Looking across the River to East-the-Water

As the name suggests, East-the-Water refers to the part of Bideford that lies on the eastern bank of the River Torridge. One of the principal characters of Barefoot on the Cobbles arrives in East-the-Water in Chapter 2 and the following Chapter is centred on this part of the town. Although East-the-Water has never been the principal part of the town, at the time of the novel, the riverside’s wharves swarmed with activity. Higher up the hill were the prestigious villas of the Chudleigh Estate, built in the lee of the seventeenth century Chudleigh Fort. The Way of the Wharves, community history project explores the history of this area in more detail. There is also an account of East-the-Water’s history on the community website.