129-658: The North Devon Gazette is a weekly free newspaper published in Barnstaple , England, on Wednesdays for the North Devon area, including Barnstaple, Bideford, Ilfracombe and South Molton. Since 2008, the newspaper has been available in full, in its published layout, online. It is owned by Clear Sky Publishing and its sister papers are the Torbay Weekly , and the Moorlander . This United Kingdom newspaper–related article
258-490: A tertiary college in Barnstaple. In 2012, 58 per cent of Devon students achieved 5 GCSEs grade A* to C. The UK average is 59 per cent. Petroc (formerly North Devon College ) is a tertiary college offering a wide range of vocational and academic further education to more than 3,000 young people over 16. It was due to spend £100 million on a new campus to be opened on Seven Brethren in 2011, but this fell through when
387-525: A toponymic surname , meaning that she came from the town of Magdala , a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Roman Judea . The Gospel of Luke chapter 8 lists Mary Magdalene as one of the women who traveled with Jesus and helped support his ministry "out of their resources", indicating that she was probably wealthy. The same passage also states that seven demons had been driven out of her ,
516-437: A blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness." For early Christians, kissing did not have a romantic connotation and it was common for Christians to kiss their fellow believers as a way of greeting. This tradition is still practiced in many Christian congregations today and
645-479: A charter of incorporation from Mary I in 1557. The council built the Guildhall on High Street in 1828 to serve as its meeting place. It was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836, governed by a corporate body officially called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of the borough of Barnstaple", but generally known as the corporation or town council. The borough boundaries, which had previously been identical to
774-637: A conservation area near the River Taw, hundreds of new homes, a retail area of shops, restaurants and leisure facilities. By far the largest employer in the region is local and central government, particularly the Royal Marines Base Chivenor , 3 miles (5 km) west of the town, and North Devon District Hospital , 1 mile (1.6 km) to the north. In 2005 unemployment in North Devon was 1.8–2.4 per cent, while median per capita wage for North Devon
903-405: A crucified victim". Casey argues that Jesus was given a proper burial by Joseph of Arimathea, noting that, on some very rare occasions, Roman governors did release the bodies of executed prisoners for burial. Nonetheless, he rejects that Jesus could have been interred in an expensive tomb with a stone rolled in front of it like the one described in the gospels, leading him to conclude that Mary and
1032-561: A distance, with three explicitly naming Mary Magdalene as present. Mark 15:40 lists the names of these women as Mary Magdalene; Mary, mother of James ; and Salome . Matthew 27:55–56 lists Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James and Joseph, and the unnamed mother of the sons of Zebedee (who may be the same person Mark calls Salome). Luke 23:49 mentioned a group of women watching the crucifixion, but did not give any of their names. John 19:25 lists Mary, mother of Jesus , her sister, Mary, wife of Clopas , and Mary Magdalene as witnesses to
1161-520: A ditch outside the town walls. The area of medieval shipbuilding and repair is still called The Strand, an early word for shore. Barnstaple has cool wet winters and mild wet summers. Mean high temperatures range from 9 C (48 F) in January to 21 C (70 F) in July. The record high is 34 C (94 F) and the record low −9 C (16 F). October is the wettest month with 103 mm (4.1 in) of rain. The mean annual rainfall
1290-723: A fine tower in the Somerset style. The Roman Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception is said to have been built to designs supplied by Pugin , in Romanesque Revival style. The late 19th-century church of St John the Baptist stands in the Newport area of the town. There is a Baptist chapel of 1870, which includes a lecture hall and classrooms. Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala , or simply
1419-421: A guild which appointed a mayor. The claim in 1340 was made as part of a petition to Edward III seeking a new charter with additional powers. This was resisted by the lord of the feudal barony of Barnstaple . Following an inquisition ad quod damnum it was ruled that the town was in fact a lower status mesne borough answerable to the lord, rather than a free borough responsible directly to the monarch. The mayor
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#17328687100131548-455: A high glass and timber roof on iron columns. The name is first recorded in the 10th century and is thought to derive from the Early English bearde , meaning "battle-axe", and stapol , meaning "pillar", i.e. a post or pillar to mark a religious or administrative meeting place. The derivation from staple meaning "market", indicating a market from its foundation, is likely to be incorrect, as
1677-527: A narrative in an influential homily by Pope Gregory I ("Gregory the Great") in around 591, in which he not only identifies Magdalene with the anonymous sinner with the perfume in Luke's gospel and with Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus , but also, for the first time, explicitly identifies her sins as ones of a sexual nature: She whom Luke calls the sinful woman, whom John calls Mary, we believe to be
1806-515: A need removed when travelling time to the M5 motorway was roughly halved. With Barnstaple as the main shopping area for North Devon, retail work contributes to the economy. There are chain stores in the town centre and in the Roundswell Business Park, on the western fringe of the town. Multi-million pound redevelopment round the former Leaderflush Shapland works at Anchorwood Bank is creating
1935-445: A notable broach spire , claimed by W. G. Hoskins to be the best of its kind in the country. Inside the church are many mural monuments to 17th-century merchants, such as Raleigh Clapham (died 1636), George Peard (died 1644) and Thomas Horwood (died 1658), reflecting the prosperity of the town at that time. The interior of the church was heavily restored by George Gilbert Scott from 1866, and then by his son John Oldrid Scott into
2064-741: A payment from the Corporation of Barnstaple in 1630 for "riding to Exeter about the Spanish Company." in St Peter's Church, and on the decorated plaster ceiling of the old Golden Lion Inn , Boutport Street, now a restaurant beside the Royal and Fortescue Hotel. The town benefited from rising trade with America in the 16th and 17th centuries, for the benefit of wealthy merchants who built impressive town houses. Some of these survive behind more recent frontages, for instance No. 62 Boutport Street, said to have one of
