St Peter's Church, Barnstaple St Peter's Church, Barnstaple St Peter's Church is the parish church of the town of Barnstaple in North Devon, England. Parts of the church date to the 13th-century with much restoration during the Victorian era by George Gilbert Scott and later by his son John Oldrid Scott which changed the atmosphere of the building, although many fine wall monuments and tablets remain. The church comes under the Diocese of Exeter. Æthelstan is said to have granted Barnstaple its first Charter in 930 AD and it is believed a church may have existed here then. The town received subsequent Charters in
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