Pubs, Hotels and Restaurants - 2

Also see
Historic Pubs - A to D
Historic Pubs - E to L
Historic Pubs - M to R
Historic Pubs - S to Z

West Quarter Pubs
Sidwell Street Pubs

About Pub Signs
The 1830 Beer House Act

Page 1
Admiral (Vernon) Inn *
Amber Rooms *
Artful Dodger 
Bear Inn *
Bishop Blaize *
Black Horse Inn *
Bowling Green
Bridge Inn
Bude Hotel / Old London *
Cavern Club
Chevalier Inn
City Gate Hotel *
Coachmakers Arms
Cowick Barton
Deller's Cafe *
Devonport Arms
Drakes *
Dolphin Inn/Tap & Barrel *
Double Locks Hotel *
Duke of York
Eagle Tavern *
Fat Pig
George's Meeting House *
Ginos Restaurant
Globe Inn - Clifton Road
Globe Hotel - Topsham
Globe Hotel - Cathedral Yard
Page 2
Golden Lion
Great Western Hotel
Green Gables Inn
Hansons Tea Rooms
Half Moon Hotel *
Harry's *
Heavitree *
Hog's Head *
Honiton Inn
Horse and Dray
Horse and Groom *
Hotel Barcelona *
Hotel Windsor/Bonhay House
Hour Glass Inn

The Golden Lion - Newtown

Located in Clifton Road, Newtown. The name is associated with John of Gaunt (1340-99) last surviving son of Edward III - he was probably the most powerful man in late 14th Century England. However, the Golden Lion has been used as a heraldic device since the time of Richard I (the Lion-Heart; 1157–99). Since then the three gold lions of England have been used by every English royal house until the present.

Some landlords as listed in the trade directories:

1871 - Pearce, R., golden lion p.h., clifton-st - Pocket Journal
1878 - Golden Lion, John Dodd - White's
1897 - Golden Lion, Henry Hussey, 64 Clifton road, Exeter - Kelly's
1919-23 - Golden Lion - Clifton Rd - Sydney John Stone. Kelly's and the Post Office
1956 - Golden Lion, David J Pyle - Kelly's

The Great Western Hotel, St Davids

It is not difficult to account for the name and position of this hotel, as it is right next to St David's Station, on Brunel's Great Western Railway.

The Bristol and Exeter Railway was opened by the Mayor, Henry Hooper in 1844. The first train from Bristol was hauled by the engine, 'The City of Exeter'. The Great Western Railway leased the line for five years, before they eventually bought it out. When the London and South Western line reached Northernhay, GWR were prompted into building the present St David's Station, around about 1860. The oldest part of the hotel dates back to 1848 while the present extended Great Western Hotel dates from circa 1860.

The first mention of a hotel for the new St David's railway station appears in the Flying Post in 1848 when an advert appears:

RAILWAY STATION, EXETER
JAMES HUTCHINGS avails himself of this opportunity, to return his thanks to his Friends and the Public, for the favours already bestowed on him, since he has opened the above Inn, and trusts by strict attention to the Comfort of Visitors to merit a continuation of their support.
Visitors will find every accomodation, and attention combined with moderate charges.
Genuine Wines, Spirits, &c.
GOOD BEDS, STABLING AND LOCKUP COACH HOUSES
The Inn being so near the Station, Travellers, by rail, will find it a great accommodation.
Families supplied with Good House Brewed Beer."

The advert indicates that the new inn had no formal name at this time, other than the Railway Station, Exeter which must have been confusing.

In 1852 there was a sale at Hutchings Railway Inn to settle a disputed account. The sale of paint was listed thus - "504 tins & 28 casks Paint, and 8 cwt 2qr 9lb Glaziers Putty". It was not clear whether the dispute involved Hutchings or whether the inn was just the venue for the sale.

The section to the right and around the corner is probably the pre 1860 railway inn.

Some Flying Post and trade directory entries for the Railway Inn/Great Western Hotel:

1848 - Railway Station, James Hutchings - Flying Post
1852 - Hutchings Railway Inn - Flying Post advert for paint sale.
1859 - railway inn, Crediton-road, Hutchings, J., - Trewman's. The address is Crediton-road, which makes me think that this is the part of the present hotel that faces Red Cow village. When they built the new hotel, they probably incorporated the old railway inn, into the structure.
1871 - Underhill, Jas., railway hotel, crediton-r - Pocket Journal
1878 - Railway, James Underhill, St David's Hill, Exeter - White's
1897 - Railway, James Underhill, St Davids - Kelly's
1923 - Railway (Trust House), St David's Hill. Post Office
1934 - Great Western Hotel, O'Kelly, H. K., Red Cow Village - Besley's
1956 - Great Western (Trust Houses) Ltd. (Geo. F. Burn, district manager), Red Cow village - Kelly's
1967 - Great Western (Trust Houses) Ltd. Station Approach, Red Cow village - Kelly's.

Green Gables Inn, Buddle Lane

Dating from 1934, this pub has an interesting facade, with a strange blend of Dutch and William Morris style making the central section and end walls very prominent. The roof is covered with green ceramic tiles, thus the name. It was designed by R M Challice and Son, who also designed the old Kastner's Garage in Magdalen Road. Commissioned by the City Brewery to serve the Broad Meadow Estate, which was built in 1923. It opened with the name, Kings Arms.

