Barnstaple

Barnstaple
Barnstaple and the River Taw viewed from the east
Barnstaple Location within Devon
Population	24,033
OS grid reference	SS5633
Civil parish	Barnstaple
District	North Devon
Shire county	Devon
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BARNSTAPLE
Postcode district	EX31 EX32
Dialling code	01271
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	North Devon
List of places UK England Devon 51°05′N 4°04′W / 51.08°N 4.06°W / 51.08; -4.06Coordinates: 51°05′N 4°04′W / 51.08°N 4.06°W / 51.08; -4.06

Barnstaple (/ˈbɑːrnstəbəl/ (listen) or /ˈbɑːrnstəpəl/^[1]) is the main town of North Devon, England and possibly the oldest borough in the United Kingdom. It is a former river port, located at the lowest crossing point of the River Taw, flowing into the Bristol Channel.

From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool, since the merchants claimed that the town had been declared a free borough in Saxon times; this brought great wealth to Barnstaple, whose town centre still preserves a medieval layout and character. Later the town became an importer of Irish wool, but its harbour silted up, and it developed other industries, such as shipbuilding, foundries and sawmills, its Victorian market survives, with its high glass and timber roof on iron columns. Barnstaple railway station is the terminus of a branch line from Exeter, known as the Tarka Line.

Since 1974, Barnstaple has been a civil parish governed by town council;^[2] the parish itself had a population of 24,033^[3] and including the satellite settlements known as the Barnstaple Town Area, it is 53,514.

Toponymy[edit]

The old spelling Barnstable^[4] is now obsolete, but is retained by an American county and town and is still sometimes used for Bideford or Barnstable Bay.^[5] The name is first recorded in the 10th century and is believed to derive from the Old English bearde, meaning "battle-axe", and stapol, meaning "pillar", referring to a post or pillar set up to mark a religious or administrative meeting place; the belief that the name derives from staple meaning "market", indicating that there was a market here from the foundation of the settlement, is incorrect, because the use of staple in that sense is not recorded in England before 1423.^[6]

Barnstaple was formerly referred to as "Barum", from a contraction of the Latin form of the name (ad Barnastapolitum) in Latin documents such as the episcopal registers of the Diocese of Exeter.^[7] Barum was mentioned by Shakespeare, and the name was revived and popularised in Victorian times, when it was featured in several contemporary novels; the name Barum is retained in the names of a football team, brewery, and of several local businesses. The former Brannam Pottery works which was sited in Litchdon Street was known for its trademark "Barum" etched on the base of its products.

History[edit]

The earliest settlement in the area was probably at Pilton on the bank of the River Yeo, now a northern suburb of the present town. Pilton is recorded in the Burghal Hidage (c. 917) as a burh founded by Alfred the Great,^[8] and it may have been the site of a Viking attack in 893,^[9] but by the later 10th century Barnstaple had taken over its role of local defence. Barnstaple had its own mint before the Norman Conquest.^[8]

The large feudal barony of Barnstaple had its caput at Barnstaple Castle, it was granted by William the Conqueror to Geoffrey de Montbray, who is recorded as its holder in Domesday Book. The barony escheated to the crown in 1095 after Montbray had rebelled against King William II. William re-granted the barony to Juhel de Totnes, formerly feudal baron of Totnes. In about 1107, Juhel, who had already founded Totnes Priory, founded Barnstaple Priory, of the Cluniac order, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene.^[10] After Juhel's son died without children, the barony was split into two, passing through the de Braose and Tracy families, before being reunited under Henry de Tracy, it then passed through several other families, before ending up in the ownership of Margaret Beaufort (died 1509), mother of king Henry VII. See Feudal barony of Barnstaple for full details.

