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Summary

Cross Street was formerly known as Crock Street, which takes its name from the fact that pottery was once sold there. The name is first documented as 'Crok Strete' in the early 14th century.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• National Record of the Historic Environment: 34061
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS53SE/44
• Pastscape: 34061

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• ROAD (XIV to XXI - 1301 AD to 2009 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1855-1895, First Edition 1:500 Town Map (Cartographic). SDV338879.

Street named as Cross Street on 1880s-1890s 25 inch Ordnance Survey map.

Strong, H. W., 1891, The Potteries of North Devon, 390 (Article in Serial). SDV87986.

Crock Street, originally known as Crok or Crokke Street, takes its name from the sale of pottery that was once carried on there. The name appears in deeds dated to the early part of the 14th century and in church muniments of the 15th and 16th centuries. It appears as Crock Street in 1633. Today (1891) it is known as Cross Street.

Gover, J. E. B. + Mawer, A. + Stenton, F. M., 1931, The Place-Names of Devon: Part One, 26 (Monograph). SDV1312.

Crock Street is referred to in documents of 1482 and 1585.

Grant, A., 1981, The North Devon Pottery Industry of the Later Seventeenth Century (Extract), 12 (Post-Graduate Thesis). SDV7737.

Crock Street is documented in 1344.

Kempe, F., 1990, History of ancient street on display (Article in Serial). SDV361444.

An exhibition which traces the history of Barnstaple High Street from Saxon times to the present day has been mounted by the local library. With photographs, newspaper cuttings, sketches and maps, it outlines the development of the street from South Gate (now more generally known as Youings Corner) to Mermaid Cross, where the old North Gate stood.

The thoroughfare through the centre of the old town Is really an amalgam of three. The original High Street ran only from High Cross, the junction with Cross Street to Red Cross, the junction with Joy Street. Cross Street, now a shopping thoroughfare, was originally Crock Street, the centre if the local pottery industry.

The Wessex Ceramics Group, King Alfred's College, Winchester, 1998, National Database of Medieval Pottery Production Centres: Devon, 192 (Monograph). SDV352614.

Cross Street was known as Crock Street in the 15th century.

Mills, A., 20/05/2005, Cross Street, Barnstaple (Correspondence). SDV321823.

Wooden blocks formed a surface in Cross Street, Barnstaple. The chunky blocks were tightly laid with the end grain up. They were found to be quite undisturbed across the centre of the street under the tarmac and above a sandy/dusty compacted layer. They are also found in the Pannier Market and Gammon Walk.

Exeter Archaeology, 2001, Archaeological Assessment and Building Recording at Commercial Road, Barnstaple, 9, Fig. 2 (Report - Assessment). SDV73888.

Cross Street connected the High Street with the waterfront in medieval times.

Exeter Archaeology, 2003, Barnstaple Castle Car Park Scheme: Phase 1: Archaeological Assessment, 6, 27, Fig. 11 (Report - Assessment). SDV319631.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

University of Southampton, 2018, North Devon Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey Desk-Based Assessment, FID3716 (Interpretation). SDV361978.

The National Record of the Historic Environment (NRHE) reports possible Medieval tile kiln in Barnstaple using Fremington clay.

National Monuments Record, 2019, Pastscape, 34061 (Website). SDV362732.

Hoskin's in his book of Devon, 1954 suggests that the embossed floor tiles used in medieval churches in north and west Devon were made in Barnstaple from Fremington Clay and that they continued to be made into the 17th century.
Cross Street was known as Crock Street in the 15th century, the street where "crocks" or pots were made.

Timms, S. C., Nov 1983, Barnstaple Local Public Inquiry. Proof Evidence, 4 (Report - non-specific). SDV355652.

Exeter City Council, Unknown, North Devon Pottery (Leaflet). SDV355422.

A by-law of 1689 refers to the sale of pottery in Crock Street.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV1378 - Barnstaple Castle Car Park Scheme Archaeological Assessment

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