2193-425: A poverty of imagination" and that they would have had all kinds of possible motives, especially since women were overrepresented in early Christian communities and women themselves would have had strong motivation to make up a story about other women being the first to find the tomb. He does conclude later, however, that Mary Magdalene must have been one of the people who had an experience in which she thought she saw
2322-565: A prostitute or in any way notable for a sinful way of life. The misconception probably arose due to a conflation between Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany (who anoints Jesus's feet in John 11:1–12 ), and the unnamed "sinful woman" who anoints Jesus's feet in Luke 7:36–50 . As early as the third century, the Church Father Tertullian ( c. 160 – 225) references the touch of "the woman which
2451-466: A scholar of early Christianity, states that the reference to the number of demons being "seven" may mean that Mary had to undergo seven exorcisms, probably over a long period of time, due to the first six being partially or wholly unsuccessful. Bart D. Ehrman , a New Testament scholar and historian of early Christianity, contends that the number seven may be merely symbolic, since, in Jewish tradition, seven
2580-406: A second witness. Origen also preserves a statement from Celsus that some Christians in his day followed the teachings of a woman named "Mariamme", who is almost certainly Mary Magdalene. Origen merely dismisses this, remarking that Celsus "pours on us a heap of names". A sermon attributed to Hippolytus of Rome ( c. 170 – 235) refers to Mary of Bethany and her sister Martha seeking Jesus in
2709-472: A site in Brighton , Sussex. A lasting effect on the town has been the development and expansion of industrial estates at Seven Brethren, Whiddon Valley and Pottington. Whilst the 1989 opening of the improved A361 connection to the motorway network assisted trade in ways such as weekend tourism, it was detrimental to some distribution businesses. These had previously seen the town as a base for local distribution,
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#17328687100132838-498: A statement which is repeated from Mark 16 . In all four canonical gospels, Mary Magdalene is a witness to the crucifixion of Jesus and, in the Synoptic Gospels , she is also present at his burial. All four gospels identify her, either alone or as a member of a larger group of women , as the first to witness the empty tomb , and, either alone or as a member of a group, as the first to witness Jesus's resurrection. Mary Magdalene
2967-545: A summary of the Pannier Market: "Largely unchanged in over 150 years, Barnstaple's historic Pannier Market has a wide range of stalls, with everything from fresh local produce, flowers and crafts, to prints and pictures, fashion and... two cafés." The Pannier Market, Butchers Row, has been a Grade II listed building since 1951. In Barnstaple Around Barnstaple In 1989, the A361 North Devon Link Road
3096-543: A supporter of his. In the 12th century, stone buildings were built over the motte, possibly during Henry de Tracy's tenure. The castle descended through his family to another Henry de Tracy, who held the castle in 1228 when Henry III ordered the Sheriff of Devon to make sure its walls did not exceed 10 feet (3.0 m) in height. By the death of the last Henry de Tracey in 1274, the castle had begun to decay. An inquisition of 1281 found that building materials had been removed from
3225-455: A week later (see John 20:24–29 ). Jesus then sent her to tell the other apostles the good news of his resurrection. The Gospel of John therefore portrays Mary Magdalene as the first apostle, the apostle sent to the apostles. Because scribes were unsatisfied with the abrupt ending of the Gospel of Mark, they wrote several different alternative endings for it. In the " shorter ending ", which
3354-483: A woman in private, without our knowledge? Should we all listen to her? Did he prefer her to us?" Andrew and Peter's responses are intended to demonstrate that they do not understand Jesus's teachings and that it is really only Mary who truly understands. Matthew the Apostle comes to Mary's defense, giving a sharp rebuke to Peter: "Peter, you are always angry. Now I see you arguing against this woman like an adversary. If
3483-459: A woman who understood everything." The Pistis Sophia , possibly dating as early as the second century, is the best surviving of the Gnostic writings. It was discovered in the 18th century in a large volume containing numerous early Gnostic treatises. The document takes the form of a long dialogue in which Jesus answers his followers' questions. Of the 64 questions, 39 are presented by a woman who
3612-762: Is Exeter Airport . Barnstaple railway station is the terminus of a branch line from Exeter known as the Tarka Line after a local connection with Tarka the Otter . The station is near the end of the Long Bridge, on the opposite bank of the Taw to the town centre. Several other stations closed with the publication of the Reshaping of British Railways (the Beeching Axe) report in the 1960s. The surviving one had been opened on 1 August 1854 by
3741-440: Is 862 mm (33.9 in), with rain on 138 days. Barnstaple parish population in the 1801 census was 3,748, in 1901 9,698, and in 2001 22,497. In 2011 the racial make-up was: As a major town, Barnstaple has a similar ethnic make-up to other south-west towns such as Truro and Cullompton . It is more diverse than the North Devon district (95.9% White British ) and Devon as a whole (94.2% White British). North Devon
3870-735: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Barnstaple Barnstaple ( / ˈ b ɑːr n s t ə b əl / or / ˈ b ɑːr n s t ə p əl / ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon , England. The town lies at the River Taw 's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel . From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from which it earned great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, but its harbour silted up and other trades developed such as shipbuilding, foundries and sawmills. A Victorian market building survives, with
3999-575: Is a historical name, which was revived in the Victorian era in several novels. It remains in the names of a football team, a brewery and several businesses, and on numerous milestones. The former Brannam Pottery in Litchdon Street was known for its trademark "Barum" etched on the base of its products. The earliest local settlement was probably at Pilton by the River Yeo , now a northern suburb. Pilton
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4128-457: Is also of interest, as is the Pannier Market beneath it. The museum has an "arts and crafts" appearance with tessellated floors and locally made staircase and decorative fireplaces. Barnstaple Castle, founded in the 11th or 12th century and first mentioned the 12th century, may derive from Juhel (Joel) of Totnes in the early 12th century. King Stephen granted the castle to Henry de Tracy,
4257-448: Is badly fragmented, and speculated but unreliable additions are shown in brackets: And the companion of the [saviour was] Mary Magdalene. [Christ] loved Mary more than [all] the disciples, [and used to] kiss her [often] on the [–]. The rest of the disciples [were offended by it and expressed disapproval]. They said to him, "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Saviour answered and said to them, "Why do I not love you like her? When