In the 1340s the merchants of the town claimed that the rights of a free borough had been granted to them by King Athelstan in a lost charter. Although this was challenged from time to time by subsequent lords of the manor, it still allowed the merchants an unusual degree of self-government;^[11] the town's wealth in the Middle Ages was founded on its being a staple port licensed to export wool. It had an early merchant guild, known as the Guild of St. Nicholas. In the early 14th century it was the third richest town in Devon, behind Exeter and Plymouth, and it was the largest textile centre outside Exeter until about 1600,^[12] its wool trade was further aided by the town's port, from which in 1588 five ships were contributed to the force sent to fight the Spanish Armada. Barnstaple was one of the "privileged ports" of the Spanish Company,^[13] (established 1577) whose armorials are visible on two of the mural monuments to 17th century merchants^[b] in St Peter's Church, and on the decorated plaster ceiling of the former "Golden Lion Inn",^[15] 62 Boutport Street (now a restaurant next to the Royal and Fortescue Hotel);^[c] the developing trade with America in the 16th and 17th centuries greatly benefited the town. The wealthy merchants that this trade created built impressive town houses, some of which survive behind more recent frontages—they include No. 62 Boutport Street, said to have one of the best plaster ceilings in Devon.^[16] The merchants also built several almshouses including Penrose's, and ensured their legacy by dedicating elaborate monuments to their families inside the church.^[16]

By the 18th century, Barnstaple had ceased to be a woollen manufacturing town, which was replaced by Irish wool and yarn, for which it was the main landing place; the raw materials were carried by land to the new clothmaking towns in mid- and east Devon, such as Tiverton and Honiton.^[12] However, the harbour was gradually silting up—as early as c. 1630 Tristram Risdon reported that "it hardly beareth small vessels"—and Bideford, which is lower down the estuary and benefits from the scouring action of the fast flowing River Torridge, gradually took over the foreign trade.^[12]

Although for a time between 1680 and 1730, Barnstaple's trade was surpassed by Bideford's, it retained its economic importance until the early 20th century,^[12] when it was manufacturing lace, gloves, sail-cloth and fishing-nets, it had extensive potteries, tanneries, sawmills and foundries, and shipbuilding was also carried on;^[17] the Bear Street drill hall was completed in the early 19th century.^[18]

Barnstaple was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Reform Act 1835. Between the 1930s and the 1950s the town swallowed the villages of Pilton, Newport, and Roundswell through ribbon development.

Government[edit]

Internal government[edit]

The historic Borough of Barnstaple was long governed by the Mayor of Barnstaple and the Corporation; the seat of government was the Barnstaple Guildhall.^[19] The mayor served a term of one year and was elected annually on the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (15 August) by a jury of twelve;^[20] however Barnstaple was a mesne borough^[20] and was not held by the Mayor and Corporation in chief from the king but from the feudal baron of Barnstaple, later known as the lord of the "Castle Manor" or "Castle Court". The Corporation tried on several occasions to claim the status of a "free borough" which answered directly to the monarch and to divest itself of this overlordship, but without success; the mayor was not recognised as such by the monarch, but merely as the bailiff of the feudal baron.^[20] The powers of the borough were highly restricted, as was determined by an inquisition ad quod damnum during the reign of King Edward III, which from an inspection of evidence found that members of the corporation elected their mayor only by permission of the lord, legal pleas were held in a court at which the lord's steward, not the mayor, presided, that the borough was taxed by the county assessors, and that the lord held the various assizes which the burgesses claimed.^[20] Indeed, the purported ancient royal charter supposedly held by the corporation which granted it borough status was suspected to be a forgery.^[20]

Since 1974 Barnstaple has been a civil parish governed by a town council.^[2]

Parliamentary representation[edit]

From 1295 the Borough of Barnstaple was represented in the House of Commons by two Members of Parliament until 1885, when its representation was reduced to one member; the constituency was abolished for the 1950 general election and was consolidated into the large modern constituency of North Devon, which was held by Nick Harvey, MP, of the Liberal Democrats from 1992 until 2015. In the 2015 United Kingdom general election, Peter Heaton-Jones of the Conservative Party was elected and re-elected again in 2017 with an increased vote share of 45.8%.

Geography[edit]

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Barnstaple is the main town of North Devon and claims to be the oldest borough in the United Kingdom, it lies 68 miles (109 km) west-south-west of Bristol, 50 miles (80 km) north of Plymouth and 34 miles (55 km) northwest of the county town and city of Exeter. It was founded at the lowest crossing point of the River Taw, where its estuary starts to widen, about 7 miles (11 km) inland from Barnstaple Bay (or Bideford Bay) in the Bristol Channel.^[8] On the north side of the town, the River Taw is joined by the River Yeo, which rises on Berry Down, near Combe Martin.

