Barnstaple in July. October is the wettest month with 103 mm (4.1 in) of rain. The record high is 34 C (94 F), and the record low is −9 C (16 F). Barnstaple gets 862 mm (33.9 in) of rain per year, with rain on 138 days. Barnstaple parish's population in the 1801 census was 3,748, in the 1901 census 9,698, and in the 2001 census, the population was 22,497. As of 2011, the racial make-up of the town was as follows: As a major town, Barnstaple is more ethnically diverse than the North Devon district (95.9% White British) and Devon
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