b&b barnstaple
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You may find this information helpful when researching the area prior to your visit
The name of Barnstaple probably derives from the Old English "Beardan Stapol" meaning the post (perhaps literally trading post) of a man called Bearda. The town that that grew up here in the 9th and 10th centuries, on a ford of the river, gradually became more important than the original hilltop settlement at Pilton.
The town developed as a market and commercial centre, with pottery, metalwork and other industries that served the surrounding area. It also became the base for enterprising merchants who traded with Europe, Ireland and the New World. In 1588 ships sailed from the port of Barnstaple to join the fight against the Spanish Armada. Humorous rivalry still exists between Barnstaple and Bideford as to who sent the most ships.
Barnstaple's most notable merchant, Delbridge, traded wool, pottery and assisted emigrants to the "New Worlds" of the Americas. Towns to this day in and around Virginia and the Bahamas are named after Devon places and the colonists' descendants bear Devon family names.
Devon was the cornerstone of one of Britain's most significant Celtic Kingdoms (Dumnonia), and retains a significant heritage from those days. Devon's people are predominantly of Celtic stock, with the Celtic language (which also resulted in Cornish) being spoken well into the Dark Ages, and is retained today in place names, dialect, as well as in customs and culture. This is not to say that the Saxons, who 'conquered' Devon in the eight and ninth centuries (and who militarily conquered Cornwall in the ninth and tenth centuries), or the Normans who did the same to the whole of England in the eleventh century, are without merit or contribution. However the point of this introduction is to promote that part of Devon's history which for some strange reason appears to have been repressed - that of Celtic Devon. The Cornish Celtic name for Devon is Dewnans, [and this is becoming more acceptable to modern ears]. A possibly older name for Devon is Dyfneint (meaning 'deep valley dwellers'). [This survives from Dumnonia's few surviving records, and probably supplies the root form of Dewnans - Ed]. Devon was one of the last areas of what is now known as England to be conquered by the Anglo-Saxon invaders, and was not formally claimed by the Saxon Kingdom of Wessex until the early ninth century (AD 805 - only a couple of decades before Cornwall was 'conquered', although Cornwall retained some degree of independence thereafter). Even after this (as noted in Alfred the Great's will in AD 900), Devon's Celtic people were called Wealcynn (wealas being the Anglo-Saxon word for Celts, and literally translates as 'foreigner').
Perhaps it is surprising that this history of Celtic identity is not better known. How can this be so? A number of factors probably came into play. The Victorian era prized all things Teutonic because (for some reason) they equated it with civilised society. Even in the mid/late twentieth century schools teach a 'unified' English history with little focus on regional history. Devon's own Celtic history has been overlooked and neglected. This story is not unique to Devon. History, language and culture have been suppressed in many parts of the Celtic world (Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Brittany - to name a few). In Devon's case its proximity to Cornwall, with its own rich Celtic ancestry, has probably also hindered recognition of Devon's own history.
The question of Devon's Celtic identity is not new.