Barnstaple Castle supporter of King Stephen. In 1228, Henry III ordered the Sheriff of Devon to reduce the castle walls to a height of , as recorded in the Close Rolls for that year. By the time of the death of the last Henry de Tracey in 1274, the castle was beginning to decay. The fabric of the castle was used in the construction of other buildings and by 1326 the castle was a ruin. The remaining walls blew down in a storm in 1601. Now only the tree covered motte remains. Barnstaple Castle Barnstaple Castle stood near what is now the
Barnstaple to , reverting to just plain "Barnstaple" again when this was closed on 5 October 1970. It is now a terminus and much reduced in size as part of the site is now used for the Barnstaple Western Bypass. The Ilfracombe branch line brought the railway across the river into the town centre. was situated close by the Castle Mound. It was closed in 1898 and replaced by a nearby station at North Walk which was also the terminus of the narrow gauge Lynton and Barnstaple Railway until this closed in 1935. The narrow gauge line's main depot and operating