30th October 2024
The Dark History of Superstition and Witchcraft in North Devon
In the 16th and 17th centuries, North Devon was a region haunted not only by misfortune but also by a deeply ingrained fear of witchcraft—especially for women, who were often blamed for unexplained calamities. The area was once steeped in superstition and, like much of the country, was gripped by an intense fear of witchcraft. Accusations flew, trials were held, and innocent people were condemned to terrible fates. North Devon’s involvement in the persecution of witches is a dark chapter in its history.
Witchcraft in the Heart of Devon
In rural Devon, where livelihoods depended on the land, unexplained misfortunes—failed crops or illness—were often blamed on witches. Many accused were women, typically older or isolated, targeted due to little more than superstition or disputes. Witches were believed capable of casting spells, cursing livestock, and causing illness, fears that the church heightened by linking witchcraft with heresy and the devil
The Bideford Witch Trials
One of the most infamous moments in North Devon’s history of witchcraft is the Bideford Witch Trials of 1682, which led to the execution of three women—Temperance Lloyd, Mary Trembles, and Susannah Edwards. These trials were among the last known witch executions in England.
Temperance Lloyd was the first to be accused. In 1682, she was blamed for the illness of a local woman named Grace Thomas. Soon after, Mary Trembles and Susannah Edwards were accused of colluding with her in witchcraft. After being interrogated by the townspeople and magistrates, Temperance confessed, but her confession was likely forced or influenced by her desperation.
All three women were tried, found guilty, and hanged. The trial itself was deeply flawed, relying on superstition rather than evidence, including a tabby cat-sighting and a man’s fit where he “leapt and capered like a madman” in the courtroom. Their deaths were some of the last of the era of mass witch hunts in England, but their stories remain a powerful reminder of how easily fear and suspicion can lead to tragedy.
Did Belief in Witchcraft and Superstition Persist?
Although witch trials declined by the 18th century, belief in witchcraft continued in isolated communities. In 1867, J.R. Chanter, former Mayor of Barnstaple, discussed in his paper North Devon Customs and Superstitions how superstition remained ingrained. He described local beliefs that accidents or cattle ailments were signs of a curse or “overlooking,” curable only by a “white witch.” Threats of witching, such as those involving sailors in Croyde Bay, were taken seriously, and other superstitions, such as throwing a shoe after a bride for luck, were widely practiced.
Skimmington Riding
One of the most intriguing practices he discusses is Skimmington riding, also known as charivari or chivaree. This folk custom involved a mock parade where actors or stuffed figures represented a local couple who were thought to be unfaithful, violent, or had remarried too soon after being widowed. The crowd would make a cacophony of “rough music” by beating pots and pans, expressing their disapproval by abusing the effigies and often burning them at the end of the ritual.
Skimmington riding served as a form of public humiliation, with the loud noises sometimes symbolising the ghostly screams of a deceased spouse in cases of hasty remarriage. They were a common practice up until the 18th and 19th centuries, but Stephen Banks notes that the last recorded instance of traditional rough music in Devon occurred in 1973.
The Legacy of Witchcraft and Superstition in Devon
The history of superstition and witchcraft in North Devon offers a haunting glimpse into past fears and beliefs. From the Bideford witch trials to the echoes of Skimmington rides, these customs reveal times when communities could swiftly turn on one another, with judgments often leading to tragic outcomes. Though many superstitions have faded, they remind us how communities can turn to fear and hostility. As we examine these dark chapters, we remember those who suffered, gaining insight into how cultural beliefs evolve and the importance of questioning our assumptions to avoid repeating past mistakes.
27th September 2024
Thomas Benson – The MP turned smuggler who left his mark on Lundy Island
Thomas Benson, MP for Barnstaple in 1749, may have seemed like a typical politician and merchant. His fortune came from his family’s business in shipping and trade, which he inherited when his father, then eldest brother, passed away. In a position of both substantial wealth and power, he then began to use his advantages for nefarious purposes.
One of the objects in our collection is known as ‘The Benson Bowl, which Thomas Benson gave to the Corporation of Barnstaple in 1745. It is a large silver punch bowl, with an ornate rim which is designed to hold the stem of glasses – in full use complete with punch and glasses, it must have been a very opulent sight! Whether for personal gain or as a genuinely altruistic gift, we don’t know, but we do know that he became Sheriff for Devon the following year, and the year after that, he was elected to Parliament as MP for Devon.
Also in 1747, Benson obtained a contract from the Government to transport English convicts and gave the usual bond to the Sheriff to ship them to Virginia or Maryland. And, in 1748, he acquired a lease for the island of Lundy for a rent of £60 per annum.
Benson’s plan was a simple one: he would pay the usual bond to transport English convicts to North America, but instead ship them to Lundy where he ‘employed’ them as slave labourers in building walls, foundations etc. His defence was that sending convicts to Lundy was the same as sending them to America, saying “they were transported from England, no matter where it was so long as they were out of the kingdom.”
His trading affairs soon expanded into more illegal activities, including a vast scheme which involved him avoiding paying customs duties on his imports by storing his smuggled goods in a cave on Lundy – most of these imports were tobacco from the American colonies.
This stash was eventually discovered, and the Sheriff of Devon (no longer Benson himself) was directed to levy penalties – in 1752, he failed to pay some £8,000 of duty on imports valued at £40,000 and was prosecuted for non-payment. His estates were sequestered by the Crown.
In another dubious scheme, Benson obtained insurance for his ship Nightingale, which was supposedly sailing for Maryland in America. However, he gave orders to his captain and relative by marriage, John Lancey, to secretly unload the goods back onto Lundy, and to scuttle the vessel. Lancey did so on the 3rd August 1752. The legend goes that one of the crew spoke a little too loudly in the pub that evening about successfully pulling off the scheme, and so the plot was discovered by the authorities. Lancey was then hanged in London, but Benson successfully fled to Portugal.
Although Benson’s assets and lands were seized by the Crown, he was joined in Portugal by two of his remaining ships and by his nephew Thomas Stafford, and together they established one of the largest English trading companies in that country.
He is said to have died in 1771 in Porto, but we don’t know for sure. All we know is that Thomas Benson ultimately didn’t answer for his crimes, but another man certainly did.
