Barnstaple - Religious Sites

Religious Sites

The parish church of Barnstaple is dedicated to St. Peter. Its oldest parts are probably of 13th-century date, though the nave, chancel and tower date from 1318, when they were dedicated by Bishop Stapledon. The north and south aisles were added in c.1670. The church has a notable broach spire, claimed by W. G. Hoskins to be the best of its kind in the country. Inside the church are many mural monuments to 17th-century merchants, such as Raleigh Clapham (d. 1636), George Peard (d.1644) and Thomas Horwood (d.1658), reflecting the prosperity of the town at that time. The interior of the church was heavily restored by George Gilbert Scott from 1866, and then by his son John Oldrid Scott into the 1880s, leaving it "dark and dull", according to Hoskins.

Other religious buildings in the town include St Anne's Chapel (a 14th century chantry chapel, now a museum) in the parish churchyard; Holy Trinity, built in the 1840s but necessarily rebuilt in 1867 as its foundations were unsound—it has a fine tower in the Somerset style; the Roman Catholic church of the Immaculate Conception, said to have been built to designs supplied by Pugin, in Romanesque Revival style; and a Baptist chapel of 1870 which includes a lecture hall and classrooms.