Barnstaple RFC are Bideford RFC, with a annual festive fixture played between the sides that attracts good crowds, despite the clubs currently playing in different divisions. Barnstaple Rugby Football Club was officially founded in 1877 at a meeting held at the Fortesque hotel. The first Chairman of the club was Mr W. A. Bilney,the first captain Mr W. H. TOLLER, and games in the early days were played at Rumsam. The club won silverware in 1894 when they claimed the Devon League Cup, becoming one of the strongest clubs in the county, forming a rivalry with Devonport Albion, and producing two international
Barnstaple Somerset style; the Roman Catholic church of the Immaculate Conception, said to have been built to designs supplied by Pugin, in Romanesque Revival style; the late 19th-century church of St John the Baptist in the Newport area of the town and a Baptist chapel of 1870 which includes a lecture hall and classrooms. Cricket is played at Barnstaple and Pilton. Barnstaple Town F.C. have been based at Mill Road since 1904 and play in the Western Football League. Rugby union is played at Barnstaple Rugby Football Club whose first team play in South West Premier, which is a fifth tier