18th September 2024
Fair Proclamation
Barnstaple Fair is one of the oldest in the country, probably dating back over 1,000 years. The Fair’s original purpose was trade, and in the eighteenth century it was known as the Pot Fair due to the large quantities of local pottery sold there.
Until 1970 the fair was held for three days, but the modern fair is longer and starts on the third Wednesday in September. The Pleasure Fair which started when travelling showmen brought entertainments for the crowds, has now entirely taken over from the commercial fair.For hundreds of years the main aspect of the fair was the trading of wares and the selling of livestock.
The fair usually started on the Wednesday with the sheep and cattle fair and drovers would spend days driving their stock into the town from the remote parts of North Devon and beyond. Thursday was given over to the horse fair held along the town’s Strand and this attracted many traders from all over the country.
Friday was always set aside for the amusements and festivities and thousands would visit to see the entertainment on show.
The horse fair survived until the 1940s but the cattle and sheep trading declined well before that date after more regular cattle markets were set up.
Fair Proclamation
The opening ceremony which proclaims the state of the fair has nearly always taken place in the Guildhall in the centre of Barnstaple.
The ceremony is presided over by the Mayor of Barnstaple and includes members of the Town Council, Local dignitaries, representatives of the Showmen’s Guild and leading representatives from the business community. The opening starts at 10.30 in the morning and guests are offered samples of Barnstaple sweet fairings and a glass of spiced ale brewed locally by the Chief Beadle from a secret recipe passed down from his predecessor.
At 12.00 the proclamation is read and a white glove symbolising the hand of friendship is suspended from the upper window of the Guildhall which signals the opening of the fair. The Mayoral party then precedes to various historic landmarks around the town centre where once again the proclamation is read out.
After a big lunch, the civic party goes to the Fair.
The Showmen’s Guild
The Showmen’s Guild of Great Britain is the principal trade association for travelling showmen. The people it represents gain their livelihoods by presenting amusements at funfairs. They come from a wide variety of historical backgrounds, including some whose roots go back to the time of the strolling players and entertainers, but most are the descendants of those who were attracted into the fairground business during the period of great expansion that followed the introductions of stream-powered rides in the nineteenth century.
High on the Guild’s list of priorities is to safeguard the annual calendar of fairs that enables its members to earn a living. Forming its core are the many surviving fairs, like Barnstaple, that were established by charter during the Middle Ages.
14th August 2024
Rail Fest 2024
Hello everyone! We in the Heritage Team (Rachel and Lucy) just wanted to thank everyone for the most amazing (long!) weekend of heritage, model railways, exhibitions, craft fairs, dressing up, incredible food, town trails, music, poetry, fair games, and train puns EVER.
Firstly, a recap of all the amazing things that happened around town between 1st and the 5th of August.
Our exhibition in the upstairs of the Guildhall was a runaway success! We had some clips and slides showing in our Dodderidge Room which proved to be very popular, and our exhibition was in the main chamber. We had some amazing artefacts and records kindly lent to us by Tim Steer of the Tarka Rail Association and Ian Dinmore of the Rail Archive – thanks so much to both for completing our exhibition. We also had the incredibly popular model of the Lynton line from the Dartmoor 009 Group. A huge thank you to all members of the group who worked on the model, drove the train dutifully all weekend, and spoke to our enthusiastic exhibition-goers. We worked with them last December for our winter railway exhibition, so we already knew how popular their model would be, but we were still blown away by the public’s enthusiasm!
On the ground floor of the Guildhall, the NDRO, the Athenaeum, and the Local Studies group from the library held their exhibition celebrating the history of North Devon railways. They supplied lots of records and objects from their archives, and their exhibition was a roaring success too!
Over at Barnstaple Station, we held our re-enactment of the original opening ceremony of the station. The original speeches that were delivered in 1874 were repeated for the first time by our Town Clerk Rob Ward, the Reverend Canon Dr Benjamin Williams, and our Mayor Janet Coates. In the Station Master’s café, one of our homemade Aunt Sally boards (the painted sign you stick your head in) was out and used all weekend! Another big thank you goes out to the Station Master’s café for all of their involvement and help over the weekend.
At the library, there were railway-themed crafts over all five days, and screenings of railway films. These proved to be particularly popular with families around Barnstaple and beyond. We owe all the staff there a tremendous thank you for running these activities and for all their help with preparing for this event.
On the Strand, we had another Aunt Sally standing proud near the new Barnstaple Town Station sign. This sign proved particularly popular, and we are hugely grateful to Queen Anne’s for helping us with this sign, and for becoming one of the stops along our heritage trail.
Over in the Pannier Market, we had other railway models on display all weekend, and a couple of stalls from some wonderful railway organisations, and some more model railway layouts.
On the Sunday and Monday, we had our hugely successful Victorian Fair in the Pannier Market. We had performances by the Ilfracombe Shanty Choir and the local Laurel & Hardy Do Devon double act (who also play a mean barrel organ!), our resident poet-for-hire Nathan Rodney-Jones, food from Roots Barnstaple and North Devon Hog Roast, and amazing face-painting from Be Beautiful Face Painting. We had some very popular fair games which were run very smoothly by the wonderful Barnstaple Rotary Link Club, to whom we are very grateful! Our group of local vendors sold some totally amazing crafts and other wares and we had Watermouth Castle visit with their ‘bubble car’! James Martin won our costume competition, but lots of people turned up in amazing costumes and we are grateful to everyone who put in effort to be ‘time appropriate’!
We owe a couple of kind words to the wonderful people and organisations who helped to make it all happen. The Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership very kindly organised a grant and lots of marketing for us which made a huge difference in what we could achieve and really helped spread the word. We also received a grant from the Flourishing Culture fund, from which we were able to pay our amazing musicians and entertainers for the Victorian Fair. Great Western railway were very kind to print our promotional material and put it in all of the stations along the line we were celebrating! And finally, Network Rail and the Tarka Rail Association allowed us to hold our re-enactment of the opening ceremony on the second platform of Barnstaple Station, which was a huge privilege.
Overall, it was an amazing weekend celebrating the 170th anniversary of the Barnstaple to Exeter line, and we cannot thank everyone who was involved enough.
28th June 2024
The Loving Cup
In our collection we have a large silver cup called a Loving Cup. It is 18 inches high, made in the early 18th Century-style, and it has an inscription that reads ‘This Loving Cup was presented by Barumites in London, 13th September 1899’.
