Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A village of 1,711 in Devon, South West.
Appledore has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Its strongest subject is walkability (A−): 19% of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport. Its weakest is cost of living (D−): median sale £362,500, 8.5 years of area income; rent £789 a month.
Devon And Cornwall Police published 33 of the 36 months; rates are per year over the months published.
The 3 things Appledore does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Appledore is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Appledore’s built-up area, along with 1 scheduled monument.
45% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Appledore.
On this, Appledore is above both Devon’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (18%). People aged 15 to 24 make up 5.6% of the town. Appledore has a median age of 56.6.
52% women, 48% men
About 91 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Appledore | Devon | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 12% | 15% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 5.6% | 12% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 17% | 23% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 32% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 34% | 24% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 15% | 17% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 8.1% | 6.6% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 19% | 17% |
| Degree level | 33% | 30% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Devon and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Appledore School’s results beat 94% of schools in England like it. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Pupils | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appledore SchoolLargest primary schoolPrimary | Primary | 244 | A |
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
In the comparison, Appledore comes above both Devon’s towns (104) and England’s towns (39). Appledore has 116 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 0 Grade I, 2 Grade II*. Homes from before 1919 make up 45% of the total.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
For Appledore, that is above both Devon’s towns (64%) and England’s towns (61%). 10% of households live in social housing.
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £469,995 | 43 |
| Semi-detached | £350,000 | 15 |
| Terraced | £310,000 | 74 |
| Flat or maisonette | £170,000 | 8 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 29% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Appledore sits below both Devon’s towns (£52K) and England’s towns (£55K) on this measure. The car carried 78% of commuters at the census.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
That puts Appledore above both Devon’s towns (21%) and England’s towns (17%). Appledore has no GP practice of its own; the nearest is 1.3 miles away. These answers aren’t adjusted for age, so young towns look healthier; the Health Grade uses age-adjusted measures, including life expectancy and early deaths.
| Census 2021 | Appledore | Devon | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 78% | 80% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 6.7% | 5.9% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 23% | 21% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL
Police recorded 71 crimes inside Appledore’s built-up area in the 12 months to August 2026, plus 21 reports of anti-social behaviour. Violence and sexual offences were 49% of the crimes; the police category includes harassment and stalking, so it runs higher than U.S. “violent crime”.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Appledore. Best known first.
MuseumNorth Devon Maritime Museumin town
CastleTapeley Park1.4 km outside town, to the southeast
MuseumBurton at Bideford2.5 km outside town, to the southMuseumMuseumBideford Railway Heritage Centre3.2 km outside town, to the southwestTheme parkTheme parkThe BIG Sheep4.3 km outside town, to the southwestPark or estatePark or estate · National TrustBurrough Farm400 m outside town, to the southPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
4 notable people were born in Appledore.
Edward Calvert: Edward Calvert, Public domain
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Appledore | 1,711 | — | — | D− | B | C+ |
| Northam | 5,191 | 1.1 | C | D− | A− | C+ |
| Westward Ho! | 3,468 | 1.8 | D− | D | C | B− |
| Bideford | 19,493 | 2.6 | D− | C− | C− | C |
| Fremington | 5,229 | 3 | B− | D | A− | B− |
| Chivenor and Wrafton | 1,953 | 3.7 | — | C− | B+ | B− |
| Braunton | 6,610 | 4 | B | D | B+ | B |
| Bickington | 2,105 | 4.6 | — | D | B+ | B |
Chivenor and Wrafton and Bickington have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 27.8 times the typical UK town for its size. It also has 1 scheduled monument.
Primary results trail 79% of towns in England (Department for Education, Key Stage 2). One state school is inside the town; places are handled by Devon council.
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £362,500, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: flats £170,000, terraced houses £310,000, semi-detached houses £350,000 and detached houses £469,995.
Village in Devon, England
Appledore is a built-up area of 1,711 people, in the Torridge council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.