Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon — Attraction in North Devon

History of Barnstaple Most of the town lies on the east bank of the estuary, connected to the west by the ancient Barnstaple Long Bridge, with 16 arches.[7] The town's early medieval layout still appears from the street plan and street names, with Boutport Street ("About the Port") following the curved line of a ditch outside the town walls.[14] The area of medieval shipbuilding and repair is still called The Strand, an early word for shore.

Climate edit Barnstaple has cool wet winters and mild wet summers. Mean high temperatures range from 9 C (48 F) in January to 21 C (70 F) in July. The record high is 34 C (94 F) and the record low −9 C (16 F). October is the wettest month with 103 mm (4.1 in) of rain. The mean annual rainfall is 862 mm (33.9 in), with rain on 138 days.Barnstaple Long Bridge, with 16 arches.[7] The town's early medieval layout still appears from the street plan and street names, with Boutport Street ("About the Port") following the curved line of a ditch outside the town walls.[14] The area of medieval shipbuilding and repair is still called The Strand, an early...

It's a really enjoyable visit here. So much to see and learn. Visited with family, including a 9 year old who loved it all. The staff are really knowledgeable and keen to help. Loved the train section and the photography exhibition was lovely too.

The wealth of exhibitions on show, along with all the interactive sections and videos makes it accessible to anyone.

A little tea room and also WiFi is available and good quality.

Great activity to do when in Barnstaple or if you are finding a rainy day activity for kids.

I would encourage people to visit here, councils will look to close places like this over time as funding gets tight - it's already happened in Birmingham this year with 50% cuts in 2024 and then 100%...

We visited while we were on holidays in Devon. We particularly enjoyed the art by Clive Cobb and our kids took part in the art workshop run by Nicole. We also went around the museum and did the little quiz for kids. The wildlife exhibition was very informative. A perfect day out for us. We wished we had more time to spend in the museum!

We visited again in August 2024 over the school holidays and spent a couple of hours looking at the displays. Turner in Barnstaple was the summer exhibition and the museum was running a lot of art activities including a watercolour challenge painting the Taw bridge. James was really welcoming and we took the opportunity to paint as a family and thoroughly enjoyed...