What is "barnstaple"

Barnstaple or is the main town of North Devon, England, and possibly the oldest borough in the United Kingdom. It is a former river-port, located at the lowest crossing-point of the River Taw, flowing into the Bristol Channel.

From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool, since the merchants claimed that the town had been declared a free borough in Saxon times. This brought great wealth to Barnstaple, whose town centre still preserves a medieval layout and character. Later the town became an importer of Irish wool, but its harbour silted up, and it developed other industries, such as shipbuilding, foundries and sawmills. Its Victorian market survives, with its high glass and timber roof on iron columns. Barnstaple railway station is the terminus of a branch line from Exeter, known as the Tarka Line.

Since 1974, Barnstaple has been a civil parish governed by town council. The parish itself had a population of 24,033 and including the satellite settlements known as the Barnstaple Town Area, it is 53,514.

Barnstaple was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Barnstaple in Devon, in the South West of England. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom until 1885, when its representation was reduced to one member.

The constituency was created in 1295, and abolished for the 1950 general election. The town of Barnstaple is today represented by the North Devon constituency.

Barnstaple may refer to several things, all related to the town in Devon:

• Barnstaple, a town in Devon, England
• Barnstaple (UK Parliament constituency)
• Barnstaple railway station
• HMS Barnstaple (1919), a minesweeper in World War I
• Barnstaple Town F.C., Barnstaple's football club