Which was the more important port historically, Bideford or Barnstaple? A cartoon in Barnstaple library suggests the question has been a matter of longstanding rivalry. But historical records show that we were closely connected and very much part of the same economic system. Two types of records from 1582 – only nine years after Bideford was incorporated as a borough – show how. Customs port books for ‘Barnstaple’, record that ships leaving the bay that year were registered to owners in both Bideford and Barnstaple, as well as the wider area including Torrington, Northam, Fremington, and Instow, but with Barnstaple predominating. Barnstaple merchants also predominated, though they too were spread across both Taw and Torridge areas. The goods going out were almost exclusively woollen cloth. Ships brought back imports of salt, woad, iron, dried fruit, spices, oil, and Spanish wool from Bilbao and the Biscay ports in northern Spain, from Cadiz in Andalusia, and from La Rochelle on the west coast of France. Other ships took these products on to other English ports including Bristol and Padstow.

The second source, a survey of shipping, was carried out in the same year, six years before the Spanish Armada, when the Crown was already concerned about the supply of ships to defend our shores. Men like Drake and Hawkins were already conducting their own unofficial war, capturing Spanish shipping, and causing anxiety about the safety of legitimate trade. The findings from the survey give quite a different picture from the port books. They show that while Barnstaple had seven ships available, and Bideford four, there were fifteen in Northam, including the largest of all – the Godsaviour, at over one hundred tons. The document also shows that it was Northam (including Appledore) that was the main supplier of naval skills and expertise, boasting twenty ship’s masters and ninety-six mariners and seamen. There were just six ship’s masters in each of Bideford and Barnstaple, but Bideford had thirty-three mariners and Barnstaple only seventeen, plus another two in Pilton. 

The two documents together show how intertwined our local economy was, with Barnstaple supplying the bulk of goods to be exported, and Torridgeside, especially Northam, providing the seafaring skills. While there is little point in wrangling over the detail of which port contributed most, it is fitting that the North Devon Maritime Museum should be located in Appledore.

Thanks to David Carter for the data in this article.