About the Barnstaple Country area of North Devon

- this is the name we give to the countryside and villages that encircle Barnstaple, from two to five miles from the town's central stone.

To the north and east are the lower foothills of Exmoor, cut by fast flowing streams coursing their way down 'V'-shaped valleys, mostly clad with broadleafed woodland: to the north is Muddiford with its excellent inn beside the Bradiford Water; to the north-east Shirwell, high on a hill, where Sir Francis Chichester was raised; and to the east, Goodleigh with its popular New Inn, on another hill above the River Yeo. To the south of Goodleigh are some romantic knobbly hills, fashioned by ancient quarrying and many small streams, here are the villages of Landkey and Swimbridge. Landkey has two rival good food pubs, The Castle and The Ring o' Bells. Swimbridge's tavern is named after its illustrious, if somewhat eccentric, hunting parson Jack Russell, who originated the popular breed of terriers. To the south, the great River Taw, tidal for its last four miles to Barnstaple, meanders through the salt marshes between the villages of Tawstock and Bishops Tawton. To the west of Barnstaple, the Taw steadily broadens on its eight mile tidal course to Barnstaple Bay: the larger villages of Bickington and Fremington sprawl across the southern bank.