In the 1340s, merchants of the town claimed the rights of a free borough had been granted them by King Athelstan in a lost charter. Although this was challenged periodically by later lords of the manor, it still allowed the merchants an unusual degree of self-government. The town's wealth in the Middle Ages was founded on it being a staple port licensed to export wool. It had an early merchant guild known as the Guild of St Nicholas. In the early 14th century it was Devon's third richest town after Exeter and Plymouth, and the largest textile centre outside Exeter until about 1600. Its wool trade was further aided by its port, from which in 1588 five ships were contributed to a force sent to fight the Spanish Armada. Barnstaple was one of the "privileged ports" of the Spanish Company, (established 1577) whose armorials appear on two of the mural monuments to 17th-century merchants – Richard Beaple (died 1643), three times Mayor; Richard Ferris (Mayor in 1632), who together with Alexander Horwood, received a payment from the Corporation of Barnstaple in 1630 for "riding to Exeter about the Spanish Company."}} in St Peter's Church, and on the decorated plaster ceiling of the old "Golden Lion Inn", 62 Boutport Street, now a restaurant beside the Royal and Fortescue Hotel. The developing trade with America in the 16th and 17th centuries greatly benefited the town. The wealthy merchants that this trade created built impressive town houses, some of which survive behind more recent frontages — they include No. 62 Boutport Street, said to have one of the best plaster ceilings in Devon. The merchants also built several almshouses including Penrose's, and ensured their legacy by dedicating elaborate monuments to their families inside the church.