So, what is a loving cup?
A loving cup is a shared drinking container traditionally used at weddings and banquets. It usually had two handles and is often made of silver.
The ceremony that surrounds Loving Cups is said to derive from the assassination of King Edward the Martyr. Supposedly, the King was murdered by drinking, as by lifting the cup with both hands he left himself vulnerable to attack. Consequently, it became customary for those who stood to drink to have a companion stand with them also, who could protect them as they drank. This custom eventually turned into tradition, and this ritual is often mimicked now in ceremonies. At events, the cup passes around a table with each guest drinking to their neighbour. When the one in possession of the cup stands to drink, their neighbours also rise. One stands back-to-back with whoever is about to drink, to protect them, and the other bows to the drinker, removes the lid from the cup, and replaces it when the drinker is done. The same procedure is followed as the cup is passed around the table.
Barnstaple’s Loving Cup
Luckily, we do not follow this ritual with our own cup anymore. This is mostly because our Loving Cup is now quite old and is in danger of being damaged if it is regularly filled with liquid, drank from, touched with bare hands, and moved often. We follow strict conservation and collections care techniques to ensure the cup is kept in great condition for many years to come, but we are able to get it out for specific ceremonies.
How did we acquire this cup?
According to a North Devon Journal article from 1898, the Corporation already had a pair of Loving Cups which were ‘beautifully chased specimens of work and are valued at £200’. £200 in 1898 is the equivalent of around £21,600 in today’s money. However, we don’t know what happened to these cups. They could have been sold, melted down, stolen, or destroyed.
When the Brannam Bowl, also described as the ‘Barum Ware Punch Bowl’, was presented to the Barumites of London at their annual dinner on March 4th, it was also announced at the event Barumites were going to reciprocate by presenting the town with piece of new plate – setting up a fund for Barumites to donate for.
The account of the Brannam Bowl presentation ceremony from North Devon Journal shows that it was Francis Carruthers Gould’s idea that the plate should take the form of a Loving Cup.
The Loving Cup Fund
It was announced during the ceremony that the first subscriber to the ‘Barumites in London Loving Cup Fund’ was Mrs R H Fry who put £20 into the pot, the equivalent of around £2,100 in today’s money. This was followed by another donation of five guineas, and later it was announced that in total £43 has already been promised.
The presentation of the Loving Cup
Eventually the new cup was presented during Barnstaple’s Fair Proclamation ceremony on September 13th 1899, although it wasn’t until 11.30pm that they got around to presenting it.
The North Devon Journal reported it as:
“…a very handsome solid silver Loving Cup weighing 200 ozs after an ancient Irish helmet pattern, subscribed by Barumites in London… It was accompanied by a very beautifully illuminated address, the work of an old Barumite Mr R O Hearson (containing a list of the subscribers) in the right corner of which was a clever reproduction of an old print of High-street and the old Guildhall, and in the left corner a picture of the old quay and Queen Anne’s Walk, while the borough arms figured in the centre. The inscription ran: – “Although our paths in life have led us away from our old homes we desire to mark in some way our love for the place of our birth and our early associations, and we therefore beg your acceptance of a silver loving cup to be added to the municipal plate of your ancient and honourable Corporation as a token of the regard which Barumites in London cherish for their native town.”
These days
The cup has subsequently played a key part in the opening ceremony of Barnstaple Fair ever since. Traditionally, after a welcome from the Mayor, the guests at the ceremony are offered samples of Barnstaple’s sweet farings and a glass of spice ale, brewed by the Chief Beadle. For many years, this ale was actually served in the cup. Nowadays, the cup is no longer used for serving ale, although it is put on display during the event along with the other ceremonial silverware.
A huge thanks to our volunteer Matt who conducted the research for this blog post. If you’d like to volunteer with us, please visit our Heritage Volunteers page.
21st June 2024
A Portrait of John Gay
If you have ever been in the Main Chamber of Barnstaple Guildhall, you will have seen a portrait of John Gay front and centre on the Southern wall. We also have a much more flamboyant portrait of the same man up on of our staircases. But who was he, and why do we have two portraits of him?
Born in Barnstaple in 1685, Gay was an interesting man who led a fascinating yet turbulent life. He reached a high level of notoriety in his time, but very few people in Barnstaple know much about him.
John Gay grew up in “a large house, called the Red Cross, on the corner of Joy Street.” His great-grandfather, Antony Gay, served as Mayor, and Antony’s wife was the daughter of the merchant and three-time mayor Richard Beaple.
As an adult, Gay moved to London and began writing plays. The first, The Mohocks, faced censorship issues. The second, a comedy titled The Wife of Bath, was performed at the Drury Lane Theatre. The third, Rural Sports, was dedicated to Alexander Pope and began a lasting friendship with him (author of famous quote “to err is human, to forgive, divine”).
In 1713, Gay joined the Scriblerus Club with Pope, a group of authors who satirized society. In 1715, he produced The What D’Ye Call It?, a dramatic skit on contemporary tragedy that was so confusing it necessitated a ‘Complete Key to What D’Ye Call It’ to explain it.
In 1720, Secretary of State James Craggs advised Gay to invest in South Sea stock, part of the South Sea Company set up to reduce national debt, which generated income through the slave trade. The stock peaked in 1720 before collapsing, ruining thousands of investors. Ignoring friends’ advice, Gay invested all his money and lost everything in the ‘South Sea Bubble’, which then left him dangerously ill. While destitute, his friends continued to support and house him.
Seeking royal patronage, Gay wrote Fifty-one Fables in Verse for the six-year-old Prince William, although the work subtly criticized courtiers and court honours. His next work, The Beggar’s Opera, satirized the Whig statesman Robert Walpole and other politicians. It portrayed the prostitutes and thieves of Newgate, allegorizing the ruling class. Initially intended to have no musical accompaniment, a week before opening, theatre director Johan Christoph Pepusch was asked to write a formal French overture and arrange 69 songs. He did so in a week.
The Beggar’s Opera was a huge success, running for sixty-two nights and popularizing characters like Polly Peachum and Captain Macheath. Gay wrote a sequel, Polly, which was banned by the Lord Chamberlain, ironically boosting its publication sales in 1729.
