Barnstaple, on the banks of the River Taw, is the bustling ‘capital’ of North Devon and one of the leading floral towns in the world. Every year, it is high among the prizewinners in the Britain in Bloom competition and has even won global honours.

Take a walk around and see how the glorious floral displays brighten up the environment and make a visit to the town a real pleasure. Barnstaple is altogether an excellent shopping centre. There are big-name stores, malls containing very small shops, the ultra-modern Green Lanes shopping centre and the traditional Pannier Market.

• Barnstaple Pannier Market.

Butchers Row, alongside the market, is a unique street of open-fronted Victorian shops – some still butchers – selling meats, laver, fish, organic produce and bread. Wander around the Pannier Market which is filled with stalls, bargains and banter. Tuesday and Friday are days for local produce, Wednesday is for antiques, Thursday is crafts and Saturday is a general market.

However, Barnstaple is much, much more than just a good place to shop. It is an historic market town with a Royal Charter dating back to 930 AD. Barumites – the people of this town the Romans named Barum – proudly claim that it is the oldest borough in the kingdom.

At one end of the Pannier Market is The Guildhall. Here, the Magistrates’ Court sat in those days when people were deported to the colonies – even for minor thefts.

The town’s impressive plate collaction along with a collection of model ships finely carved from chicken and animal bones by Napoleonic prisoners-of-war will be shown to you on guided tours.

Outside, set into the lower corner of The Guildhall is a turnpike stone dated 1879. All mileages to other towns are calculated from this point.
The Guildhall once housed the courtroom and now contains some interesting rooms with portraits of the town’s mayors painted by Thomas Hudson, one of Barnstaple’s talented sons.

It is from the Guildhall that the opening ceremony of Barnstaple Fair is held each year on the Wednesday before September 20. The town’s valuable collection of silver plate is laid out and spiced ale brewed to a secret Elizabethan recipe is ladled into loving cups to drink a toast to the success of the three-day event.

Stroll through the tranquil Parish Church Walk linking High Street and Boutport Street. Look up at the curiously twisted spire of St Peter’s and down at the strange memorial stone to a man who died “an unprofitable servant” in 1774.

The church is on a well-marked heritage trail of historic places including Church Lane Almshouses, part of which was a school founded in 1659 to care for ‘20 poor maids’.

At the Square note the tall Albert Memorial Clock, the dials earned it the local name of ‘the four-faced liar’ because they showed different times.
Also note the still-lived-in 17th Penrose Almshouses in Litchdon Street, with an old pump in the cobbled courtyard which no longer draws water, but attracts lots of photographers! Even older is The Three Tuns in the High Street which dates back to the 15th century and is reputed to be the oldest hostelry in town.

The long Riverside Walk gives glorious views of the Taw estuary as it winds its way to the bay to join the River Torridge coming out of Bideford. Queen Anne stands in stone above a colonnaded walk on the Quayside where medieval merchants bartered when Barnstaple was a bustling port. They shook hands on their deals across the Tome Stone.

Notice a name around its edge: Delbridge. Time has largely ignored the man whose ships sailed with cargoes of wool and pottery to America and the Bahamas – where there are still a lot of North Devon surnames!
At the Queen Anne’s Walk Heritage Centre you can learn more about John Delbridge and Barnstaple’s past. From the Quayside, too, ships left to join Sir Francis Drake to defeat the Spanish Armada in 1588.
Barnstaple and Bideford each claim to have sent the most. The age-old argument goes on, albeit in a good-humoured way!

Museum. A stuffy word? Not when it’s the North Devon Museum where hands-on displays highlight the fascinating natural history and human story of the region. The famous book-turned-movie Tarka the Otter was written in North Devon by Henry Williamson. The otter is the area’s symbol and there is a Tarka room in the museum. The kids will also enjoy the challenge of putting their hands through holes to guess what is hidden inside the “feely boxes.”

There is an under-sea room decorated to look like an old shipwreck and the building also houses the Royal Devon Yeomanry Museum with some fine memorabilia. The Tourist Information Centre can also be found at the Museum.

The Saxons forded the river where the 14th century Long Bridge stands. It was built as a packhorse bridge – just nine feet wide! Under its 16 arches you can still see some of the original stonework. Cross it to get to the North Devon Leisure Centre which has a state-of-the-art fitness suite among its many facilities. It has a supervised toy-filled creche for tots, squash courts, badminton etc and a top-notch swimming pool as well as a cafeteria.

Unfortunately one part of Barnstaple’s past is no more. The foot and mouth epidemic of three years ago put paid to the Friday cattle markets in the town centre. The market buildings have now been demolished and the area converted to extra car parking. Landscaping and shops are planned in the future.

Round off your day of shopping and sightseeing in Barnstaple with a visit to the Queen’s Theatre. Recently refurbished at a cost of more than £1 million it stages all kinds of shows from modern plays to ballets and concerts starring top names and companies.