Mayor of Barnstaple Mayor of Barnstaple The Mayor of Barnstaple together with the Corporation long governed the historic Borough of Barnstaple, in North Devon, England. 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 August) by a jury of twelve. However Barnstaple was a mesne borough and was held by the Mayor and Corporation in chief not from the king but from the feudal baron of Barnstaple, later known as the lord of the "Castle Manor" or "Castle Court". The Corporation tried
Guildhall, Barnstaple 1749; and an 18 inch long oar c1780 signifying an Admiralty warrant for the Mayor in his capacity as Water Bailiff for the Port of Barnstaple. It is inscribed "John Morse Esq., Mayor" on one side, and "Barnstaple Water Bailiff" on the other. The smaller oar signifies the Admiralty warrant of Harbourmaster and would have been worn by Barnstaple's Harbourmaster like a piece of jewellery. Also displayed in this room is a small collection of ship models made by French prisoners-of-war from the Napoleonic Wars. The Mayor's Parlour was created in 1922 out of the former charge-room and cell and