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
Barnstaple Victoria Road railway station was converted to standard gauge in 1881. A line was opened on 1 June 1887 from the D&SR station to the London and South Western Railway's Barnstaple Junction railway station, enabling trains from London and Taunton reverse at Barnstaple then continue on to . On 1 July 1905 a chord was opened between the two lines (thus forming a triangular junction) which enabled direct running from the Taunton line into Barnstaple Junction. This new line was mainly used on summer Saturdays; at other times through trains on the Ilfracombe line continued to reverse at the station. From 1 January 1948