About the Barnstaple Town area of North Devon

This historic market town has stood at the first crossing of the Taw estuary for over a thousand years. The original street pattern of the medieval town can be found between two tidal rivers, the Taw and the Yeo. The modern town now sprawls well beyond the old Norman walls. It is easy, when visiting the busy shopping centre in what was old Barum, to understand the town's relationship with its rivers, fords and bridges, and the old quays. In the 16th and 17th Centuries, Barnstaple was a pioneering port, a port of merchant venturers. Hundreds of wooden trading ships were built here at slipways on either side of the Taw: ships that would trade with Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, Ireland and, of course, the Americas.

Nowadays Barnstaple, as the largest town in North Devon and Exmoor, is a popular shopping destination for both locals and holidaymakers. Most of the town centre is pedestrianised between 10am and 4pm. The famous Pannier Market and pretty Butchers' Row sell locally produced food, including meat, fish and game. There are shopping malls and outdoor cafes, street entertainers and guided walks, parks and gardens - and flowers everywhere. The riverside walk takes you past museums and fountains, a mosaic and a motte and bailey castle. Boutport Street, which encircles the eastern side of the old town offers entertainments at the theatre, the multi-screen cinema, and a miriad of taverns and restaurants.