Although Gay wrote two more works, none matched the success of The Beggar’s Opera. He was supported by the Duchess of Queensberry until his death in 1732. He was buried in Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey, with an epitaph by Pope followed by Gay’s own mocking couplet:
Life is a jest, and all things show it,
I thought so once, but now I know it.
14th June 2024
Barnstaple’s brush with Percy Shelley
In August 1812, an Irishman started distributing leaflets on the streets of Barnstaple. The recipients viewed these leaflets with disapproval. Firstly, they broke the law as they lacked the printer’s name and location; secondly, they were considered seditious. The Irishman was arrested and brought before the Mayor. He identified himself as Hill and claimed that a gentleman had paid him five shillings to distribute the leaflets.
The Mayor, suspecting there was more to the story, assigned the town clerk, Henry Drake, to investigate further. It was soon discovered that the Irishman’s real name was Daniel Healey, a servant of Percy Bysshe Shelley, a young man living in Lynmouth. Shelley was not only the author of the leaflets but had also been seen launching fire balloons over the sea and dropping bottles into it. Some of these bottles, when recovered, were found to contain more leaflets.
At the time, Shelley was only twenty. He and his then 17-year-old wife, Harriet, had been experiencing a turbulent year since their marriage. They travelled to Dublin, where Shelley faced trouble for printing and distributing an ‘Address to the Irish People’; spent several months in Wales, and then set off for Ilfracombe. However, they were so charmed by Lynmouth that they stayed at the cottage of Mrs. Hooper, who treated them kindly and lent them money for their journey by boat to Swansea from Ilfracombe when it became clear they could not remain.
Daniel Healey was not as fortunate. He was fined £200 but, having no money, went to prison. Despite having a comfortable income of £400, Shelley found himself in his usual financial difficulties, and so Daniel went to prison. Shelley referred to him in a letter to a friend as his ‘blundering honest Irishman.’ Had Healey known this, he might have considered that one of his biggest mistakes was working for the young poet.
The leaflets, printed anonymously by W. Style and his partner W. Searle (one of three printers in Barnstaple), included ‘A Declaration of Rights,’ ‘The Devil’s Walk’ (a parody mocking the Prince Regent), and ‘Proposals for an Association for Reforming the House of Commons’. Shelley also ordered a thousand copies of ‘A Letter to Lord Ellenborough.’
After this episode, the Shelley household settled in Wales and began their new chapter, with Shelley himself starting work on Queen Mab.
7th June 2024
The Barnstaple Potato Riot of 1840
The North Devon Journal on July 2nd, 1840, reported that hundreds of Barnstaple women took desperate measures to ensure 150 bags of potatoes which were being stored in the town centre were sold to local people and not transported elsewhere.
During the 1840s, Britain endured a period of economic hardships and agricultural challenges like potato blight. This led to ‘The Hungry Forties’, characterized by poor harvests and food shortages. Barnstaple and North Devon were no exception to this – the area also suffered from poor distribution and lack of transport, which worsened the availability and supply of food.
In the lead up to the Barnstaple Potato Riot of 1840, potatoes were a staple part of the working and lower classes’ diets. Then, as now, potatoes were a staple part of the diet of a working man but owing to poor weather conditions the crop that year had been bad, but prices were high – with the highest prices being paid in the cities such as Bristol and Exeter. In such a situation that local merchants naturally shipped their stocks to the cities leaving the poor in North Devon with little to eat.”
It was discovered that miller Edward Baker-Setter had acquired the potatoes and was storing them at a warehouse near Barnstaple quay. Despite the fact Mr. Baker-Setter publicly announced that they would be sold locally, the women suspected that he was planning to sneakily ship them off elsewhere during the night so they could be sold for a bigger profit. An estimated 500-1000 women gathered outside the warehouse and threatened to destroy his house unless he sold his stock to them cheaply.
Magistrate William Avery intervened, buying all the vegetables, and pledged to sell them to the women at cost price. To ensure this happened, some women surrounded the warehouse to guard the potatoes overnight and accompanied them the following morning as they were transported to the market where they were then sold at cost price.
Interestingly, it seems Edward Baker-Setter learnt his lesson as he intervened during a similar food riot in Bideford a week or so later, as shown in a Western Times article. A “mob, several hundreds in number, chiefly women,’ were trying to ensure potatoes weren’t being transported from Bideford to Bristol. They “attacked” the carts that were loading the vegetables onto a boat and threatened to throw Mr. Frampton, who was transporting the potatoes, into the river.
“Mr. E S Baker of the Town Mills, Barnstaple having been brough acquainted with the state of affairs immediately waited upon the Mayor and offered the whole of his stock of potatoes in Bideford to the magistrates, at cost price, to be sold out for the benefit of the poor, this produced the desired effect, and tranquillity was restored.”
31st May 2024
The History of Mayor Making
Last Thursday we held our annual Mayor Making ceremony, where Councillor Janet Coates was elected as the new Mayor of Barnstaple. She succeeded Councillor Louisa York, who served as Mayor for two years.
But what is Mayor Making and what are its origins? The Ceremony, held at the Guildhall annually, marks the transfer of office from the current/old Mayor to the new Mayor. This event takes place every May, however, it was originally named ‘Mayor-Choosing’ and traditionally occurred in November up until relatively recently (the last 50 years or so). The first record we have for this ceremony dates to 1403, when Thomas Hertescote was elected Mayor.
Originally, selecting a new Mayor was a quiet and simple affair, likely decided by a small group vote. Over time public interest increased and more traditions and celebrations have been added to the ceremony. We know for certain that Barnstaple has had a Mayor since 1301 – just over a hundred years before the first Mayor Choosing – and over 750 individuals have held the position since then. However, there is some evidence in the form of a document which mentions the Mayor of Barnstaple (but does not name him) which dates to before 1210, suggesting we may have held a Mayor for much longer than originally thought.
Unfortunately, many records for the town were stolen or destroyed during this period, so it is not until 1301 that the name of the Mayor is finally recorded – this was Simon de la Barre, a member of a Norman family.
Busy Mayors
Mayors of Barnstaple tended to live busy lives, as being mayor was not their only responsibility or role within the community. Several of the early Mayors also represented the borough in Parliament as M.P.s, among them Ralph Wynemer, who in 1303 was also head of the Guild of St. Nicholas (one of the more prestigious guilds within Barnstaple at that time). But we also have examples of Mayors behaving badly, or questionably, for example in 1332 a writ was issued by Edward III to inquire into an alleged indictment for burglary at the Priory in which the mayor (Thomas de la Barre, also MP at the time) and twenty-six burgesses (a British title, a representative of the borough) were involved.
