BIDEFOKD, a municipal borough, market-town, and seaport, in the county of Devon, eight miles S.W. of Barnstaple, with which it is connected by railway. It is situated on the slopes of two hills which rise from the banks of the River Torridge, near its confluence with the Taw, about four miles from the sea. The two portions of the town are united by a bridge of fourteen arches, built, it is said, in the 14th century, and widened in 1864. The bridge forms a favourite promenade, and is endowed for its repair with lands that produce an annual rent of £300 or £400. Many of the houses in the town are built in the ancient fashion with bricks and wooden framework. The old church of St Mary, with the exception of the tower, was taken down and rebuilt in 1864, and the town-hall is also of modern erection. In addition to these buildings Bideford possesses several large churches and schools, a union workhouse, assembly-rooms, a hospital for aged poor, a reading-room, and a literary and scientific institution. Bideford was already a place of some size under the Saxons, received the right of holding a market in 1271, and was made a free borough in 1573. In the 16th and 17th centuries it was a place of great trade, and in some respects was only exceeded by Exeter and London. The weaving of silk was introduced in 1650, and after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes received extensive development from some French refugees. Bideford now manufactures earthen wares, ropes, sails, and leather, builds ships, and has a considerable trade both domestic and foreign. Vessels of 500 tons can come up to its quay. It exports oak-bark, grain, and its own manufactures, and imports timber from Canada and the Baltic, with fruits, wines, and brandies from the south of Europe. The value of its imports ...