Sidbury

Sidbury is a large village north of Sidmouth on the A375 road in Devon, England.

It is situated on the River Sid, which rises at Crowpits Covert (OSGB36 Grid reference SY138963) and runs for 6 mi to Lyme Bay at Sidmouth. There is a working watermill in the village.

Sidbury is mentioned in the Domesday Book as the manor of Sideberia, held by Bishop Osbern of Exeter. The Church of St Peter and St Giles has a Norman tower topped with a spire, a Saxon crypt, a gunpowder storage room dating from the Napoleonic era and a 500-year-old font. The tower has eight bells, the earliest dating from 1662 and 1663. Six more were hung in 1712, 1750, 1752, 1776 and two in 1947 to complete the present eight. Both the tower and the rest of the church are Norman but the tower was accurately rebuilt in 1884. The north aisle is possibly 13th century and the south porch Perpendicular. The windows are medieval and of various periods; the octagonal font is Perpendicular.

The village has one pub, the Red Lion and one butcher's shop also selling groceries and newspapers. There is a regular bus service to Sidmouth and Exeter.

Above the village is Sidbury Castle, the site of an Iron Sage hill fort.

A small hamlet called Sidbury can also be found in Eastern Cape, South Africa, due to an Anglican reverend settling there on a missionary expedition during the British conquest of the early 19th century. He built an Anglican church in the 1820s naming it St. Peters after his home church.

Notable people

 * Major Cyril Raikes MC