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Church of St John the Baptist, Barnstaple

BarnstapleBuildings and structures in BarnstapleChurch of England church buildings in Devon
St John the Baptist church Newport Barnstaple
St John the Baptist church Newport Barnstaple

The Church of St John the Baptist on South Street in Barnstaple in Devon is the Anglican parish church for the Newport area of the town. The church comes under the Diocese of Exeter. In 1829 a church was built on the site of a former medieval chapel as a chapel of ease for the community of Newport within the parish of Bishop's Tawton. The parish became independent in 1847, at which time the church building was in urgent need of repair. The current building was completed in 1882. The nave, chancel, north aisle, vestries and the north porch are built of local limestone. In the 1960s a church hall was built adjacent to the church and linked to it by a covered walkway.On the north wall of the church is a memorial to the men of the parish who lost their lives during World War II. The choir vestry, a new bell and windows on the north side of the church were added in 1929 in commemoration of the church's centenary, with celebrations being led by Lord William Cecil, Bishop of Exeter.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Church of St John the Baptist, Barnstaple (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Church of St John the Baptist, Barnstaple
South Street, North Devon Rumsam

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.0709 ° E -4.0466 °
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Address

South Street

South Street
EX32 9DT North Devon, Rumsam
England, United Kingdom
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St John the Baptist church Newport Barnstaple
St John the Baptist church Newport Barnstaple
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Barnstaple Cemetery
Barnstaple Cemetery

Barnstaple Cemetery (properly Bear Street Cemetery) is the burial ground for the town of Barnstaple in Devon and is managed by North Devon Council.The cemetery opened in 1856 for the Barnstaple Burial Board and extends over an area of 13.2 acres and is bisected by a stream between the two slopes on which the cemetery is laid out. It has two chapels and a Cemetery Lodge (now in private ownership), with the Lodge being designed by the Barnstaple Borough Surveyor Richard Davie Gould and having Grade II listed building status since 1999. The main entrance with a small parking area is located on Derby Road in Barnstaple with a pedestrian entrance accessible on Bear Street. The cemetery has a range of grave types set in a mature landscaped setting and incorporates areas for the burial or scattering of ashes. There is also a Children's Area designated for the burial of children. The older part of the cemetery on the Bear Street entrance has been designated as a wild flower area. One of the two small chapels is available to hold funeral services.The cemetery holds 22 Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burials of World War I with a further 20 from World War II, with one being an unidentified airman of the Royal Air Force.In January 2016 and again in May 2017 mourners were instructed by North Devon Council to remove any tributes from graves that were not touching head stones. The Council said this was necessary because people were breaking rules by placing photographs, messages, lights and other items down the length of graves making it difficult to cut the grass and to reopen graves to bury relatives.

Albert Clock, Barnstaple
Albert Clock, Barnstaple

The Albert Clock is a clocktower memorial in Barnstaple in Devon to Albert, Prince Consort, the husband of Queen Victoria. It has been listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England since 1988. Located in The Square in Barnstaple, the tower was built in 1862 at the suggestion of the then Mayor of Barnstaple, John Norrington, following the death of Prince Albert in the previous year. The tower was paid for by public subscription with some of the money being raised for the provision of a drinking fountain. The original design was for a tower without a clock.At its solemn dedication ceremony in 1862 surrounded by local dignitaries the clock's pendulum was set to swing at 11.00 p.m., the hour Prince Albert had died. At the same time the water started to flow from the fountain. As Mayor Norrington, a teetotaller, stepped forward to take the first drink from the fountain a man threw a cupful of what was found to be gin into the water. Norrington was outraged at this indignity to himself, to the Queen and to the memory of Prince Albert. An investigation revealed that the mystery man was John Baker, the landlord of the Mermaid Inn and a local Tory councillor.Designed by local architect Richard Davie Gould (c1816-1900), the tower is constructed with limestone ashlar with dressings of Devon marble and sandstone together with other local stones and patterned tiles. The tower has an octagonal shaft on a broader octagonal base surmounted with a square and corbelled clock chamber with a clock-dial in each face. The summit consists of a small belfry with a leaded spire and weather-vane. The bell is still inside.The tower's base has a stair doorway on the South side, while on the North side is a water-trough. At the back of the recess is a panel of coloured tiles with a coat of arms in white marble above it. The drinking fountain, given by Sir William Fraser, MP, has been removed. On the East and West sides are pointed arches of moulded red sandstone with above an arch of different coloured local stones. Within the arches are commemorative marble plaques to Prince Albert.The Albert Clock Tower was restored in 2009 with funding from Barnstaple Town Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund.