Barnstaple

Barnstaple is at the gateway to North Devon’s Atlantic coast, making it an excellent setting for a new home and for a work-life balance. This market town has a wide range of high street shops, cafés and restaurants. A regeneration project on the historic waterfront has given the town a new lease of life. The old bridge over the River Taw is one of the town’s landmarks and strolling along the wharf and the riverside paths is something you can all enjoy. 

Families will love easy access to some of North Devon's best surfing beaches, busy parents will appreciate the edge of town supermarkets for the weekly shop, friends will have fun browsing in the Pannier Market and town centre shops. Best kept secret - though Barnstaple is close to the coast, it's also a stone's throw from Exmoor National Park where you can truly step off the beaten track.

Living in Barnstaple

Travel and transport

The A361 North Devon Link Road connects with the M5 motorway at Tiverton while the Atlantic Highway follows the coastline into Cornwall. For commuters, you’ll be just over an hour’s drive from Taunton and Exeter, alternatively you can take a train from Barnstaple to Exeter for onward connections. There are frequent services and the journey takes an hour and 15 mins. Bristol Airport is just under two hours’ drive away.

Local information

Barnstaple is just the right size to make you feel at home whilst having plenty of services and amenities. The town centre gives you the option of high street stores, independent shops, the modern Green Lanes Shopping Centre, and the very popular traditional Pannier Market. There are some good edge of town retail parks too. As a popular holiday destination, North Devon offers an excellent lifestyle.

Local schools

There’s a good choice of primary schools in the town, two community colleges for secondary education, and just a few miles away, at West Buckland, there’s a well-known independent school. the Atlantic Academy is a newly built school between Barnstaple and Bideford. Petroc College of Further and Higher Education has three campuses, two of which are on the outskirts of Barnstaple.