The greater part of the town lies on the eastern bank of the estuary, connected to the western side by the ancient Barnstaple Long Bridge which has 16 arches;^[8] the early medieval layout of the town is still apparent from the street plan and street names, with Boutport Street ("About the Port") following the curved line of the ditch outside the town walls.^[16] The area of medieval shipbuilding and repair is still called The Strand, the Old English word for shore.

Climate[edit]

Barnstaple has cool, wet winters and mild, wet summers. Temperatures range from 9 C (48 F) in January to 21 C (70 F) in July. October is the wettest month with 103 mm (4.1 in) of rain. The record high is 34 C (94 F), and the record low is −9 C (16 F). Barnstaple gets 862 mm (33.9 in) of rain per year, with rain on 138 days.

Climate data for Barnstaple, United Kingdom
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	16 (61)	18 (64)	20 (68)	25 (77)	27 (81)	32 (90)	33 (91)	34 (93)	28 (82)	29 (84)	18 (64)	15 (59)	34 (93)
Average high °C (°F)	9 (48)	10 (50)	11 (52)	13 (55)	18 (64)	19 (66)	21 (70)	20 (68)	19 (66)	15 (59)	12 (54)	9 (48)	15 (58)
Average low °C (°F)	4 (39)	4 (39)	5 (41)	6 (43)	9 (48)	11 (52)	13 (55)	13 (55)	11 (52)	9 (48)	6 (43)	4 (39)	8 (46)
Record low °C (°F)	−6 (21)	−6 (21)	−9 (16)	−3 (27)	0 (32)	1 (34)	7 (45)	7 (45)	−1 (30)	−2 (28)	−6 (21)	−6 (21)	−9 (16)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	75 (3.0)	65 (2.6)	53 (2.1)	64 (2.5)	60 (2.4)	63 (2.5)	64 (2.5)	65 (2.6)	59 (2.3)	103 (4.1)	93 (3.7)	98 (3.9)	862 (34.2)
Average rainy days	15	10	12	10	11	9	9	10	11	13	14	14	138
Average relative humidity (%)	83	82	80	77	76	78	79	79	79	81	83	83	80
Source #1: Weather2[21]
Source #2: HolidayCheck.com[22]

Demography[edit]

Barnstaple parish's population in the 1801 census was 3,748, in the 1901 census 9,698, and in the 2001 census, the population was 22,497.^[23]

As of 2011, the racial make-up of the town was as follows:^[24]

• White British 93.9%
• Other White 2.6%
• White Irish 0.3%
• Mixed race 1.2%
• Asian 1.6%
• Black 0.3%
• Other 0.1%

As a major town, Barnstaple is more ethnically diverse than the North Devon district (95.9% White British) and Devon as a whole (94.2% White British). Barnstaple has a similar ethnic make-up compared with other south west towns, like Truro and Cullompton.

Economy[edit]

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North Devon is some distance from the UK's traditional areas of industrial activity and population. In the late 1970s Barnstaple gained a number of industrial companies due to the availability of central government grants for the construction of factories and their operation on low or zero levels of local taxation; this was only partially successful, with few of these lasting more than the few years that grants were available. One success was the manufacturing of generic medicines by Cox Pharmaceuticals (now branded Allergan), who moved in 1980 from their site in Brighton, Sussex; the most lasting consequence for the town was the development and expansion of the industrial estates at Seven Brethren, Whiddon Valley and Pottington.

Whilst the 1989 opening of the improved A361 connection to the motorway network helped in some ways to promote trade, notably weekend tourism, it had a detrimental effect on a number of distribution businesses; the latter had previously viewed the town as a base for local distribution networks, a need that was removed with an approximate halving of travelling time to the M5 motorway.