4386-505: Is considered to be a saint by the Catholic , Eastern Orthodox , Anglican , and Lutheran denominations. In 2016, Pope Francis raised the level of liturgical memory on July 22 from memorial to feast , and for her to be referred to as the "Apostle of the apostles". Some Protestant churches honor her as a heroine of the faith. The Eastern Orthodox churches also commemorate her on the Sunday of
4515-445: Is found in very few manuscripts, the women go to "those around Peter" and tell them what they had seen at the tomb, followed by a brief declaration of the gospel being preached from east to west. This "very forced" ending contradicts the last verse of the original gospel, stating that the women "told no one". The " longer ending ", which is found in most surviving manuscripts, is an "amalgam of traditions" containing episodes derived from
4644-411: Is known as the " kiss of peace ". Ehrman explains that, in the context of the Gospel of Philip, the kiss of peace is used as a symbol for the passage of truth from one person to another and that it is not in any way an act of "divine foreplay ". The Gospel of Mary is the only surviving apocryphal text named after a woman. It contains information about the role of women in the early church. The text
4773-419: Is more likely, wanted to impress others by telling this fantastic tale, and so by this cock-and-bull story to provide a chance for other beggars". The Church Father Origen ( c. 184 – c. 253) defended Christianity against this accusation in his apologetic treatise Against Celsus , mentioning Matthew 28:1 , which lists Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" both seeing the resurrected Jesus, thus providing
4902-751: Is probably the Dialogue of the Saviour , a badly damaged Gnostic text discovered in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945. The dialogue consists of a conversation between Jesus, Mary and two apostles – Thomas the Apostle and Matthew the Apostle . In saying 53, the Dialogue attributes to Mary three aphorisms that are attributed to Jesus in the New Testament: "The wickedness of each day [is sufficient]. Workers deserve their food. Disciples resemble their teachers." The narrator commends Mary stating, "she spoke this utterance as
5031-589: Is recorded in the Burghal Hidage (c. 917) as a burh founded by Alfred the Great , and may have undergone a Viking attack in 893, but by the later 10th-century Barnstaple had taken over its local defence. It had a mint before the Norman Conquest. The feudal barony of Barnstaple had its caput at Barnstaple Castle , granted by William the Conqueror to Geoffrey de Montbray , who appears as its holder in
5160-404: Is referred to as Mary or Mary Magdalene. At one point, Jesus says, "Mary, thou blessed one, whom I will perfect in all mysteries of those of the height, discourse in openness, thou, whose heart is raised to the kingdom of heaven more than all thy brethren." At another point, he tells her, "Well done, Mary. You are more blessed than all women on earth, because you will be the fullness of fullness and
5289-501: Is some distance from Britain's traditional areas of industrial activity and population. In the late 1970s it gained several industrial firms due to the availability of central government grants for opening factories and operating them on low or zero levels of local taxation. This was scarcely successful, with few lasting beyond the few years that grants were available. One success was the manufacturing of generic medicines by Cox Pharmaceuticals (now branded Allergan ), which moved in 1980 from
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5418-624: The Borough of Barnstaple had two members in the House of Commons until 1885, when this was reduced to one. The constituency was replaced for the 1950 general election by the large modern constituency of North Devon , held by Nick Harvey MP of the Liberal Democrats from 1992 until 2015, when Peter Heaton-Jones of the Conservative Party was elected and re-elected in 2017. Between 2019 and 2024
5547-516: The Bristol Channel . On the north side, the Taw is joined by the River Yeo, which rises on Berry Down near Combe Martin . Most of the town lies on the east bank of the estuary, connected to the west by the ancient Barnstaple Long Bridge , with 16 arches. The town's early medieval layout still appears from the street plan and street names, with Boutport Street ("About the Port") following the curved line of
5676-560: The Gospel of Luke 8:2–3 provides a brief summary of her role during his ministry: Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God . The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna , the wife of Herod 's steward Chuza, and Susanna , and many others, who provided for them out of their resources. According to
5805-501: The Gospel of Luke , Jesus exorcised "seven demons" from Mary Magdalene. That seven demons had possessed Mary is repeated in Mark 16:9, part of the "longer ending" of that gospel – this is not found in the earliest manuscripts and is possibly a second-century addition to the original text, possibly based on the Gospel of Luke. In the first century, demons were believed widely to cause physical and psychological illness. Bruce Chilton ,
5934-558: The Gospel of Mary . These texts portray her as an apostle, as Jesus's closest and most beloved disciple and the only one who truly understood his teachings. In the Gnostic texts , or Gnostic gospels, Mary's closeness to Jesus results in tension with another disciple, Peter , due to her gender and Peter's envy of the special teachings given to her. In the Gospel of Philip's text, Marvin Meyer's translation says (missing text bracketed): "The companion of
6063-516: The Guildhall on High Street and has its offices at Barum House on The Square. Barnstaple was an ancient borough . Its early status as a borough was ambiguous; in 1340 the town's guild claimed it had been incorporated in 930 by King Athelstan in a charter which had since been lost. The town was described as a borough in the Domesday Book of 1086, and from at least 1210 the town was being run by
6192-575: The Learning and Skills Council withdrew £75 million in funding in January 2009. Petroc was launched in September 2009, a year after NDC merged with Tiverton's East Devon College . St Peter's Church is the parish church of Barnstaple. Its oldest parts probably date to the 13th century, though the nave, chancel and tower date from 1318, when three altars were dedicated by Bishop Stapledon . The north and south aisles were added in about 1670. The church has
6321-509: The Magdalene or the Madeleine ) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels , traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurrection . She is mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles and more than any other woman in the gospels, other than Jesus's family. Mary's epithet Magdalene may be
