Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the

River Taw The River Taw () rises at Taw Head, a spring on the central northern flanks of Dartmoor, crosses North Devon and at the town of Barnstaple, formerly a significant port, empties into Bideford Bay in the Bristol Channel, having formed a large ...

's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won 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. The parish population was 24,033 at the 2011 census, and that of the built-up area 32,411 in 2018. The town area with nearby settlements such as

Bishop's Tawton Bishop's Tawton is a village and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. It is in the valley of the River Taw, about three miles south of Barnstaple. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 1,176. De ...

, Fremington and

Landkey Landkey ( kw, Lannke) is a small village in the county of Devon in the south-west of England with a population of 2274, falling to 1,734 at the 2011 census. It is situated from the nearest town of Barnstaple. The village is a major part of ...

, had a 2020 population of 46,619.

Toponymy

The spelling Barnstable is obsolete, but retained by an American

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

. It appears in the 10th century and is thought to derive from the Early English ''bearde'', meaning "battle-axe", and ''stapol'', meaning "pillar", i. e. a post or pillar to mark a religious or administrative meeting place. The derivation from ''staple'' meaning "market", indicating a market from its foundation, is likely to be incorrect, as the use of ''staple'' in that sense first appears in 1423. Barnstaple was formerly referred to as "Barum", as a contraction of the Latin form of the name ''ad Barnastapolitum'' in Latin documents such as the episcopal registers of the

Diocese of Exeter The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is part of the Provinc ...

. Barum was mentioned by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

and the name was revived in the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

in several novels. It remains in the names of a football team, a brewery and several businesses, and on numerous milestones. The former

Brannam Pottery Brannam Pottery was a British pottery started by Thomas Backway Brannam in Barnstaple, Devon, England, in 1848. It later became part of the "rustic" wing of the art pottery movement. History Thomas Brannam took over the lease of an existing p ...

in Litchdon Street was known for its trademark "Barum" etched on the base of its products.

History

BarnstapleAndPilton OnRiverTaw Circa1746 MuseumOfBarnstapleAndNorthDevon

The earliest local settlement was probably at Pilton by the River Yeo, now a northern suburb. Pilton is recorded in the Burghal Hidage (c. 917) as a

burh A burh () or burg was an Old English fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constr ...

founded by Alfred the Great, and may have undergone a Viking attack in 893, but by the later 10th-century Barnstaple had taken over its local defence. It had a

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

before the Norman Conquest. The feudal barony of Barnstaple had its

caput Latin words and phrases {{Short pages monitor