Bigbury-on-Sea is a village in the South Hams district on the south coast of Devon, England. It is part of the civil parish of Bigbury which is centred on a small village of that name about a mile inland. Bigbury-on-Sea village is on the coast above the largest sandy beach in South Devon facing south to Bigbury Bay. The tidal island of Burgh Island lies about 270 yards (250 metres) offshore.

Bigbury-on-Sea
View of Bigbury-on-Sea from Burgh Island
View of Bigbury-on-Sea from Burgh Island
Bigbury-on-Sea is located in Devon
Bigbury-on-Sea
Bigbury-on-Sea
Location within Devon
OS grid referenceSX650443
• London185 miles (298 km)
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireDevon and Somerset
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Devon
50°17′03″N 3°53′41″W / 50.284037°N 3.894722°W / 50.284037; -3.894722

At the start of the 20th century Bigbury-on-Sea consisted of a few fishermen's cottages with fish cellars. The village grew with the growth in holidaymaking and now has a beach cafe, and by the mainland side of causeway is the Burgh Island Causeway resort built in 1998 replacing the burnt out fishermen's cottages after a controversial planning application. The resort is made up of privately owned and holiday let flats and a private leisure club with indoor pool and gym. The Devon Coastal Path runs behind the resort.

The large sandy beach is very popular for wave and wind based water sports, but it lost its Blue Flag beach status in 2012 due to water quality issues.[1]

There are two large car parks with easy access to the beaches and the walk across the sand bar to Burgh Island with its Art Deco Hotel and Pilchard Inn. When the tide covers the sand bar access is by the sea tractor.

As of March 2020, 63% of properties in the village were holiday-lets or second homes.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Garrad, Carrie (15 May 2012). "Westcountry beaches lose their Blue Flag status". ITV News. Archived from the original on 25 June 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ Morris, Jonathan (29 March 2020). "'Vigilantes' target family with second home". BBC News. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
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