Queen Anne's Walk
Queen Anne's Walk (formerly The Mercantile Exchange) is a grade I listed building in the town of Barnstaple, North Devon, completed in 1713 as a meeting place for the town's merchants. It is believed to have been designed by the architect William Talman, on the basis of its similarity to his work at the Hall in Drayton, Northamptonshire. It was promoted and financed by the thirteen members of the Corporation of Barnstaple whose armorials are sculpted on and above the parapet, and the work was overseen by Robert Incledon (1676–1758), Mayor of Barnstaple in 1712–13. It has been owned for many decades by North Devon District Council, which currently (2014) leases it to Barnstaple Town Council, and now trades as The Cafe on the Strand. Location and function The building is situated at the bottom of Cross Street on the bank of the River Taw, and looked onto Barnstaple Quay, ("New Quay" after the 1870s), (now filled in) at which most of the sea-trade of the formerly important port of Barnstaple would arrive and depart. Here cargoes shipped from around the world, including notably tobacco from the North American colonies, would arrive and be sold to awaiting Barnstaple merchants, who