Parkham is a small village,

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and former manor situated 5 miles south-west of the town of

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 District, Torridge Districts of England, local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bi ...

in north

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. The parish, which lies within the Kenwith ward in the Torridge district, is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Alwington, Littleham, Buckland Brewer, East Putford and Woolfardisworthy. In 2001 its population was 742, compared to 786 in 1901. The large parish church, dedicated to St James, is mostly 15th century, though it still has a Norman doorway and

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

. It was restored by R. W. Drew in 1875. Although there is a substantial

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

community around Parkham, the majority of incomes are earned outside of the village. During the summer months

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

contributes to the economy through a number of guest houses in the area. In the centre of the village is a

public house A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, The Bell Inn, that was refurbished in 2018 after a fire. There is also a butcher, G E Honey & Son. There is a Youth Club every Thursday in the Methodist chapel and every second Friday of the month in the village hall. Parkham has a primary school which is now federated with Buckland Brewer primary school and have around 90 pupils between them. As of 2019, one bus route serves Parkham, the 372 Bradworthy –

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

operated by Stagecoach, with 1–2 buses in each direction Monday to Friday.

Historic estates

The following historic estates are within the parish: * Halsbury, today a farmhouse called Halsbury Barton, long a seat of the ancient Giffard family. * Bableigh, seat of the Risdon family from the 13th to 18th centuries.

References

External links

Parkham Parish Council websiteGenuki Parkham page
{{authority control Villages in Devon Torridge District