6450-740: The Myrrhbearers , the Orthodox equivalent of one of the Western Three Marys traditions. Because she was the first to witness Jesus's resurrection, Mary Magdalene is known in some Christian traditions as the "apostle to the apostles". She is a central figure in Gnostic Christian writings, including the Dialogue of the Savior , the Pistis Sophia , the Gospel of Thomas , the Gospel of Philip , and
6579-514: The North Devon Railway (later the London and South Western Railway ), although a service had operated from Fremington since 1848 for goods traffic only. The station became "Barnstaple Junction" on 20 July 1874, when the railway opened the branch line to Ilfracombe , reverting to plain "Barnstaple" when this was closed on 5 October 1970. It is now a terminus and much reduced in size, as part of
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#17328687100136708-458: The general epistles . The earliest and most reliable sources about her life are the three Synoptic Gospels of Mark , Matthew , and Luke , which were all written during the first century AD. Mary Magdalene's epithet Magdalene ( ἡ Μαγδαληνή ; lit. ' the Magdalene ' ) probably means that she came from Magdala , a village on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee that
6837-606: The 1086 Domesday Book . The barony fell to the Crown in 1095 after Montbray rebelled against William II . He transferred the barony to Juhel de Totnes , a feudal baron of Totnes . By 1107 Juhel had founded Totnes Priory and then Barnstaple Priory , of the Cluniac order , dedicated to St Mary Magdalene . After Juhel's son died intestate, the barony was split between the de Braose and Tracy families, before reuniting under Henry de Tracy. It then passed through several families, before ending in
6966-455: The 1880s, leaving it "dark and dull", according to Hoskins. Other religious buildings include St Anne's Chapel (a 14th-century chantry chapel , now a museum) in the parish churchyard. The Church of St Mary the Virgin in the suburb of Pilton is 13th-century and a Grade I listed building; Holy Trinity , built in the 1840s but necessarily rebuilt in 1867 as its foundations were unsound. It has
7095-472: The Bible. In these apocryphal texts, Mary Magdalene is portrayed as a visionary and leader of the early movement whom Jesus loved more than he loved the other disciples. These texts were written long after the death of the historical Mary Magdalene. They are not regarded by bible scholars as reliable sources of information about her life. Sanders summarizes the scholarly consensus that: ... very, very little in
7224-486: The Gospel of Thomas, where women can only be saved by becoming men, in the Gospel of Mary, they can be saved just as they are. Peter approaches Mary and asks her: "Sister we know that the Saviour loved you more than the rest of woman. Tell us the words of the Saviour which you remember which you know, but we do not, nor have we heard them". Mary answered and said, "What is hidden from you I will proclaim to you". And she began to speak to them these words: "I", she said, "I saw
7353-488: The Lord in a vision and I said to Him, Lord I saw you today in a vision". Mary then proceeds to describe the Gnostic cosmology in depth, revealing that she is the only one who has understood Jesus's true teachings. Andrew the Apostle challenges Mary, insisting, "Say what you think about what she said, but I do not believe the savior said this. These teachings are strange ideas." Peter responds, saying, "Did he really speak with
7482-678: The MP was the Conservative Selaine Saxby . Since 2024 the MP has been the Liberal Democrat Ian Roome . Barnstaple is the largest town in North Devon. It lies 68 miles (109 km) west-south-west of Bristol , 50 miles (80 km) north of Plymouth and 34 miles (55 km) north-west of the county town and city of Exeter . It was founded at the lowest crossing point of the River Taw , where its estuary starts to widen, about 7 miles (11 km) inland from Barnstaple Bay in
7611-601: The Mary from whom seven devils were ejected according to Mark. What did these seven devils signify, if not all the vices? It is clear, that the woman previously used the unguent to perfume her flesh in forbidden acts. What she therefore displayed more scandalously, she was now offering to God in a more praiseworthy manner. She had coveted with earthly eyes, but now through penitence these are consumed with tears. She displayed her hair to set off her face, but now her hair dries her tears. She had spoken proud things with her mouth, but in kissing
7740-457: The New Testament. Some scholars believe that at least a few of these sayings may authentically be traced back to the historical Jesus. Two of the sayings reference a woman named "Mary", who is generally regarded as Mary Magdalene. In saying 21, Mary herself asks Jesus, "Whom are your disciples like?" Jesus responds, "They are like children who have settled in a field which is not theirs. When
7869-489: The North Devon Link Road. Barnstaple is twinned with: Barnstaple has an eclectic mix of architectural styles, with the 19th century predominant, despite remnants of early buildings and several early plaster ceilings. St Anne's Chapel in the central churchyard can be seen as the most important ancient building to survive. Queen Anne's Walk was erected in about 1708 as a mercantile exchange. The Georgian Guildhall
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#17328687100137998-508: The Syrian ( c. 306 – 373). Part of the reason for the identification of Mary Magdalene as a sinner may derive from the reputation of her birthplace, Magdala, which, by the late first century, was infamous for its inhabitants' alleged vice and licentiousness. In one of his preserved sayings, Gregory of Nyssa ( c. 330 – 395) identifies Mary Magdalene as "the first witness to the resurrection, that she might set straight again by her faith in
8127-481: The [...] is Mary of Magdala. The [...] her more than [...] the disciples, [...] kissed her often on her [...]." It is widely accepted among secular historians that, like Jesus, Mary Magdalene was a real historical figure. Nonetheless, very little is known about her life. Unlike Paul the Apostle , Mary Magdalene left behind no known writings of her own. She was never mentioned in any of the Pauline epistles or in any of
8256-472: The apocryphal gospels could conceivably go back to the time of Jesus. They are legendary and mythological. Of all the apocryphal material, only some of the sayings in the Gospel of Thomas are worth consideration. Nonetheless, the texts have been frequently promoted in modern works as though they were reliable. Such works often support sensationalist statements about Jesus and Mary Magdalene's relationship. The earliest dialogue between Jesus and Mary Magdalene
8385-512: The best plaster ceilings in Devon. The merchants also built almshouses , including Penrose's , and backed their legacy with elaborate family monuments inside the church. By the 18th century, Barnstaple had ceased to be a woollen manufacturing town. Its output was replaced from Ireland, for which it was the main landing place; the raw materials were then taken by land to clothmaking towns in mid and east-Devon, such as Tiverton and Honiton . However,
