Feudal barony of Barnstaple
From AD 1066, the feudal barony of Barnstaple was a large feudal barony with its caput at the town of Barnstaple in north Devon, England. It was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed in the Middle Ages. In 1236 it comprised 56 knight's fees or individual member manors. The feudal service owed for half the barony in 1274 was the provision to the royal army of two knights or four sergeants for forty days per annum, later commuted to scutage.
The remains of the Norman motte of Barnstaple Castle
Arms of de Tracy: Or, a lion passant sable between two bends gemelles gules
Detail from oak wood effigy of Margaret Audley (died 1373), wife of Fulk FitzWarin, 4th Baron FitzWarin (1341–1374) and heiress of a moiety of the feudal barony of Barnstaple, including the later capital manor of Tawstock. Effigy formerly in Tawstock Church under a recessed arch in wall of north chancel, now in Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon
Barnstaple is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from which it earned great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, but its harbour silted up and other trades developed such as shipbuilding, foundries and sawmills. A Victorian market building survives, with a high glass and timber roof on iron columns.
Barnstaple Clock Tower
The exterior of the Pannier Market, built in the mid-19th century
Barnstaple Clock Tower, erected in 1862 as a memorial to Prince Albert
Barum House, The Square: Town Council's offices