Because Barnstaple is the main shopping area for North Devon, retail work is a contributor to the economy. There are many generic chain stores in the town centre and in the Roundswell Business Park, on the western fringe of the town. Tesco has several stores in the area, which includes a Tesco Extra hypermarket, a large Tesco superstore. There is also a Sainsbury's superstore, a Lidl supermarket. And, the multi-million pound redevelopment of the former Leaderflush Shapland works at Anchorwood Bank, and the surrounding area, is creating a conservation area near the River Taw, hundreds of new homes, a commercial retail area with new shops, restaurants and leisure facilities. A new Asda superstore and petrol filling station is part of the redevelopment; the whole scheme will be completed by the end of 2017, and the new Asda store opened in November 2016. However, by far the largest employer in the region is local and central Government; the two main government employers in the area are the Royal Marines Base Chivenor, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of the town, and North Devon District Hospital, 1 mile (1.6 km) to the north.

In 2005 unemployment in North Devon was 1.8–2.4%, and the median per capita wage for North Devon was 73% of the UK national average. The level of work in the informal or casual sector is high, partly due to the impact of seasonal tourism, as is the case in much of the South West of England.

In 2018 unemployment in North Devon has come down significantly since its 2010 high to 1.2%, median weekly full time pay stands at £440 per week, average house prices stand at £230,000 and the number of businesses registered has increased by 370 from 2010 to 4895. 2018 has also seen significant Government investment in the area through Coastal Community grants, Housing Infrastructure funds as well at £83 million to upgrade the North Devon Link Road.^[25]

Twin towns and sister cities[edit]

Barnstaple is twinned with:

• Barnstable, Massachusetts, United States
• Uelzen, Germany
• Trouville-sur-Mer, France^[26]
• Susa, Italy

Landmarks[edit]

Barnstaple has an eclectic mix of architectural style with the 19th century probably now predominant. There are some remnants of early buildings to enjoy as well as several early plaster ceilings. St. Anne's Chapel in the central churchyard is probably the best of the ancient buildings to survive. Queen Anne's Walk was erected c. 1708 as a mercantile exchange. The Georgian Guildhall is also of interest as well as the Pannier Market beneath; the museum has an "arts and crafts" vibe with its tessellated floors, locally made staircase and decorative fireplaces.^[27]

Barnstaple Castle[edit]

A wooden castle was built by Geoffrey de Mowbray, Bishop of Coutances in the 11th century, clearing houses to make room for it. Juhel of Totnes later occupied the castle and founded Barnstaple Priory just outside its walls; the castle's first stone buildings were probably erected by Henry de Tracey, a strong supporter of King Stephen. In 1228, the Sheriff of Devon ordered the walls of the castle to be reduced to a height of 10 feet (3 m). By the time of the death of the last Henry de Tracey in 1274, the castle was beginning to decay; the fabric of the castle was used in the construction of other buildings and by 1326 the castle was a ruin. The remaining walls blew down in a storm in 1601.^[28] Today only the tree covered motte remains.^[29]

St Anne's Chapel[edit]

St Anne's Chapel was restored in 2012, it was an ancient chantry chapel, the assets of which were acquired by the Mayor of Barnstaple and others in 1585, some time after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The deed of feoffment dated 1 November 1585 exists in the George Grant Francis collection in Cardiff.^[30]

The Pannier Market and Butchers' Row[edit]

Barnstaple has been the major market for North Devon since Saxon times. Demands for health regulation of its food market in Victorian times saw the construction in 1855 to 1856 of the town's Pannier Market, originally known as the Vegetable Market and designed by local architect R. D. Gould; the building has a high glass and timber roof on iron columns. At 107 yards (98 m) long, it runs the length of Butchers' Row. Market days are Monday – Crafts and General (April to December), Tuesday – General and Produce (all year), Wednesday – Arts Collectables and Books (all year), Thursday – Crafts and General (all year), Friday – General and Produce (all year), and Saturday – General and Produce (all year).

Built on the other side of the street at the same time as the Pannier Market, Butchers' Row consists of ten shops with pilasters of Bath Stone, and wrought iron supports to an overhanging roof. Only one of the shops remain as a butcher,^[31] although the new shops still sell local agricultural goods. There is one baker, one delicatessen, two fishmongers, a florist and a greengrocer.

