Northam (/ˈnɔːrðəm/ NOR-dhəm) is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in Devon, England, lying north of Bideford.

Northam is thought to have been the site of an Anglo-Saxon earthwork fortification, and an area between Northam and Appledore is conjectured to have been where the Danish Viking Ubba (or Hubba) was repelled during the reign of Alfred the Great.

This is commemorated in local place names like Bloody Corner and Hubba's Rock (or Hubbleston), which is supposed to be the site where Ubba was killed.

[5] Royal North Devon Golf Club was formed at Northam Burrows in 1864; its course is the oldest on its original site in England.

[7] A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI),[12] Northam Burrows is a saltmarsh and dune landscape, adjacent to the Torridge Estuary.

This burned down in 2005 destroying the building and 90% of the books, in a fire believed to have been caused by the action of a hands-free magnifier on a pile of leaflets.

[13] The public library was threatened with closure in 2014 due to cuts in the County's budget.

The line was wholly situated on the peninsula made up of Westward Ho!, Northam and Appledore with extensive sand dunes the Torridge and Taw estuary.