Barnstaple
Barnstaple photos (201 available)
Barnstaple maps (2 available)
Map of Devon
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
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Barnstaple books (8 available)
- 2 photos on Barnstaple appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Barnstaple
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Barnstaple and Devon
Barnstaple memories
Read and share memories of Barnstaple and Devon inspired by Frith photos
Railway info.
This view shows the junction line which linked the GWR Victoria station with the Junction station - running from left to right and opened in 1887. It must have been almost new when the photo was taken and the earthworks are still bare.
Contributed by The Frith Memory Archivist
Railway info.
The furniture van to the left will have been carried to Barnstaple by rail. There were special low 'road vehicle trucks' onto which these vans could be loaded and moved long distances around the country. and it is standing next to the end loading docks at this end of the station.
Contributed by The Frith Memory Archivist
Railway info.
The building on the left is a carriage shed, used for holding spare passenger vehicles under cover. It is from the North Devon Railway in the 1850s and still appears to have broad gauge track (7ft gauge - not removed until 1877) laid into it. Access was by means of a small turntable just off the picture to the left. The Ilfracombe Railway is being built - the low embankment can just be seen with what appears to be temporary track on it - and the girders of the river bridge are in place but work is continuing on the line - see the works yard at this end of the bridge. There are no signals in ...read more here
Contributed by The Frith Memory Archivist
Railway info.
Date of this photograph is c1874/75 as the railway viaduct is complete.
Contributed by The Frith Memory Archivist
The parked car is outside my great uncle's cobbler and shoe shop. When I was eight, I spent time 'working' in the shop for a few pennies The church opposite was where the local Brownies met weekly of which I was one.
Contributed by Charlotte Beer
Extracts From Barnstaple & Devon books
On the day Queen Victoria
died, the postmistress at
Lee`s old post office was
taking down a telegram
announcing the Queen`s
death when she was
struck by lightning in the
left eye and blinded.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".
Morte Point`s reputation as a sailors` graveyard was
never more deserved than on 26 October 1859 when
eight ships - the I`ll Try, the Matthew Thompson, the
Rose, the Thistle, the Hannah, the Clara, the Anne, and
the William Robertson, were lost. From one ship, all the
crew survived; from the other seven, all but four men
were lost.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".
It is thought that the first
ocean-going ships to visit
this harbour belonged to
the Phoenicians, who came
to trade for silver around
400BC.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".
The Velindra was just
one of the paddle
steamers that were
the lifeblood of
Ilfracombe`s tourist
industry in the latter
part of the 19th
century and the
first half of the 20th.
Before the building of
the pier, passengers
often had to be
ferried to and from
the steamers, which
anchored off Warp
House Point.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".
The slopes between Little Hangman and Sherrycombe, to the east, were often descended by
local women to gather laver (seaweed) from The Rawns. It was carried in 20lb bundles up
the steep cliffside and taken home to be cooked with vinegar and bacon. Laver is still served
in local cafes today.
An extract from from"Ilfracombe Photographic Memories".