Others[edit]

Key
	Abbey/Priory/Cathedral
	Accessible open space
	Amusement/Theme Park
	Castle
	Country Park
	English Heritage
	Forestry Commission
	Heritage railway
	Historic House
	Mosques
	Museum (free/not free)
	National Trust
	Theatre
	Zoo

In Barnstaple

• Albert Clock in The Square
• Barnstaple Cemetery, the town's burial ground
• Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon
• Queen's Theatre
• Barnstaple Heritage Trail
• Businesses and Markets
• Barnstaple Town F.C.
• North Devon Crematorium, the largest crematorium in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Penrose's Almshouses

Around Barnstaple

• Tarka Trail – The cycling and walking trails were established by Devon County Council, to celebrate Henry Williamson's 1927 novel Tarka the Otter. The book depicts Tarka's adventure travelling through North Devon's countryside.
• Arlington Court, 8 miles (13 km)
• Lundy Island, ferry sails from Bideford, 10 miles (16 km)
• Watersmeet House 20 miles (32 km)
• The South West Coast Path National Trail runs through the town, and gives access to walks along the spectacular North Devon coast.
• Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, 15 miles (24 km)

Transport[edit]

In 1989, the A361 North Devon Link Road was constructed, linking Barnstaple with the M5 motorway, approximately 40 miles (65 km) to the east. Traffic congestion in the town used to be severe, but in May 2007, the Barnstaple Western Bypass was opened so traffic heading towards Braunton and Ilfracombe avoids travelling through the town centre over the ancient bridge; the bypass consists of 1.6 miles (2.6 km) of new road and a 447 yards (409 m) long, five-span bridge. It was expected to have cost £42 million;^[32] as part of this work, the town's main square was re-modelled as the entrance to the town centre, and The Strand was closed to traffic. The A39, the Atlantic Highway, follows after the A361 to Bideford and to Bude and then further down towards Cornwall.

The Barnstaple bus network is privatised and run by many bus operators including Stagecoach South West; the main bus station is located on the junction with Queen Street and Belle Meadow Drive.

Following frequent bus services operate from Barnstaple:

• 19 Appledore - Bideford - Barnstaple - North Devon Hospital
• 21 Westward Ho! - Bideford - Fremington - Barnstaple - Braunton - West Meadow Road/Ilfracombe
• 21C Barnstaple - Braunton - Croyde - Georgeham
• 71 Barnstaple - Torrington - (Holsworthy)/Shebbear
• 155 Barnstaple - South Molton - Tiverton - Exeter
• 301 Barnstaple - Ilfracombe - Combe Martin
• 309/310 Barnstaple - Lynton - Lynmouth

National Express services to London, Heathrow Airport, Taunton, Bristol and Birmingham also run services from Barnstaple.

The nearest airport is Exeter Airport.

Railway[edit]

Barnstaple railway station is the terminus of a branch line from Exeter, known as the Tarka Line after the local connection with Tarka the Otter; the station is near the end of the Long Bridge but on the opposite bank of the River Taw to the town centre. The town used to have several other stations but these have all closed since the publication of the Reshaping of British Railways (the so-called Beeching Axe) report in the 1960s; the surviving station was opened on 1 August 1854 by the North Devon Railway (later the London and South Western Railway), although a service had operated from Fremington since 1848 for goods traffic only. The station became "Barnstaple Junction" on 20 July 1874 when the railway opened the branch line through to Ilfracombe, reverting to just plain "Barnstaple" again when this was closed on 5 October 1970, it is now a terminus and much reduced in size as part of the site is now used for the Barnstaple Western Bypass.

The Ilfracombe branch line brought the railway across the river into the town centre. Barnstaple Quay was situated close by the Castle Mound, it was closed in 1898 and replaced by a nearby Barnstaple Town station at North Walk which was also the terminus of the narrow gauge Lynton and Barnstaple Railway until this closed in 1935. The narrow gauge line's main depot and operating centre was at nearby Pilton; the station building still exists, and can be viewed on-line from a webcam mounted on Barnstaple Civic Centre.^[33]

A separate "Barnstaple" station, renamed Barnstaple (Victoria Road) in 1949, was opened to the east of the town in 1873 as the terminus of the Devon and Somerset Railway, eventually a part of the Great Western Railway. A junction was later provided to allow trains access to Barnstaple Junction and these ran through to Ilfracombe, it was closed in 1970.