8514-401: The burial of Jesus. Matthew 27:61 lists Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" as witnesses. Luke 23:55 mentions "the women who had followed him from Galilee", but does not list any of their names. John 19:39–42 does not mention any women present during Joseph's burial of Jesus, but does mention the presence of Nicodemus , a Pharisee with whom Jesus had a conversation near the beginning of
8643-422: The castle without permission; by 1326 it was a ruin. Part of the castle walls blew down in a storm in 1601. The Neo-Gothic Manor of Tawstock , originally Tawstock House, is two miles south of Barnstaple. It replaced an earlier Tudor mansion, built in 1574 but lost to a fire in 1787. The Grade II listed St Anne's Chapel was restored in 2012 and is used as a community centre that can accommodate 60 people. It
8772-513: The completion of completion." Simon Peter, annoyed at Mary's dominance of the conversation, tells Jesus, "My master, we cannot endure this woman who gets in our way and does not let any of us speak, though she talks all the time." Mary defends herself, saying, "My master, I understand in my mind that I can come forward at any time to interpret what Pistis Sophia [a female deity] has said, but I am afraid of Peter, because he threatens me and hates our gender." Jesus assures her, "Any of those filled with
8901-565: The construction in 1855–1856 of a Pannier Market , originally known as the Vegetable Market and designed by local architect R. D. Gould. This 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, Wednesday – Arts Collectables and Books, Thursday – Crafts and General, Friday – General and Produce, and Saturday – General and Produce. Built on
9030-437: The cross is probably historical because Christians would have been unlikely to make up that the main witnesses to the crucifixion were women and also because their presence is attested in both the Synoptic Gospels and in the Gospel of John independently. Maurice Casey concurs that the presence of Mary Magdalene and the other women at the crucifixion of Jesus may be recorded as an historical fact. According to E. P. Sanders ,
9159-405: The crucifixion. Virtually all reputable historians agree that Jesus was crucified by the Romans under the orders of Pontius Pilate . James Dunn states of baptism and crucifixion that these "two facts in the life of Jesus command almost universal assent". Nonetheless, the gospels' accounts of Jesus's crucifixion differ. Ehrman states that the presence of Mary Magdalene and the other women at
9288-525: The dead and instructed them to tell the male disciples that he would meet them in Galilee. Instead, the women ran away and told no one, because they were too afraid. The original text of the gospel ends here, without the resurrected Jesus making an appearance to anyone. Casey argues that the reason for this abrupt ending may be because the Gospel of Mark is an unfinished first draft. According to Matthew 28:1–10 , Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" went to
9417-499: The earliest Church Fathers do not mention Mary Magdalene, and those who do mention her usually only discuss her very briefly. In his anti-Christian polemic The True Word , written between 170 and 180, the pagan philosopher Celsus declared that Mary Magdalene was nothing more than "a hysterical female... who either dreamt in a certain state of mind and through wishful thinking had a hallucination due to some mistaken notion (an experience which has happened to thousands), or, which
9546-497: The early 19th century. Between the 1930s and the 1950s the urban area grew to incorporate the villages of Pilton , Newport, and Roundswell through ribbon development . There are three tiers of local government covering Barnstaple, at parish (town), district and county level: Barnstaple Town Council, North Devon Council (based just outside Barnstaple) and Devon County Council (based in Exeter ). Barnstaple Town Council meets at
9675-405: The empty tomb, regardless of whether or not they are accurate, can definitely be traced back to the historical Mary Magdalene, saying that, in Jewish society, women were regarded as unreliable witnesses and were forbidden from giving testimony in court, so early Christians would have had no motive to make up a story about a woman being the first to discover the empty tomb. In fact, if they had made
9804-401: The far side of the street at the same time as the Pannier Market, Butchers' Row has ten shops with pilasters of Bath Stone and wrought-iron supports for an overhanging roof. Only one is still a butcher's, although successor shops still sell local farm goods. There is a baker, a delicatessen , two fishmongers , a florist and a greengrocer. In early 2020, the local Council web site provided
9933-432: The garden like Mary Magdalene in John 20 , indicating a conflation between Mary of Bethany and Mary Magdalene. The sermon describes the conflated woman as a "second Eve " who compensates for the disobedience of the first Eve through her obedience. The sermon also explicitly identifies Mary Magdalene and the other women as "apostles". The first clear identification of Mary Magdalene as a redeemed sinner comes from Ephrem
10062-414: The gospel deals with Jesus's parting words to his followers after a post-resurrection appearance. Mary first appears in the second part, in which she tells the other disciples, who are all in fright for their own lives: "Do not weep or grieve or be in doubt, for his grace will be with you all and will protect you. Rather, let us praise his greatness, for he has prepared us and made us truly human." Unlike in
10191-418: The gospel. Ehrman, who previously accepted the story of Jesus's burial as historical, now rejects it as a later invention on the basis that Roman governors almost never allowed for executed criminals to be given any kind of burial and Pontius Pilate in particular was not "the sort of ruler who would break with tradition and policy when kindly asked by a member of the Jewish council to provide a decent burial for
10320-401: The gospels. This passage made no mention of Mary Magdalene, the other women, or the story of the empty tomb, but rather credits Simon Peter with having been the first to see the risen Jesus. Despite this, all four canonical gospels, as well as the apocryphal Gospel of Peter, agreed that Mary Magdalene, either alone or as a member of a group, was the first person to discover that Jesus's tomb
10449-477: The hands of Margaret Beaufort (died 1509), mother of King Henry VII . A market is first recorded in 1274. The town's wealth in the Middle Ages rested on being a staple port licensed to export wool. It had an early merchant guild of St Nicholas. In the early 14th century it was Devon's third richest town after Exeter and Plymouth, and its largest textile centre outside Exeter until about 1600. The wool trade
10578-581: The harbour was silting up. As early as c. 1630 Tristram Risdon reported, "It hardly beareth small vessels." Bideford, lower down the estuary and benefiting from the scouring by the fast-flowing River Torridge , gradually took over the trade. Although Barnstaple's trade in 1680–1730 was surpassed by Bideford 's, it retained economic importance into the early 20th century, manufacturing lace, gloves, sail-cloth and fishing-nets, with extensive potteries, tanneries, sawmills and foundries, and some shipbuilding still carried on. The Bear Street drill hall dates from