One year there was also a particularly dramatic Mayor-Choosing ceremony. In 1769 when the newly sworn-in Mayor, Richard Honychurch, passed away the very same day he was chosen. His successor, Simon Moule, was then elected. If Moule was sworn in that day, Barnstaple may have had three Mayors in one day, including the outgoing Mayor, Daniel Mariott.
Mayors often stood more than once as Mayor, but usually not consecutively, there was often a gap of a year or two between their elections. The longest serving Mayor of Barnstaple was Charles F Dart, who served a total of 10 years, but this is unsurprising as his term included WW2. A similar long term of office occurred during WW1, with Frank Jewell remaining as mayor for 7 years. However, the longest consecutive stint as Mayor was (probably) Roger Molland from 1339.
And it wasn’t until relatively recently we had our first female mayor in 1976, Elizabeth Fern. She was in her 70s when she was elected and had lived in Barnstaple for 50 years, having a well-known reputation as a campaigner and a champion of charity. In the year she was elected she topped the Yeo poll in the elections for both District and Town Councils, proving to be a popular choice.
The Mayor Making Ceremony
As the ceremony dates to at least 1403, it’s not surprising that it has evolved significantly over the years. For instance, in 1612, the Mayor’s role came with a salary of £30 a year – a substantial amount at the time. This practice has long since been discontinued. The Mayor also used to be designated ‘Clerk of the Market’, which meant they could go to the market and weigh butter and other commodities, and if the butter was under the specified weight, it would be confiscated.
Historically, there were many more civic and ceremonial roles than we have today. For example, we used to have a ‘Beadle of the Beggars’, and in 1604, a man named Nicholas Gay was appointed ‘Surveyor of Strangers’.
24th May 2024
Our Guildhall – Polarizing architecture
This is Barnstaple’s third Guildhall and was built in 1826 by local architect Thomas Lee, who also designed Arlington Court and the Wellington Monument. It was designed in the neo-classical style, meaning the inspiration for its design was drawn from ancient Greece and Rome, which can be seen through its geometric design and features such as the columns on the upper floor. It was first used in the parliamentary elections of 1826.
The unveiling
When our current Guildhall was built in 1826, the style of the building caused a stir.
If you have never had the pleasure (or displeasure, according to a few contemporary sources) of seeing the Guildhall, let our guide from 1986 set the scene for you:
‘The Guildhall was built flush with adjoining buildings, and this, along with the gates of the market under its arches, distracts a visitor and lessens the impact of the building considerably. Its critics at the time said that it should have been built standing back from the street so that its civic importance as well as its perspective could have been appreciated.
Though the present Guildhall is not, apparently, as architecturally interesting as its predecessor, it was at the time superior for administrative and judicial purposes.’
Or, in the words of Joseph Besly Gribble in 1830, ‘Few towns probably possess a building worse adapted for the transacting of judicial business than our late Guildhall, or one better suited for the purpose than the present’.
It’s true, our current Guildhall was definitely better equipped to handle the town’s needs than its outdated predecessor, and its interior did not receive the same criticism as the outside. With a sizeable main chamber for judicial proceedings and a dedicated jury room, it was perfectly poised to serve as a courtroom for the town.
However, this wasn’t enough to negate the impact of the exterior, and it remained an unpopular building in public opinion for many years.
A controversial exterior
Insults on the Guildhall’s exterior are plentiful.
On the appearance of the building, Gribble said, ‘…the effect which it ought to have is almost wholly lost, from the building having been erected in a line with the adjoining ones. Had it been set back 10 or 15 feet from the street, it would have been a great ornament to the town; situated as it is, it may be passed by strangers without anything more being seen than the market gates; or, should an eye perchance be turned upwards, it will be rather wearied than gratified; the building being lofty, and the street comparatively narrow.’
The opinion of the building being built too close to the street is a pervasive one. Sydney Harper agrees in ‘History of Barnstaple for Boys and Girls Past and Present’: ‘The front is not particularly handsome, and is in the Grecian style; but it is thought the hall would have been more imposing if it had been set back a few feet from the street, and this could very well have been done when it was being built.’
More simply, the Shell Guide to Devon from 1955 describes Barnstaple as ‘Severest Georgian, almost unadorned.’ Even worse, a guidebook to Devon of about 1870 remarked that it had ‘a Grecian exterior of a bald and inferior character.’
Popular opinion mostly focused on the issue of the Guildhall being flush with the adjoining buildings, and not being set back from the street. It was suggested that the Guildhall would be more ‘imposing’ or striking if this were the case, but if we think about it from another perspective, this may be a blessing in disguise.
Imagine you are due to appear in court over some (hopefully minor) transgression. If you are convicted, you could be sentenced to time in prison – or even transportation to Australia – and your life would change forever. Would you rather walk into a monumental building, imposing and excessively adorned, while already quaking with nerves? Or would you rather enter an understated building that was not built to intimidate you?
Although the Guildhall might not be as impressive and excessive as some contemporary critics wanted, that may have been a relief for others. There are some questions you may ask yourself now: What did people want from a Guildhall back when it was built, and how did the design of the building influence or assist with its aims? And how has that changed for what the people of Barnstaple want from the Guildhall now?
15th May 2024
The ‘middle’ Guildhall – the building that wrote a strongly worded letter
Unlike the first Guildhall in Barnstaple, where almost nothing is known about the building, the history of the second Guildhall is clearer. It was acquired by the Borough Council of Barnstaple in 1532. A highly ornate and impressive structure, its design was modelled on the Guildhall in Exeter. Evidence suggests that it was likely constructed during the reign of Henry VII, as indicated by the presence of his crest on the fascia panels. Prior to its acquisition by the borough council, the building served as the Guild of St. George the Martyr.
The second Guildhall was perfectly located to be at the hub of Barnstaple life in the sixteenth century – it was near the church and churchyard, which were often used as a covered market and a theatre, and held fairs, wedding feasts and wakes. The Guildhall also held theatrical performances: in 1593, the borough had to pay to have the ceiling repaired ‘that the interlude players had broke down this year’.
