Dolphin Inn (Tap & Barrel)

The Tap & Barrel in Burnthouse Lane can be traced back through its old name the Dolphin, hundreds of years, to the West Quarter and Tudor times. The Dolphin Inn, which was situated on the corner of Preston Street and Market Street, belonged to the Courtenay's or the Guild of Merchant Venturers and was mentioned in a document in 1578. It was one of many inns that was used by carriers to collect and deliver goods from around Devon. For example, there was a Wednesday and Saturday service run by Abbot to Ashburton, while Frost & Co had a Saturday service to Bath, both from the Dolphin.

Pengelly's Gift

In 1700, Francis Pengelly gave for charitable use, the Dolphin Inn and two adjoining houses. They were sold in 1806 for £650. The money raised from the sale was invested and the return was divided between ten poor people, educated six or seven poor boys, and a sum given to the Devon and Exeter Hospital and to the poor prisoners in the city gaol at the Southgate.

Many people associate the Dolphin with the West Quarter of the 19th and early 20th-century and its namesake that effectively replaced it in Burnthouse Lane by 1933.

The Dolphin was up for sale by auction at the Bear Inn in February 1801. In March 1844, it was for sale with "large Room, Bar, Tradesman's Room, 4 Parlours, 10 Bed Rooms, Kitchen Cellars, large Yard, Skittle Alley, Lock-up Warehouses.... and Granary." The next year, it was Boon's Dolphin Inn and it was hosting the Exeter Western Conservative Society. Thomas Upright, son of James Upright the owner of the City Mill, took on the Dolphin in 1857.

In 1873, James Coombes and George Clapp were sentenced to twenty-one days in prison for disorderly conduct and assaulting P C Knott at the Dolphin.

Some trade directory entries for the Dolphin Inn, West Quarter:

1816 - Dolphin public-house, preston street, Beal Elizabeth, Exeter Pocket Journal
1833 - Punchard, Si., dolphin pub h, preston st - Exeter Pocket Journal
1850/53/55/56 - Dolphin Inn, John Born, Market street, White's, Besley's and Trewman's
1858 - Upright, Thos., dolphin inn, market-st - Trewman's, Thomas Upright became the innkeeper of the Devonport Inn, 1861 census
1860 - R S Pidsley - Flying Post
1869 - J Price - Flying Post (from Mr Banks)
1871 - Parish, John, dolphin inn, market-street - Exeter Pocket Journal
1878 - Dolphin inn, Crocker Francis, vict, 20 Market Street - White's
1889/92/93/94 - Dolphin inn, Henry Pardon, 17 Market street, Exeter - Kelly's
1896 - Dolphin Inn, Pardon, Henry, 17 Market street - Post Office
1901 - Henry Pardon, Innkeeper, Eliza Pardon and a daughter - census return
1906/12/13 - Dolphin Inn, Brown, Frank William, 17 Market street - Besley's
1914/15/16 - Dolphin, John Kemp, 17 Market st, Exeter - Kelly's and Besley's
1919 - Dolphin P.H. Geo. Taverner, 17 Market street - Kelly's
1930 - Dolphin, Mathews, J. E. H., 17, Market St - Besley's

The Dolphin/Tap & Barrel - Burnthouse Lane
1933 - Dolphin, Bauer, R. H., Burnt House La - Besley's
1956 - Dolphin Inn, Eric Turner, 31 Burnthouse la - Kelly's
1991 - became the Tap & Barrel
2005 - Tap & Barrel, Mr Graham Densham, landlord
2006 - Renamed Dolphin in February 2006

The Dolphin Inn was damaged by an air raid on 17th June 1941, along with a number of other properties in Burnthouse Lane. The water main was badly damaged at the junction of Burnthouse Lane and Briar Crescent and a car with a loudspeaker was sent to inform the locals to boil all water for at least 5 minutes. The modern Dolphin has the inevitable wireless hotspot for the internet.

Source: Trade directories, Dymond's Inns and Taverns of Old Exeter and Census records. © 2005 David Cornforth - not to be used without permission