Education[edit]

There are a selection of well-regarded primary and secondary state schools and a tertiary college in Barnstaple.

In 2012, the county of Devon 58%^[34] of students achieved 5 GCSEs grade A* to C; the UK average is 59%.^[34]

Percentage of students achieving 5 GCSEs grade A* to C

School Name	Type	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
The Park Community School	State	38%	44%	45%	47%	54%	[35]
Pilton Community College	State	47%	51%	50%	53%	49%	[36]

Petroc (formerly North Devon College) is a large tertiary college providing a wide range of vocational and academic further education for more than 3,000 young people over 16; the college was due to spend £100 million on a new campus, to be opened on Seven Brethren in 2011,^[37][38] but this fell through when the LSC removed its £75 million funding in January 2009.^[39]

Petroc was launched in September 2009 – a year after NDC merged with Tiverton's East Devon College.^[40]

Religious sites[edit]

St Peter's Church is the parish church of Barnstaple, its oldest parts probably date to the 13th century, though the nave, chancel and tower date from 1318, when three altars^[41] were dedicated by Bishop Stapledon. The north and south aisles were added in c. 1670. The church has a notable broach spire, claimed by W. G. Hoskins to be the best of its kind in the country.^[12] Inside the church are many mural monuments to 17th-century merchants, such as Raleigh Clapham (died 1636), George Peard (died 1644) and Thomas Horwood (died 1658), reflecting the prosperity of the town at that time;^[16] the interior of the church was heavily restored by George Gilbert Scott from 1866, and then by his son John Oldrid Scott into the 1880s,^[16] leaving it "dark and dull", according to Hoskins.^[12]

Other religious buildings in the town include St Anne's Chapel (a 14th-century chantry chapel, now a museum) in the parish churchyard; the Church of St Mary the Virgin in the suburb of Pilton is 13th-century and a Grade I listed building; Holy Trinity, built in the 1840s but necessarily rebuilt in 1867 as its foundations were unsound — it has a fine tower in the Somerset style; the Roman Catholic church of the Immaculate Conception, said to have been built to designs supplied by Pugin, in Romanesque Revival style; the late 19th-century church of St John the Baptist in the Newport area of the town and a Baptist chapel of 1870 which includes a lecture hall and classrooms.^[12][16]

Sport[edit]

Cricket is played at Barnstaple and Pilton.^[42] Barnstaple Town F.C. have been based at Mill Road since 1904 and play in the Western Football League. Rugby union is played at Barnstaple Rugby Football Club^[43] whose first team play in South West Premier, which is a fifth tier league in the English rugby union system. More sports are available at the North Devon Leisure Centre,^[44] which is the home of Barnstaple Squash Club.^[45] There are numerous bowling greens and tennis courts, including those at the Tarka Tennis Centre which has six indoor courts and which hosts the Aegon GB Pro-Series Barnstaple.^[46] In February 2010 a Cornish Pilot Gig Rowing Club was established, bringing this sport to Castle Quay in the centre of Barnstaple.^[47] There is also hockey available. Taw Valley Ladies Hockey Club (as well as a Junior set-up) and North Devon Men's Hockey Club - they both play at Park School.

Notable residents[edit]

For full list, see Category:People from Barnstaple

• John Gay (1685–1732), English poet and dramatist
• Francis Chichester (1901–1972), pioneering aviator and solo sailor
• Tim Wonnacott (born 1951), antiques expert, and television presenter
• Stuart Brennan (born 1982), BAFTA winning actor

See also[edit]

• Henry de Bracton

Further reading[edit]

• Papers of Barnstaple Borough 1150-1950, North Devon Record Office, B1, [1]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Barnstaple.

•  "Barnstaple" . Encyclopædia Britannica. 3 (11th ed.). 1911.
• Barnstaple Town Council Website
• Barnstaple at Curlie
• Barnstaple in the Domesday Book
• Barnstaple Town Centre Website