In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Barnstaple like this:
Barnstaple. mun. bor., seaport town, and par., N. Devon, on river Taw, 40 mile s NW. of Exeter and 211 miles SW. of London by rail -- bor., 1750 ac., pop. 12,282; par., 1102 ac., pop. 9518; 4 Banks, 3 newspapers. Market-day, Friday. B. is an ancient town, and has lace mfrs., potteries, shipbuilding, and fishing. (For shipping statistics, see Appendix.) Barnstaple returned 2 members to Parliament until 1885.
Barnstaple through time
A Vision of Britain through Time includes a large library of local statistics for administrative units. For the best overall sense of how the area containing Barnstaple has changed, please see our redistricted information for the modern district of North Devon. More detailed statistical data are available under Units and statistics, which includes both administrative units covering Barnstaple and units named after it.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Barnstaple in North Devon | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/58
Date accessed: 19th June 2013
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