English: Barnstaple and Pilton, undocumented 18th century (?) oil painting now in the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon, Barnstaple, showing a distant view from the west bank of the River Taw, of the adjacent towns of Barnstaple and Pilton. Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon has no information, whether regarding provenance, date or subject matter, on this very large painting hanging on the wall of the first floor, which dominates the staircase of the museum building in Barnstaple.

The central conspicuous element is a white (stucco?) crenellated grand mansion house on the hill above, between the two towns, possibly Pilton House in the parish of Pilton, a Georgian mansion house built in 1746 by Robert Incledon (1676-1758), twice Mayor of Barnstaple, whose very ancient family originated at the manor of Incledon, near Braunton. It survives today and is in fact situated almost in the centre of the ancient town of Pilton, near the church, but had formerly extensive grounds covering at least 20 acres, which extended down "Pilton Lawn", now built over, to the River Yeo. It later served as the residence for various Members of Parliament for Barnstaple, for which it was well suited being only a 10-minute walk from the centre of that town, yet in a secluded situation with extensive grounds, and sufficiently large and grand for entertaining borough officials and electors. The house depicted is a central element in the composition, thus it was possibly commissioned by Robert Incledon (1676-1758) himself, and donated to the Borough of Barnstaple by him. The house may however represent Raleigh House, in the parish of Pilton, an even more important seat, home of the Chichester family, sometime lords of the manor of Barnstaple Castle. Raleigh House was however in ruins in 1745 (see Wikipedia:Raleigh, Pilton). The costume of the gentlemen in the foreground is of the Georgian period (18th century).

Left: St Mary's Church, Pilton; Pilton Bridge over the River Yeo. Right: St Peter's Church, Barnstaple, with spire; Barnstaple Long Bridge over River Taw. Rare view of bridge before present widening, shown as just wide enough to accommodate a pack-horse train, shown bottom right. Painting shows view from Sticklepath Hill, in parish of Tawstock (?). Date 18th century, post 1746, date of building of Pilton House

For further information see the [1]North Devon Athenaeum website