There was also a motto and text painted on the walls of the building which read, ‘’Use justice still with due regard, respect no person, not reward,’ and the text, ‘Agree with thine adversary whiles thou art in the way with him.’ Underneath the Guildhall, where it was raised on pillars, many commercial stalls were in operation ‘on the shambles’.
Development through the years
In December 1598 the Guildhall appears to have had a major refurbishment, and again in 1646, the corporation began a scheme of ‘re-edifying’ the Guildhall – the building was largely rebuilt (and was, at this point, at least 110 years old). The work didn’t finish until 1649, and this version of the building probably lasted until its demolition. Both the Guildhall in the High Street (the ‘middle’ Guildhall) and the old Guildhall at the end of Maiden Street continued to be used and parts were leased out throughout the seventeenth century – the last lease for the old Guildhall is dated 1793.
By the early nineteenth century the ‘middle’ Guildhall’s time was up. In June 1826 the current Guildhall was opened – despite not being fully completed – and began to be used as the main Guildhall for the town. This change was not without controversy, as the new Guildhall was deemed unattractive by many.
The letter
In the North Devon Journal of 20th April 1827, something strange appeared. It took the form of a letter which was apparently from the Guildhall itself. It lamented its fate, asked what it had done to deserve being demolished, and implored readers to rally to the ‘middle’ Guildhall’s side. The letter read as follows:
‘To the Editor of the North Devon Journal
Ingratitude! Thou hell-born monster! Blacker is thy heart than Satan’s: curst be the hour that first admitted thee into this world, blasting man’s happiness with thy bane.
I am, Mr Editor, a poor old gentleman, ‘getting up in years’; one who has seen generation after generation pass beneath him, and vanish from the face of the earth, as stars that disappear on the approach of morning. I have, as it were, been a mentor to this town for many centuries; hall disputes have been generally decided by men, and dare any one to say I ever breathed aught but justice. I have been honoured by the presence of almost every person of consequence who have visited Barum, even at their elections, I have been the means of sending many candidates to parliament. (Oh! That ingratitude should so infuse itself into the hearts of men.) In one particular election, they swore that I should no more stand upon the land of the living, and cruelly attempted to trip me up; and my poor old legs, gouty as they were, (I hope no one will say by hard drinking), were shamefully abused and spurned at by the mob. But one thing I should have felt a pleasure in: I had sworn in my heart not to fall unrevenged, I would have crushed mine enemies beneath me, and – but it little shows resignation to die to be thus talking of revenge – the hand of the foe is upon me, death follows him as thunder the forked lightning; my ailing has been looked into: verdict ‘dying of decline’, the neglect of those who visited me in my youth, I have felt severely; but now old age comes on, I am to be cast from the face of the earth. The favours that were once conferred on me, have been given to another, no more to be compared to me than I to Hercules! Why is it that I am thus slighted? Because I am old? Am I not worthy to keep my situation? Why is it? Have I not been from my infancy religious? Have I not been the means of bringing many people into the path of the church? O cruel, misled me! When old age comes upon you, when you are fast dropping into the grave, when the veil of death overshadows you, would it not be cruel to hasten your dissolution? Oh! Have pity, and repent! Let the sentence of death be reprieved ere it be too late! Well I know it is from envy of my beauty that I am doomed; I have been slanderously called a forward encroaching old fellow; this must be false, for, believe me, I have never moved an inch forward since first I became an inhabitant of Barnstaple; some respect has been shown me, but alas, I fear, it is more for profit than love; they have kindly taken my portrait, and nought, as it were, but my shadow to be handed down to posterity, glazed in a gilt frame, to ornament some lady’s drawing-room.
Now, Mr Editor, I have finished; and I cast myself upon your mercy, whether this, my last dying Speech and confession, shall be made known to the inhabitants of Barum and gain their pity; if not, I fear they have stony hearts, the same as the masons that will be employed to destroy me. If this petition should be successful, believe me, you shall always have the humble thanks of the OLD GUILDHALL.’
Barnstaple, April 16th 1827.
Whatever the reaction to this letter, it was not sufficient to save the building from its demolition. Unfortunately, the modern tendency to preserve ancient buildings came too late to save the old Guildhall.
Surviving artefacts
However, a few remnants survive. The leadlight windows from part of the frontage were salvaged and, after spending some years in the ‘Town Clerk’s House’ in Cross Street, have now come to rest in the Dodderidge Room of the present Guildhall. The door of the building also still survives today and rests in Barnstaple Museum (although there are now two contenders for this door). The wooden fascia which decorated the front of the building above the pillars and was carved with various coats of arms survived in Bull House in Pilton for many years before eventually ending up in the Merchants’ Gallery, again in Barnstaple Museum. Almost all other relics were sold off at the time of demolition.
As the town’s Guildhall responsibilities transitioned over to the new building, the ‘middle’ Guildhall was not forgotten. True to the building’s own prediction, ‘they’ did take note of the building’s likeness and several paintings, drawings and etchings were created.
10th May 2024
Barnstaple has been an established town for such a long time that much of its early years are now unknown to us. What we do know is that Barnstaple has an extensive history, and this includes its Guildhalls – our current Guildhall is the third building of its kind in Barnstaple’s history. The first Guildhall in Barnstaple is shrouded in mystery, but the few references to the building that we can find reveal lots about the area and the importance of this initial building.
The first Guildhall
In Barnstaple, the first recorded site of a hall called the ‘Guildhall’ was on the east side of the entrance to Maiden Street, at the town end of the Long Bridge, where Bridge Buildings now stands. The source for this early reference to a Guildhall is a lease of 1289 in connection with the Bridge Trust, a body which administered the grants which provided for the maintenance of the bridge.
Details about this first Guildhall are scarce. A few references can be found in Barnstaple Records: a record for a year’s rent in 1394, a payment for new rushes (probably for the floor) made in 1494, and a charge for ‘ryddying the water under the Guildhall’ in 1507 (which is probably a reference to floodwater, given the proximity of the building to the Taw). Because of the lack of surviving information, we know very few specifics about this Guildhall or the role it played in the community, other than assumptions we can make because we know how Guildhalls generally functioned.
Guilds
But what were Guilds, and why were they important?
Guilds, common enough in towns like Barnstaple during the Medieval period, were an early precursor to later municipal bodies and could easily evolve over time to become these without any significant change in power base.