10707-456: The life. Jesus said: Behold, I shall lead her, that I may make her male, in order that she also may become a living spirit like you males. For every woman who makes herself male shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. In the ancient world, many patriarchal cultures believed that women were inferior to men and that they were, in essence, "imperfect men" who had not fully developed. When Peter challenges Mary's authority in this saying, he does so on
10836-665: The male apostles. That women played such an active and important role in Jesus's ministry was not entirely radical or even unique; inscriptions from a synagogue in Aphrodisias in Asia Minor from around the same time period reveal that many of the major donors to the synagogue were women. Jesus's ministry did bring women greater liberation than they would typically have held in mainstream Jewish society. All four canonical gospels agree that several other women watched Jesus's crucifixion from
10965-434: The manuscript was not published until 1955. Roughly half the text of the gospel in this manuscript has been lost ; the first six pages and four from the middle are missing. In addition to this Coptic translation, two brief third-century fragments of the gospel in the original Greek ( P. Rylands 463 and P. Oxyrhynchus 3525 ) have also been discovered, which were published in 1938 and 1983 respectively. The first part of
11094-437: The mother of James went to the tomb and found the stone already rolled away, as in Mark. They went inside and saw two young men dressed in white who told them that Jesus had risen from the dead. Then they went and told the eleven remaining apostles, who dismissed their story as nonsense. In Luke's account, Jesus never appears to the women, but instead makes his first appearance to Cleopas and an unnamed "disciple" on
11223-424: The new district of North Devon. A successor parish was created covering the area of the former borough, with its council taking the name Barnstaple Town Council. The Civic Centre passed to North Devon Council, whilst the town council was initially based at the Guildhall. In 1993 the town council acquired Barum House on The Square to serve as its offices, but continues to use the Guildhall for meetings. From 1295
11352-406: The other gospels. First, it describes an appearance by Jesus to Mary Magdalene alone (as in the Gospel of John), followed by brief descriptions of him appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (as in the Gospel of Luke) and to the eleven remaining disciples (as in the Gospel of Matthew). In his book published in 2006, Ehrman states that "it appears virtually certain" that the stories of
11481-526: The other women are mentioned throughout the gospels indicate strongly that they were vital to Jesus's ministry and that Mary Magdalene always appears first, whenever she is listed in the Synoptic Gospels as a member of a group of women , indicates that she was seen as the most important out of all of them. Carla Ricci notes that, in lists of the disciples, Mary Magdalene occupies a similar position among Jesus's female followers as Simon Peter does among
11610-407: The other women must not have seen the tomb. Sanders affirms Jesus's burial by Joseph of Arimathea in the presence of Mary Magdalene and the other female followers as completely historical. The earliest description of Jesus's post-resurrection appearances is a quotation of a pre-Pauline creed preserved by Paul the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 15:3–8 , which was written roughly 20 years before any of
11739-533: The owners of the field come, they will say, 'Let us have back our field.' They (will) undress in their presence in order to let them have back their field and to give it back to them." Following this, Jesus continues his explanation with a parable about the owner of a house and a thief, ending with the common rhetoric, "Whoever has ears to hear let him hear." Mary's mention in saying 114, however, has generated considerable controversy: Simon Peter said to them: Let Mary go forth from among us, for women are not worthy of
11868-490: The parish of Tawstock . The town council moved its offices to Castle House in the grounds of the castle in 1927, which in turn was replaced by a new Civic Centre on North Walk in 1969. The borough of Barnstaple was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972 , with the area merging with Barnstaple Rural District , South Molton Rural District and the urban districts of Ilfracombe and Lynton to become
11997-499: The parish of Barnstaple, were enlarged at the same time to include part of the parish of Pilton (including the village itself) and the Newport area from the parish of Bishop's Tawton . The borough was further enlarged in 1899 to take in the Rolle's Quay area from Pilton and an area on the west bank of the River Taw (including Barnstaple Junction railway station ) which had previously been in
12126-431: The possessed person wailing, thrashing, and tearing his or her clothes in front of a crowd. By contrast, that Mary's exorcism receives little attention may indicate that either Jesus performed it privately or that the recorders did not perceive it as particularly dramatic. Because Mary is listed as one of the women who supported Jesus's ministry financially, she must have been relatively wealthy. The places where she and
12255-434: The possibility that Mary of Bethany and the unnamed sinner from Luke might be the same person, but did not associate Mary Magdalene with either of them. Instead, Augustine praised Mary Magdalene as "unquestionably... surpassingly more ardent in her love than these other women who had administered to the Lord". The portrayal of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute began in 591, when Pope Gregory I identified Mary Magdalene, who
12384-714: The present, but they are mentioned by the early Christian heretic-hunter Epiphanius of Salamis in his Panarion . Epiphanius says that the Greater Questions of Mary contained an episode in which, during a post-resurrection appearance, Jesus took Mary to the top of a mountain, where he pulled a woman out of his side and engaged in sexual intercourse with her. Then, upon ejaculating , Jesus drank his own semen and told Mary, "Thus we must do, that we may live." Upon hearing this, Mary instantly fainted, to which Jesus responded by helping her up and telling her, "O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" This story
12513-463: The reason why the women watched the crucifixion even after the male disciples had fled may have been because they were less likely to be arrested, they were braver than the men, or some combination thereof. All four canonical gospels, as well as the apocryphal Gospel of Peter , agree that Jesus's body was taken down from the cross and buried by a man named Joseph of Arimathea . Mark 15:47 lists Mary Magdalene and Mary, mother of Joses as witnesses to
