Barnstaple is the main town of North Devon. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool, since the merchants claimed that the town had been declared a free borough in Saxon times. This brought great wealth to Barnstaple, whose town centre still preserves a medieval layout and character. Later the town became an importer of Irish wool, but its harbour silted up, and it developed other industries, such as shipbuilding, foundries and sawmills. Its Victorian market survives, with its high glass and timber roof on iron columns. Barnstaple railway station is the terminus of a branch line from Exeter, known as the Tarka Line.
North Devon is some distance from the UK's traditional areas of industrial activity and population. In the late 1970s Barnstaple gained a number of industrial companies due to the availability of central government grants for the construction of factories and their operation on low or zero levels of local taxation. This was only partially successful, with few of these lasting more than the few years that grants were available. The most lasting consequence for the town was the development and expansion of the industrial estates at Seven Brethren, Whiddon Valley and Pottington.
Whilst the 1989 opening of the improved A361 connection to the motorway network helped in some ways to promote trade, notably weekend tourism, it had a detrimental effect on a number of distribution businesses. The latter had previously viewed the town as a base for local distribution networks, a need that was removed with an approximate halving of travelling time to the M5 motorway.
Because Barnstaple is the main shopping area for North Devon, retail work is a contributor to the economy. There are many generic chain stores in the town centre and in the Roundswell Business Park, on the western fringe of the town. However, by far the largest employer in the region is local and central Government. The two main government employers in the area are the Royal Marines Base Chivenor, 3 miles west of the town, and North Devon District Hospital, 1 mile to the north.
Barnstaple has been the major market for North Devon since Saxon times. Demands for health regulation of its food market in Victorian times saw the construction in 1855 to 1856 of the town's Pannier Market, originally known as the Vegetable Market and designed by local architect R. D. Gould. The building has a high glass and timber roof on iron columns. At 107 yards (98 m) long, it runs the length of Butchers' Row. Market days are Monday – Crafts and General (April to December), Tuesday – General and Produce (all year), Wednesday – Arts Collectables and Books (all year), Thursday – Crafts and General (all year), Friday – General and Produce (all year), and Saturday – General and Produce (all year).
Built on the other side of the street at the same time as the Pannier Market, Butchers' Row consists of ten shops with pilasters of Bath Stone, and wrought iron supports to an overhanging roof.
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