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Barnstaple (/ ˈ b ɑːr n s t ə b əl / ⓘ or / ˈ b ɑːr n s t ə p əl / [3]) 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 .
Barnstaple is a wonderful town in North Devon featuring a range of great bars, restaurants and high street shops as well as premier attractions to suit all ages, tastes and budgets.
- Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon
- Arlington Court
- National Trust Carriage Museum
- Queen Anne’s Walk
- Broomhill Sculpture Garden
- Pannier Market and Butchers’ Row
- St Anne’s Chapel
- Barnstaple Castle
- Penrose’s Almshouses
- Exmoor Zoo
You can get attuned to Barnstaple at this super local museum right on the Taw next to the Medieval Barnstaple Long Bridge. This brick and stone building, with a lovely courtyard, dates to 1872 and has hosted the museum in different guises since 1888. There are military artefacts from three Yeomanry Regiments, along with local pottery, 17th-century ...
Five miles out of Barnstaple the late-Georgian country house at Arlington Court is an excursion that needs to be made. Built at the start of the 1820s, this Neoclassical mansion has an austere granite facade that belies is its ornamented interiors. This National Trust property is almost completely open to the public, so you can tour 16 rooms, from ...
In the stable yard at Arlington Court is the National Trust Carriage Museum, one of the most important displays of historic carriages in the UK. There are more than 40 carriages here, ranging from luxurious coaches for state ceremonies to modest vehicles used by servants. None of these carriages belonged to the Chichester family, who lived at this ...
This cultured colonnade and open space was conceived in the early 18th century as a meeting place for the town’s merchants, in a useful location next to Barnstaple Quay. Queen Anne’s Walk is a reminder of the wealth that trade with American brought to Barnstaple in the 1600s and 1700s. Thought to have been designed by William Talman, a student of C...
Just outside Barnstaple, a magical, densely wooded valley is the venue for a first-class outdoor art exhibition. Open all year, the Broomhill Sculpture Garden is in ten acres and features more than 300 works by some 60 sculptors. The garden is in the grounds of a Victorian hotel and restaurant and has evolved over the last 20 years into something u...
A beautiful sight but also a valuable amenity, the Pannier Market and Butchers’ Row are fronted by Barnstaple’s elegant Georgian Guildhall on the High Street. A vital regional market has been held in Barnstaple for well over 1,000 years since Saxon times. New hygiene requirements in the mid-19th century created a need for a new market hall, complet...
Amid pedestrianised streets in the graveyard of the parish church between Barnstaple’s two main shopping streets, St Anne’s Chapel is a riveting Gothic monument from the start of the 14th century. It was founded as a chantry chapel, a place of worship financed by wealthy people so prayers could be spoken for their souls. Chantry chapels were outlaw...
Next to the public library there’s an abrupt hillock that can only mean one thing: This was the earthwork mound for Barnstaple’s Norman motte-and-bailey castle. It’s a sign of the skill of Norman engineering that some 750 years after the castle was abandoned, its motte remains a landmark in the western part of Barnstaple. There’s another layer of i...
On Litchdon Street, these functioning almshouses are a key stop on the Barnstaple Heritage Trail, well worth seeing from the outside. This complex, now Grade I-listed, was built in the 1620s according to the will of John Penrose, Mayor of Barnstaple, with 20 dwellings around a courtyard (each unit has its own vegetable garden). On the street is a g...
In Barnstaple Borough, but ten miles from the town centre, Exmoor Zoo lies on the border of the national park. The zoo is in an idyllic valley, and puts an emphasis on smaller animals and rare species not normally encountered at animal attractions in the UK. Among them are unusual cat species like sand cats, fishing cats, rust spotted cats and the ...
- chrissieb94. Dorset, UK2,098 contributions. Great Day Out. Our first visit to Exmoor Zoo and we had a great time. There’s quite a selection to see and we followed the map to make sure nothing was missed.
- chuckle. Burrington, UK20 contributions. As above! An interesting time, beautiful house but the “extension” looks so out of place. We will revisit but perhaps not one of our favourite places, we look forward to visiting grounds on a dry day.
- kwarhurst1. Stockport, UK13 contributions. Hidden Treasure. Needed somewhere to go for the afternoon and had the handy National Trust card to hand so headed out to Heddon Valley.
- Megan C. 26 contributions. Nice exhibition and cafe. Having been many times before, our purpose today was to see the Victorian Prison exhibition which, although small, was very well put together.
Barnstaple is one of the UK’s oldest boroughs as well as being one of the largest towns in North Devon. It is home to a number of the well-known historic markets, as well as being the base of the flagship Brend Hotels chain. It’s no surprise that it is one of the region’s premier towns.
The largest town in North Devon is Barnstaple on the River Taw. This ancient town was granted its charter in 930 AD by King Aethelstan - the grandson of Alfred the Great. It lies to the north of Dartmoor and to the west of the beautiful Exmoor National Park.
Barnstaple is a historic market town in North Devon – it’s actually the largest settlement in the area, with a population of just over 20,000 people. It’s not coastal, so it isn’t the most famous town in North Devon, but in a way that adds to its charm – it’s a great place to experience local life.
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