About
The Burton Art Gallery and Museum is the principal cultural venue in North Devon, occupying a prominent position in Riverbank House on the banks of the Torridge in the historic port town of Bideford. Founded in 1951 with a gift from Thomas Burton and his wife Gertrude — who had collected significantly and wished their collection to benefit the local community — the gallery has grown into a thriving centre for art, craft, and local history that serves the entire North Devon region.
The permanent art collections are built around an outstanding group of British paintings and works on paper accumulated over more than seven decades of active collecting. Watercolours and oil paintings by artists associated with North Devon and the wider South West of England form a particular strength, documenting the remarkable scenic quality of the area and the long tradition of landscape painting it has inspired. The decorative arts holdings include studio ceramics, metalwork, and glass by significant 20th-century British makers.
A singular treasure of the Burton's collection is its extraordinary assembly of Bideford lace — the intricate handmade bobbin lace that was a defining craft of the North Devon area for centuries. The collection documents the techniques, patterns, and practitioners of this delicate art form, which once provided a significant supplementary income for women throughout the Torridge valley. Examples range from historic pieces of great delicacy to contemporary lace-making demonstrating the craft's continuing vitality.
The local history galleries chart the story of Bideford from its origins as a crossing point on the Torridge through its remarkable 16th and 17th-century heyday as one of England's most important provincial ports. Bideford's trade with the American colonies — particularly in tobacco, sugar, and salt fish — is documented with maps, documents, and objects, reflecting a period when the town rivalled Bristol in the scale of its transatlantic commerce. The maritime heritage galleries explore the town's deep relationship with the sea across the centuries.
Admission to the Burton Art Gallery and Museum is free, and a lively changing exhibitions programme ensures there is always something new to see alongside the permanent collection.
Categories:
Annual Visitors (2019)
45,000
Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
📅 Best Times to Visit
Quietest: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Busiest: Saturday, Sunday
💡 Weekday mornings for the most peaceful experience of the permanent collections
💡 Visitor Tips
- The gallery is free to enter and is one of the best free cultural experiences in North Devon — well worth visiting even for a short stop while exploring Bideford and the coast.
- The café overlooks the River Torridge and offers lovely views of the historic bridge; it is a pleasant spot for lunch or morning coffee before or after exploring the galleries.
- The Tarka Trail cycle path runs directly past the gallery, making it easy to combine a cycling trip with a gallery visit — bike parking is available outside.
- Opening hours can vary between exhibitions and seasonally — always check the website before making a special journey.
- The temporary exhibitions programme is ambitious for a gallery of this size; checking what is showing before you visit can add greatly to the experience.
- Bideford's historic quayside is just a short walk and well worth exploring after your gallery visit — the medieval Pannier Market, the Long Bridge, and the Victorian town hall all repay attention.
- The Bideford lace collection is unique — there is nowhere else in North Devon where you can see this craft documented and displayed in such depth.
- The gallery shop stocks work by local artists and makers alongside books and prints — a good place to find distinctive gifts and souvenirs of North Devon.
Highlights
British Paintings and Watercolours
The Burton's fine art collections form one of the most significant regional holdings in the South West outside Plymouth and Exeter. The paintings and watercolours include works by artists who worked in or were inspired by North Devon, encompassing both historical pieces documenting the area's dramatic coastline and estuarine landscape and modern and contemporary works.
The collection includes examples by artists associated with the Newlyn and St Ives schools as well as individual painters drawn to the particular quality of Devon light and scenery.
Bideford Lace Collection
One of the finest and most comprehensive collections of Bideford bobbin lace in existence, representing the distinctive handcraft that was central to the domestic economy of the Torridge valley for centuries. The delicate pieces on display range from historical examples of great age and complexity to contemporary work demonstrating the craft's continuing practice.
Interpretive displays explain the techniques of bobbin lace-making — the intricate manipulation of dozens of threads around a pillow and pins — and the social history of the women who produced this exquisite work.
Bideford's Atlantic Trade History
In the 16th and 17th centuries, Bideford was one of the most important ports in England, engaged in a booming transatlantic trade with the American colonies that at times rivalled the volume passing through Bristol. The local history galleries present this extraordinary chapter in Bideford's history through maps, documents, trade records, and objects including tobacco-related items, sugar-trade artefacts, and maritime equipment.
The story of the town's subsequent decline as larger ports took the transatlantic trade provides a compelling narrative of mercantile rise and fall.
Maritime Heritage Gallery
Bideford's deep relationship with the sea — spanning fishing, coastal trade, shipbuilding, and the wider maritime industry — is celebrated in the gallery's maritime heritage displays. Ship models, navigational instruments, harbour charts, fishing equipment, and the personal effects of mariners bring alive the seafaring traditions of the Torridge estuary.
The gallery explores both the romance and the danger of life at sea, including the devastating storms and shipwrecks that periodically struck the North Devon coast.
Collections
The Burton Art Gallery and Museum holds significant collections of British fine art (particularly paintings and watercolours associated with the South West), Bideford bobbin lace (one of the finest collections of this regional craft in existence), studio ceramics, North Devon local history, and maritime heritage.
The local history collections document Bideford's remarkable 17th-century role as one of England's most important Atlantic trading ports. An active changing exhibitions programme complements the permanent collection.
British Art and the South West
Paintings and watercolours from the 19th century to the present day
📍 Main gallery
Bideford: Atlantic Port
The history of Bideford's transatlantic trade and maritime heritage
📍 Local history gallery
The Art of Lace
Bideford bobbin lace from historic examples to contemporary practice
📍 Craft gallery
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.