Barnstaple as a whole (94.2% White British). Barnstaple has a similar ethnic make-up compared with other south west towns, like Truro and Cullompton. North Devon is some distance from the UK's traditional areas of industrial activity and population. In the late 1970s Barnstaple gained a number of industrial companies due to the availability of central government grants for the construction of factories and their operation on low or zero levels of local taxation. This was only partially successful, with few of these lasting more than the few years that grants were available. One success was the manufacturing of generic medicines by
Guildhall, Barnstaple cup and cover of 1589 given, according to its Latin inscription, by Richard Dodderidge, the father of Penetcost Dodderidge after whom the room is named; silver-gilt steeple cups and covers of similar design dated 1606 and 1620, the latter donated by John Penrose, after whom Penrose's Almshouses in the town are named; two silver-gilt ceremonial maces made by local goldsmith John Peard and dated 1660, replacing earlier ones made in 1425; two silver tankards from 1676 donated by Thomas Horwood, Mayor of Barnstaple in 1653; a punch bowl of 1745 donated by Thomas Benson, Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in