Sidford is a small village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 in the civil parish

Civil parish

In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...

 of and on the outskirts of the town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

 of Sidmouth

Sidmouth

Sidmouth is a small town on the English Channel coast in Devon, South West England. The town lies at the mouth of the River Sid in the East Devon district, south east of Exeter. It has a population of about 15,000, of whom 40% are over 65....

 in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county of Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

. It has a population of just over 2100 people according to the 2001 Census

United Kingdom Census 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....

.

It is situated on the River Sid

River Sid

The River Sid is a minor river in East Devon. It flows for 10.5 kilometres southwards from a source in Crowpits Covert at a height of 206 metres above sea level...

,which runs for four miles into Lyme Bay

Lyme Bay

Lyme Bay is an area of the English Channel situated in the southwest of England between Torbay in the west and Portland in the east. The counties of Devon and Dorset front onto the bay,-Geology:...

 at Sidmouth. There is a 12th Century packhorse bridge

Packhorse bridge

A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow masonry arches, and has low parapets so as not to interfere with the horse's panniers.Packhorse bridges were often built on the trade routes that...

 over the river that was the site of a 1644 skirmish in the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

.

In the village centre there is a small Spar supermarket, a post office, a pharmacy and a fish and chip shop, Bloaters. There is also a hairdresser, a legal centre, a sports injury clinic, a pub called the Rising Sun and a veterinary surgery.

In the late 20th century Sidford was the centre of a furore regarding traffic lights at the most westernly crossroads of the village. The traffic lights are now a fixture, for better or for worse. Sidford's most famous pub is the Blue Ball Inn, a 14th century lodging house that burned to the ground in 2007 and is now rebuilt.

Sidford is the site of Farmhouse Cottage, a thatched bed and breakfast establishment that once housed members of the royal family on a nationwide Grand Tour.