Barnstaple in the 16th and 17th centuries greatly benefited the town. The wealthy merchants that this trade created built impressive town houses, some of which survive behind more recent frontages—they include No. 62 Boutport Street, said to have one of the best plaster ceilings in Devon. The merchants also built several almshouses including Penrose's, and ensured their legacy by dedicating elaborate monuments to their families inside the church. By the 18th century, Barnstaple had ceased to be a woollen manufacturing town, which was replaced by Irish wool and yarn, for which it was the main landing place; the raw materials were
Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Company Limited Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Company Limited The Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Company Limited was a private company, limited by guarantee, with no share capital. It was incorporated on 11 August 1993 as The Lynton & Barnstaple Light Railway Company Limited (name changed on 8 February 2002), the company was registered at Companies House in Great Britain as company number 02844182. The company was dissolved in 2009. The company was formed by members of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway Association (now a charitable trust) to rebuild and operate, using mainly volunteer labour, the Victorian narrow-gauge railway which ran across 20 miles