12642-452: The resurrection, what was turned over in her transgression". Ambrose ( c. 340 – 397), by contrast, not only rejected the conflation of Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, and the anointing sinner, but even proposed that the authentic Mary Magdalene was, in fact, two separate people: one woman named Mary Magdalene who discovered the empty tomb and a different Mary Magdalene who saw the risen Christ. Augustine of Hippo (354–430) entertained
12771-489: The risen Jesus approached her. She at first mistook him for the gardener, but, after she heard him say her name, she recognized him and cried out " Rabbouni! " (which is Aramaic for 'teacher'). His next words may be translated as " Don't touch me , for I have not yet ascended to my Father" or "Stop clinging to me, [etc.]", the latter more probable in view of the grammar (negated present imperative: stop doing something already in progress) as well as Jesus's challenge to Thomas
12900-443: The risen Jesus, citing her prominence in the gospel resurrection narratives and her absence everywhere else in the gospels as evidence. New Testament apocrypha writings mention Mary Magdalene. Some of these writings were cited as scripture by early Christians. However, they were never admitted to the canon of the New Testament . Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches generally do not view these writings as part of
13029-416: The road to Emmaus . Luke's narrative also removes the injunction for the women to tell the disciples to return to Galilee and instead has Jesus tell the disciples not to return to Galilee, but rather to stay in the precincts of Jerusalem. Mary Magdalene's role in the resurrection narrative is greatly increased in the account from the Gospel of John. According to John 20:1–10 , Mary Magdalene went to
13158-525: The savior made her worthy, who are you to reject her? Surely the savior knows her well. That is why he loved her more than us." The Borborites , also known as the Phibionites, were an early Christian Gnostic sect during the late fourth century who had numerous scriptures involving Mary Magdalene, including The Questions of Mary , The Greater Questions of Mary , The Lesser Questions of Mary , and The Birth of Mary . None of these texts have survived to
13287-562: The site has been used for the Barnstaple Western Bypass . The Ilfracombe branch line brought the railway across the river into the town centre. Barnstaple Quay was situated close by the Castle Mound. It closed in 1898 in favour of a nearby Barnstaple Town station at North Walk, which was also the terminus of the narrow-gauge Lynton and Barnstaple Railway , until that closed in 1935. The narrow-gauge line's main operating centre
13416-457: The spirit of light will come forward to interpret what I say: no one will be able to oppose them." The Gospel of Thomas , usually dated to the late first or early second century, was among the ancient texts discovered in the Nag Hammadi library in 1945. The Gospel of Thomas consists entirely of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus. Many of these sayings are similar to ones in the canonical gospels, but others are completely unlike anything found in
13545-407: The story of the empty tomb can only be a later invention because there is virtually no possibility that Jesus's body could have been placed in any kind of tomb and, if Jesus was never buried, then no one alive at the time could have said that his non-existent tomb had been found empty. He concludes that the idea that early Christians would have had "no motive" to make up the story simply "suffers from
13674-452: The story up, they would have had strong motivation to make Peter, Jesus's closest disciple while he was alive, the discoverer of the tomb instead. He also says that the story of Mary Magdalene discovering the empty tomb is independently attested in the Synoptics, the Gospel of John, and in the Gospel of Peter. N. T. Wright states that, "it is, frankly, impossible to imagine that [the women at
13803-519: The texts found in Nag Hammadi in 1945. In a manner very similar to John 19:25–26 , the Gospel of Philip presents Mary Magdalene among Jesus's female entourage, adding that she was his koinônos , a Greek word variously translated in contemporary versions as 'partner, associate, comrade, companion': There were three who always walked with the Lord: Mary, his mother, and her sister , and Magdalene, who
13932-430: The tomb when it was still dark and saw that the stone had already been rolled away. She did not see anyone, but immediately ran to tell Peter and the " beloved disciple ", who came with her to the tomb and confirmed that it was empty, but returned home without seeing the risen Jesus. According to John 20:11–18 , Mary, now alone in the garden outside the tomb, saw two angels sitting where Jesus's body had been. Then
14061-429: The tomb. An earthquake occurred and an angel dressed in white descended from Heaven and rolled aside the stone as the women were watching. The angel told them that Jesus had risen from the dead. Then the risen Jesus himself appeared to the women as they were leaving the tomb and told them to tell the other disciples that he would meet them in Galilee. According to Luke 24:1–12 Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary
14190-547: The tomb] were inserted into the tradition after Paul's day." Casey challenges this argument, contending that the women at the tomb are not legal witnesses, but rather heroines in line with a long Jewish tradition. He contends that the story of the empty tomb was invented by either the author of the Gospel of Mark or by one of his sources, based on the historically genuine fact that the women really had been present at Jesus's crucifixion and burial. In his book published in 2014, Ehrman rejects his own previous argument, stating that
14319-638: The unnamed "sinful woman" was still a major controversy in the years leading up to the Reformation , and some Protestant leaders rejected it. During the Counter-Reformation , the Catholic Church emphasized Mary Magdalene as a symbol of penance . In 1969, Pope Paul VI removed the identification of Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the "sinful woman" from the General Roman Calendar , but
14448-668: The use of staple in that sense first appears in 1423. Barnstaple was formerly referred to as "Barum", as a contraction of the Latin form of the name ad Barnastapolitum in Latin documents such as the episcopal registers of the Diocese of Exeter . The spelling Barnstable was also used for the town but is now obsolete, although that spelling is retained in America by a town in Massachusetts and its county , which were named after Barnstaple. Barum
14577-400: The view of her as a former prostitute has persisted in popular culture. The unnamed "sinful woman" in Luke 7:36–50 is never identified as a prostitute and, in Jewish society at the time the gospel was written, "sinful" could have simply meant that she "did not assiduously observe the law of Moses ". The notion of Mary Magdalene specifically being a former prostitute or loose woman dates to