An early form of guilds were ‘Frith-guilds’: groups of ten townsmen bound themselves by oaths of mutual obligation. Beyond their religious aspects, their objectives included maintaining peace and settling vendettas or disputes ‘out of court’ – if a brother was slain and no fine was paid, the whole guild would seek retribution. Penalties were imposed on those who neglected their obligations, and the burial and remembrance of the dead were very important aspects of guild activities.
In secular matters guilds were able to offer resources and support that members might not have been able to afford independently. This support ranged from funding the services of a priest to perform special ceremonies or memorials, to undertaking larger ventures such as the construction of docks, bridges, or highways. While they also ensured that production standards were maintained, and that competition was reduced between merchants. Guilds emerged as crucial pillars of society, serving as integral social, economic, and religious units.
Because many men profited greatly from the growth of medieval towns, and the governmental structures developed, some men became quite powerful – the burgesses of a town gained the right to form protective guilds, hold markets and administer justice. In Barnstaple, guilds comprised the wealthiest and most influential members of society. They not only administered justice but also played important roles in establishing and managing the municipal body, including the nomination of mayors, bailiffs, and their aides. It also meant that admission to the Guilds became stricter and more costly as higher membership fees were imposed so those in control of the Guilds could maintain their wealth and influence.
As the years went by, both Merchant and Craft Guilds became more exclusive, usually only accepting new members who were the sons of existing members or if they could gain sponsorship from a master, who was often biased towards his own family members. This led to many professions becoming hereditary.
So why was the first Guildhall built?
In Barnstaple, it was likely that a situation arose where all the members of the municipal authority hailed from a single guild, with its master assuming the role of mayor. It could be surmised that this would have been the Wool Merchant Guild, which was the biggest export of Barnstaple during this period. Consequently, the guild’s meeting hall typically transformed into the Town Hall or Guildhall. This space not only served as the venue for municipal deliberations but also likely doubled as a centre for dispensing justice.
The disuse and demolition of the first Guildhall
We know that in 1511, the mayor granted a lease for sixty years for ‘the house and sellers commonly called the old Guildhall at the lower end of Mayden Street’, although it remained in regular use until around 1532. Following the acquisition of a new Guildhall by the borough, the old Guildhall was repurposed for other functions before eventually being demolished. The functions previously held by and within the old Guildhall were transferred to the second Guildhall, situated across the entrance to the churchyard at its High Street end.
30th March
For the last post of Women’s History Month, we are remembering the female mayors of Barnstaple that have served throughout history.
The mayor works closely with the Town Council to organise various charity fundraising events and projects each year, such as charity meals, quiz nights, family fun days, bucket collections, and much more. Barnstaple has been recording the names of its mayors since 1301. However, Barnstaple’s first female mayor, Elizabeth Fern, was elected in only 1976.
Elizabeth Fern was a councillor prior to being chosen as Mayor in 1976 when she was in her 80s. Her consort for her year term as mayor was Daphne Pengelly, who recently came to chat with us about Elizabeth Fern and what she was like. Elizabeth was a keen advocate for furthering women’s education, particularly health education, and fought for contraception to come to North Devon and Barnstaple. Anecdotally, Daphne told us she was chosen as consort as she knew Elizabeth through the Grammar School where she was on the board, and as Elizabeth was in her 80s and losing her vision, she needed someone who could drive her around to all the functions and meetings – and Daphne fit the bill.
Following Elizabeth, in the remainder of the 20th century only one other woman, Faye V T Webber, was elected as mayor in 1981. The subsequent female mayors throughout the 21st century have been: Sue Haywood (2006-2008), Lesley Brown (2012-2014), Valerie Elkins (2014-2016), Julie Hunt (2016-2018), and the current mayor, Louisa York (2022-present). This means that in the 722 years of recorded mayors in Barnstaple’s history, only 7 women have held the position. Therefore women have held the position for less than 1% of the time since Barnstaple has had mayoral records.
Louisa York, the current mayor, is the 705th mayor of Barnstaple. You can find out more about her here The Mayor | Barnstaple Town Council.
We hope you have enjoyed reading about some of the historical women from Barnstaple’s past. A special thank you to all our wonderful research volunteers who gathered the information for these posts.
22nd March
Today for Women’s History Month this post focuses on Alice Horwood, who was mayoress of Barnstaple in 1640 and 1653.
Alice’s husband, Thomas Horwood, founded the Horwood Almshouses in the mid-1600s, but died before the buildings were completed. Alice’s commitment to the project saw her complete this work and open the Almshouses for the community; additionally, she created an adjoining school in 1659. Unusually for the time period, it was a school for “poor maids”, the first of its kind in Barnstaple and the surrounding area. Nowadays two plaques commemorate the Almshouses and the school, both of which commemorate the action of Alice Horwood of “adding the adjoining free school and endowing it for 20 poor children for ever”.
17th March
Today for Women’s History Month we are remembering the Suffrage movement within North Devon, and in particular Anne Ball who was instrumental in gathering supporters for the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in the early 1900s.
Anne Ball was born locally and was a well-educated businesswoman who formed two Trained Nurses Institutes in Barnstaple and Ilfracombe. Her involvement in women’s suffrage started in 1911 when the Women’s Freedom League encouraged women to deliberately evade the census, stating that “since women do not count, neither will they be counted”. Anne offered the Barnstaple Nurse Institute as a place for women wishing to be away from home to avoid the census, and hundreds of women from North Devon congregated here overnight in an act of civil disobedience.
Anne was also a member of the Women’s Tax Resistance League, which protested the requirement of working women to pay taxes when they did not have a say in how they were spent. ‘No Taxation Without Representation’ became a motto for Anne throughout the years that she withheld her taxes. This was not without consequence; bailiffs regularly visited to remove property form the Nurses Institute, which was sold at auction. Anne was photographed with her auctioned items to raise awareness for the No Vote, No Tax campaign, and fortunately was supported by her friends who bought back her possessions and returned them to her.
Extract from The North Devon Journal 6th April 1911:
“VOTES FOR WOMEN.”
NOVEL PROTEST AT BARNSTAPLE.
