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
St Peter's Church, Barnstaple was enlarged, probably in 1318 when three altars were dedicated by Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter. There is a record of a steeple being erected in 1388 but the present lead-covered broach spire dates to the late 17th-century and is said by Hoskins to be the best of its kind in England. The advowson and rectory were long the property of Barnstaple Priory (Priory of St Mary Magdalene), of the Cluniac order. Ancient charters were quoted from by Dugdale (d.1686) in his "Monasticon Anglicanum" (1718 edition in English) thus: The two-storied Dodderidgian Library (Latin: "Bibliotheca Doddridgiana") with wooden mullioned