14706-404: The widely accepted premise that she is a woman and therefore an inferior human being. When Jesus rebukes him for this, he bases his response on the same premise, stating that Mary and all faithful women like her will become men and that salvation is therefore open to all, even those who are presently women. The Gospel of Philip , dating from the second or third century, survives in part among
14835-568: Was 73 per cent of the UK national average. The level of work in the informal or casual sector is high, partly during seasonal tourism. By 2018 unemployment in North Devon had fallen from a 2010 high to 1.2 per cent, while median weekly full-time pay stood at £440 per week and average housing prices at £230,000. The number of businesses registered has risen by 370 since 2010 to 4,895. The year 2018 also saw government investment through Coastal Community grants and Housing Infrastructure funds £83 million to upgrade
14964-559: Was a sinner" in effort to prove that Jesus "was not a phantom, but really a solid body". This may indicate that Mary Magdalene was already being conflated with the "sinful woman" in Luke 7:36–50 , though Tertullian never clearly identifies the woman of whom he speaks as Mary Magdalene. Elaborate medieval legends from Western Europe then emerged, which told exaggerated tales of Mary Magdalene's wealth and beauty, as well as of her alleged journey to southern Gaul (modern-day France ). The identification of Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and
15093-513: Was aided by its port, from which five ships were contributed to a force sent to fight the Spanish Armada in 1588. Barnstaple was one of the "privileged ports" of the Spanish Company , (established 1577), whose armorials appear on two mural monuments to 17th-century merchants: Richard Beaple (died 1643), three times Mayor, and Richard Ferris (Mayor in 1632), who with Alexander Horwood received
15222-675: Was an ancient Gothic chantry chapel , whose assets were acquired by the Mayor of Barnstaple and others in 1585, some time after the Dissolution of the Monasteries . A deed of feoffment dated 1 November 1585 exists in the George Grant Francis collection in Cardiff. Barnstaple has been the major market for North Devon since Saxon times. Demands for health regulation of its Victorian food market saw
15351-547: Was at nearby Pilton . A separate Barnstaple station, renamed Barnstaple (Victoria Road) in 1949, was opened to the east of the town in 1873 as the terminus of the Devon and Somerset Railway and later part of the Great Western Railway . A junction was provided to allow trains access to Barnstaple Junction and these ran through to Ilfracombe. It was closed in 1970. There are selected primary and secondary state schools and
15480-448: Was built between Barnstaple and the M5 motorway , some 40 miles (65 km) to the east. Traffic congestion in the town was severe, but in May 2007, the Barnstaple Western Bypass was opened to take traffic towards Braunton and Ilfracombe away from the town centre and ancient bridge. It consists of 1.6 miles (2.6 km) of new road and a 447 yards (409 m) long, five-span bridge, and
15609-553: Was called his companion. His sister, his mother and his companion were each a Mary. The Gospel of Philip uses cognates of koinônos and Coptic equivalents to refer to the literal pairing of men and women in marriage and sexual intercourse, but also metaphorically, referring to a spiritual partnership, and the reunification of the Gnostic Christian with the divine realm. The Gospel of Philip also contains another passage relating to Jesus's relationship with Mary Magdalene. The text
15738-440: Was empty. Nonetheless, the details of the accounts differ drastically. According to Mark 16:1–8 , the earliest account of the discovery of the empty tomb, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb just after sunrise, a day and half after Jesus's burial and found that the stone had already been rolled away. They went inside and saw a young man dressed in white, who told them that Jesus had risen from
15867-661: Was expected to have cost £42 million. The town's main square was remodelled as the entrance to the town centre, and The Strand was closed to traffic. The A39 , the Atlantic Highway, follows after the A361 to Bideford and to Bude and then further towards Cornwall. Most of Barnstaple's bus network is run by Stagecoach South West & Filers. The main bus station is at the junction of Queen Street and Belle Meadow Drive. National Express has coach services to London, Heathrow Airport, Taunton, Bristol and Birmingham. The nearest airport
15996-515: Was introduced in Luke 8:2, with Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:39) and the unnamed "sinful woman" who anointed Jesus's feet in Luke 7:36–50. Pope Gregory's Easter sermon resulted in a widespread belief that Mary Magdalene was a repentant prostitute or promiscuous woman. Her reputation in Western Christianity as being a repentant prostitute or loose woman are not supported by the canonical gospels, which at no point imply that she had ever been
16125-462: Was primarily known in antiquity as a fishing town. Mary was, by far, the most common Jewish given name for girls and women during the first century, so it was necessary for the authors of the gospels to call her Magdalene in order to distinguish her from the other women named Mary who followed Jesus. Although the Gospel of Mark , reputed by scholars to be the earliest surviving gospel, does not mention Mary Magdalene until Jesus's crucifixion,
16254-462: Was probably written over a century after the historical Mary Magdalene's death. The text is not attributed to her and its author is anonymous. Instead, it received its title because it is about her. The main surviving text comes from a Coptic translation preserved in a fifth-century manuscript ( Berolinensis Gnosticus 8052,1) discovered in Cairo in 1896. As a result of numerous intervening conflicts,
16383-490: Was supposedly the basis for the Borborite Eucharist ritual in which they allegedly engaged in orgies and drank semen and menstrual blood as the "body and blood of Christ" respectively. Ehrman casts doubt on the accuracy of Epiphanius's summary, commenting that "the details of Epiphanius's description sound very much like what you can find in the ancient rumor mill about secret societies in the ancient world". Most of
16512-486: Was the number of completion, so that Mary was possessed by seven demons may simply mean she was completely overwhelmed by their power. In either case, Mary must have suffered from severe emotional or psychological trauma for an exorcism of this kind to have been perceived as necessary. Consequently, her devotion to Jesus resulting from this healing must have been very strong. The Gospels' writers normally relish giving dramatic descriptions of Jesus's public exorcisms, with
16641-456: Was therefore not recognised as such by the monarch, but was deemed to be merely a bailiff of the lord. The guild made several other unsuccessful attempts to secure a charter from the king throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, including seeking confirmation of rights supposedly conferred by charters from Henry II and subsequent monarchs, but those charters were forgeries, copied from Exeter's charters. The town eventually secured
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