Friday, 21 September 2007
Barnstaple Heritage Centre
The first on my list of Devon Attractions to mention is the Barnstaple Heritage Centre. This will also probably be one of my shorter posts as it has been about two years since I was last there. There's no particular reason for this, other than that the nearby Museum of Barnstaple & North Devon is free.
Mind you, that's a pretty poor excuse, because a trip to the Barnstaple Heritage Centre is hardly going to break the bank! The Heritage Centre's webpages (see link above) don't mention price for some strange reason, but the Barnstaple Tourist Information site says that admission prices are £2.50 for adults, £1.50 for children, £2.00 for concessions and £7.50 for a family ticket.
The Centre is located in the beautiful "Queen Anne's Walk" building (with the statue of Queen Anne on top) by the riverfront in Barnstaple. You enter into the shop, if I remember rightly, and can either have a look around the merchandise or head straight into the exhibition, once you've paid, of course.
The exhibition takes you on a tour of Barnstaple through the ages, including the Saxon settlement and the Civil War. These you can walk through, and also interact with! I enjoyed my visit and found the information available to be a lot more extensive than I had previously thought it would be.
I cannot recall what the accessibility was like at the time of my visit (although I do remember it all being on the ground floor), but their webpages state that it offers "Full Wheelchair Access" and when I called up about a possible visit during the summer I was told "it has all been done properly by people who know what they're doing" - make of that what you will! :P
In summary, I think it would make an enjoyable visit for old and young alike, and it is a great way to learn about Barnstaple's rich heritage.
