Barnstaple RFC Barnstaple RFC Barnstaple Rugby Football Club was established in 1877 and is a rugby union club based in Barnstaple, Devon. The club's first team play in South West Premier, the fourth tier of the English rugby union league system, following relegation from National League 2 South at the end of the 2017-18 season. The club colours are red and white and their nickname is Barum. The first team are called the Chiefs, and there are also 2nd and 3rd teams (Athletic and Buccaneers), a number of youth teams from under-7s to under-18s (colts), and a girls side. The clubs rivals
Barnstaple tanneries, sawmills and foundries, and shipbuilding was also carried on. The Bear Street drill hall was completed in the early 19th century. Barnstaple was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Reform Act 1835. Between the 1930s and the 1950s the town swallowed the villages of Pilton, Newport, and Roundswell through ribbon development. The historic Borough of Barnstaple was long governed by the Mayor of Barnstaple and the Corporation. The seat of government was the Barnstaple Guildhall. The mayor served a term of one year and was elected annually on the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin (15