chapel
which is open on Sundays at 11 am.
Transport
The nearest
railway station is
Barnstaple
Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, but ...
, away. From Monday to Saturday, there is an hourly bus service to Croyde from
Barnstaple
Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, but ...
, with a two-hour frequency on Sundays.
Road transport from the
M5 motorway
The M5 is a motorway in England linking the Midlands with the South West. It runs from junction 8 of the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham thr ...
is via the
A361 trunk road.
Ferry services operate between Ilfracombe, roughly around 10–20 miles away, and
Lundy Island
Lundy is an English island in the Bristol Channel. It was a micronation from 1925–1969. It forms part of the district of Torridge in the county of Devon.
About long and wide, Lundy has had a long and turbulent history, frequently changi ...
.
The nearest airport to the village is
Exeter International Airport
Exeter Airport , formerly ''Exeter International Airport'', is an international airport located at Clyst Honiton in East Devon, close to the city of Exeter and within the county of Devon, South West England. Exeter has a CAA Public Use Aero ...
, the second-closest being
Bristol International.
Education
Croyde has no education resources in the village. Children have access to Georgeham Primary School; secondary education is provided by
Braunton
Braunton is a large village, civil parish, ecclesiastical parish and former manor in Devon. The village is situated west of Barnstaple. It is one of the largest villages in Devon with a population at the 2021 census of 10,217 people. There ar ...
Academy.
Beach
The sandy beach, which lost its
Blue Flag status in 2012 due to water quality issues, lies at the back of the sheltered Croyde Bay.
A large
dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...
system has formed past the high-tide mark. Sand underlies the land surface between the beach and the centre of Croyde village, 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
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-Torri ...
is to the south, and Woolacombe Sands, divided into Putsborough and Woolacombe beaches, is 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
''Point Break'' is a 1991 American action crime film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by W. Peter Iliff. It stars Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, Lori Petty and Gary Busey. The film's title refers to the surfing term " point break", where ...
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 current
A rip current, often simply called a rip (or misleadingly a ''rip tide''), is a specific kind of water current that can occur near beaches with breaking waves. A rip is a strong, localized, and narrow current of water which moves directly away ...
s are extremely strong especially near the rocks at either end of the beach and 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
Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to:
Time off from duties
* Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties
* Break (work), time off during a shift/recess
** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...
is very compact at low tide, resulting in many injuries.
References
External links
Georgeham Parish Council*
Croyde Local DirectoryFurther information and sources on GENUKI
{{authority control
Villages in Devon
Bays of Devon
Seaside resorts in England
Surfing locations in England