‘Miss Ball, of the Nursing Homes, Ashleigh-road, Barnstaple, and Larkstone, Ilfracombe, who is the Hon. Literary Secretary of the Ilfracombe branch of the Women’s Social and Political Union, recently refused a demand for Imperial taxes as a protest against the exclusion of women from the privilege of the vote, and she wrote to the Chancellor of the Exchequer announcing that she would not willingly pay the taxes until women’s suffrage had been granted. But taxes have to be paid, despite conscientious objections, and so in this case the usual steps to enforce payment were made.
A sufficient number of goods to cover the amount due were seized at the Ashleigh-road nursing Home, and an auction for their sale was conducted Tuesday morning by Mr. T. W. Sanders at the offices of Messrs. Sanders and Son, High-street, The proceedings lasted only a few minutes, the articles (silver and cutlery) being quickly purchased by lady friends who accompanied Miss Ball to the sale. The net result of the protest is that Miss Ball has to pay the amount claimed, plus £1 ss. expenses.
But Miss Ball is confident that the cause she has so much at heart will be advanced by the procedure. The advocates of women’s suffrage are certainly very much in earnest. Several of them in North Devon made the Census-taking a means of advocating the political rights of women. In some cases the papers were returned with protests taking the place of the information required, and in regard to this type of defiance, the next step is with the authorities.’
15th March
Today for Women’s History Month Barnstaple Town Council is remembering Ethel Mairet. Ethel was a pioneer of textile craft and weaving in the 20th century.
Born in Barnstaple in 1872, Ethel studied geology and textile design in the North Devon area in her early life and quickly developed a talent for hand crafts. With her husband she travelled to Sri Lanka to study local techniques of hand-spinning, weaving, and embroidery, which she then brought back to North Devon. These techniques were ground-breaking for the time, and even earned her a visit from Gandhi in 1914, who was interested in how traditional crafting methods could be used to counter the growing industrialisation in society.
Ethel lived in Saunton with her first husband until 1912 when they divorced. Four years later she moved to Sussex to open a crafting workshop, which gained attention from many influential figures in the Arts & Craft movement. Throughout the years she continued to weave and publish books that eventually gained her the award of Royal Designer for Industry by the Royal Society for Arts in 1937. Ethel was the first woman to ever receive this award.
10th March
Today for Women’s History Month we are remembering Dr Rosa Bale, one of the first female doctors in the Westcountry.
Rosa Bale was born in Barnstaple in 1864 and educated locally, before moving to study medicine at the London School of Medicine. After qualifying in 1892 she established her own medical practice in Plymouth, making her the first female doctor of the area, and indeed the first female doctor to the west of Bristol. A fierce campaigner for women’s rights, Rosa was a suffragist and a keen supporter of other women in medicine, whilst constantly battling the male prejudice of the time. In addition to practicing medicine, Rosa was the third woman to be elected to the Plymouth School Board after Kate Radford and Emily Spooner.
When World War II broke out, she refused to move away from Plymouth, claiming that since the children had not been evacuated, she should stay to treat and tend to them as her patients. However, her house was damaged in the Blitz of 1941 and she relocated back to Barnstaple, where she died later that year. A commemorative blue plaque was unveiled in 2018 to celebrate her achievements.
Image credit:
Medical bag of Dr Rosa Bale; Illuminated Address presented to Dr Rosa Bale, 1st May 1926: Plymouth History Festival; The Box, Plymouth
8th March
Happy International Women’s Day!
Today is an opportunity to celebrate the social, economic, political, and cultural accomplishments of women throughout history. This post will remember Harriet Jewel, former mayoress of Barnstaple.
Harriet Jewel took the position of mayoress when her husband was elected mayor in 1912, and the two retained these positions throughout the entirety World War I. She was instrumental in managing the war preparations within Barnstaple and the wider community, and much of what she did was vital support for soldiers and refugees. One great endeavour she organised was the production of ‘The Mayoress’s Jam’; hundreds of pounds of jam were made and distributed to poorer families whose men had gone to war, with schoolchildren all over North Devon volunteering to pick the berries for this.
However more notably was her work for the Belgian Relief Fund. As well as raising 100 guineas for this, she offered and provided homes in Barnstaple for refugees and collected thousands of sandbags and eggs that were sent to soldiers on the front line. These acts and her incredibly generous service throughout the wartime years saw her become the first women councillor elected to Barnstaple Town Council.
“I expect to pass through this world but once – any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to my fellow creatures, let me do it now: let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again”.
– Harriet Jewell, North Devon Herald, 1915.
3rd March
Today for Women’s History Month, Barnstaple Town Council is remembering Prudence Payne. Prudence (1810 – 1890) was the sister of William Rock, the famous Barnstaple benefactor, and like her brother she supported the town throughout her whole life. Although for a time she managed an Ornamental & Stationers shop in Greenwich, London, with her sister Ann, she regularly returned to Barnstaple to continue to support the town and the people with charity work. This work supposedly made Prudence the favourite sister of William Rock; on her wedding day he wrote several verses for her, one of which read:
“Dear girl, our hearts were always one, even in childhood’s hours, and union blesses still our home, as when you know we used to roam and twine our gathered flowers. Still let us smile, a few more years at most a few”.
Prudence remains the only woman to have a portrait within the main chamber of the Guildhall, which was presented to the Town Council in 1889. It was recorded that the gift of this painting was a “source of pleasure and pride for townsmen” who were extremely familiar and appreciative of the “good deeds of the estimable brother and sister”. This painting, along with one of William Rock, is available to see in the Guildhall – why not contact our Heritage team to arrange a viewing?
Image credit:
Young Prudence: North Devon Athenaeum, located at Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon
Older Prudence: Barnstaple Town Council, Guildhall
1st March
Happy Women’s History Month!
March marks the start of a month dedicated to celebrating the stories of women throughout the past and the present. In honour of this and of the upcoming International Women’s Day, Barnstaple Town Council will be sharing stories of local women from history that achieved incredible things.
Today we will recap the origins and development of Women’s History Month. The idea first started in 1978, when multiple schools and students participated in a weeklong celebration in California to mark the contributions of women to history and society. A few years later, the idea spread across the USA and more celebrations were organised within the month of March. President Jimmy Carter published the first presidential proclamation in 1980 that announced the week of March 8th as National Women’s History Week. Six years later, the US Congress passed a resolution that officially declared March as Women’s History Month. Today it is celebrated all over the world!
This month is an opportunity to celebrate and acknowledge the impact of women on the world and society, and we hope you will enjoy learning about local women that made their mark on history.