1936/39 - Green Gables PH, George Ernest Castle - Kelly's
1956 - Green Gables, Reginald G Wyatt - Kelly's

During the 1950's, the pub was noted for the quality of its men's and women's darts teams and they became local league champions. Green Gables closed down twice between 1982 and 1984, with the second closure causing the landlord and his family to lose a lot of money and go into council accommodation.

Hanson's Tea Rooms, 2 Cathedral Close

Dating from 1530, this restaurant next to Mol's Coffee House, is part of one of the most attractive, and historic group of buildings in Exeter.

It was built by the Cathedral Authorities to house 'Annuellars', or priests. Annuellars would attend the last wishes of benefactors to the Cathedral. They would attend duties requested by the deceased, visit and comfort relatives and keep a candle lit in remembrance. The Reformation saw these practices abandoned and the buildings housing the priests were taken over for other purposes.

Hanson's was a public library in 1850. In 1878 it was occupied by John Trickey, bootmaker. In the 20's and 30's it was run as a hatters. A Miss Langborne occupied the premises in 1956. In 1967 it was a restaurant named Duffill's and then it became Hanson's by 1982.

Honiton Inn, Paris Street

Situated at number 74 Paris Street, this is the only building left in the street after the bombing of 1942 and the 1950's rebuilding. This pub looks like the house in the story that started in the country and eventually found itself surrounded by huge office buildings in the heart of the city. There was a large house here in 1738 with a thatched roof. The earliest reference to the Honiton Inn I have discovered is a notice in Trewman's Exeter Flying Post during 1795 for a sale of the Honiton Inn which indicates Mr Stockham as the vendor.

It would appear from records, that the job of inn keeper led to many a suicide. In the Flying Post of 10 January 1825, the inquest into the suicide of John Franklin, landlord of the Honiton Inn is reported. Later in the 19th-century it was noted as a brewery and a skittle alley. Inns could brew their own beer after the 1830 Beer House Act.

The present building is early 20th Century. Paris Street was formerly called Shitbrook Street as it ran down to the Shitbrook, presumably at the roundabout. See the Globe Inn for more on the Shitbrook.

Here are some entries from the trade directories, listing some past tenants of the Honiton Inn:

1795 - Honiton Inn, Mr Stockman, vendor - for sale notice Flying Post
1816 - Franklin. J., honiton inn p.h. paris s - Pocket Journal
1825 - Honiton Inn, John Franklin - Flying Post
1832/3 - Honiton Inn, John Franklin, Paris street - Pigot's
1844 - Honiton inn, John Mount Stephen, Paris st - Pigot's
1871 - Higgins, C., honiton inn, 74, paris-street - Pocket Journal
1878 - Honiton Inn, Charles Higgins - White's
1897 - Honiton inn, Charles Morgan - Kelly's
1919-23 - Honiton Inn, Mrs Florence Chaplin - Kelly's and Post Office
1934 - Honiton, Wayne, H., 74, Paris st - Besley's
1956 - Honiton Inn, Frank W Robertson - Kelly's

The sign shows a piece of Honiton lace - Paris Street is the first part of the route out of Exeter towards Honiton - about 15 miles east. Lace has been made at Honiton from the 17th Century - in the 19th Century strong floral motifs were created on a net background. The central area seems to be missing something - maybe they ran out of thread...

Horse and Dray, Blackboy Road

The name refers to the method of transporting barrels of ale from the brewery to pubs and inns before the polluting combustion engine. It was named the Royal Oak between 1785 and 1799. From 1799 and 1831 it was the Temeraire and then the George & Dragon from 1831 to 1967. Like many public houses in the early part of the 19th-century it was used for inquests, with one such occasion in 1841. In 1854 the Flying Post reported both the sale of the George and Dragon and the marriage of the landlord.

The Flying Post also reported a particularly poignant suicide, as it was the 17 year old John Palmer Lane, son of the landlord John Lane who was found hanging by the bar staff in August 1875. The inquest stated that he "...committed the fatal act whilst in a state of temporary insanity, brought on by over study". His father said that his son had been particularly absorbed in studying a dictionary during the previous few weeks.

The Temeraire was a man o' war of Nelson's time and subject of J M W Turner's painting, 'The Fighting Temeraire tugged to her last berth to be broken up' painted in 1839. Great painting, that's well worth seeing. In the 19th century, when it was the Temeraire, the pub was the finishing line, every Whit Monday races were held between the Victory Inn and the Temeraire along Sidwell Street and Blackboy Road. Women would run for gown pieces. Donkeys would also be raced, presumably for carrots. Other festivities included bull baiting, cock-fighting and cudgel-playing.

Entries from the trade directories from 1844 onwards:

1816 - Temeraire public house, St Sidwells, Drake F. - Exeter Pocket Journal
1832/3 - Temeraire, Mary Drake, St Sidwell - Pigot's
1844 - George & Dragon Tavern Black Boy Rd George Ash - Pigot's
1871 - Loosemore, R., george & dragon p.h. blkby-r - Pocket Journal
1878 - George & Dragon, 10 Blackboy Rd, John G Lane - White's
1897 - George & Dragon P.H. Charles Geo. Stevenson
1923 - George & Dragon, F. Coplestone, 10, Blackboy rd. - Post Office. They were noted as a brewers in the guide.
1956 - George & Dragon, G. F. Milford, 10 Blackboy rd. - Kelly's
1934 - George & Dragon, Hayward H. J., 10, Blackboy rd - Besley's
1967 - George & Dragon, 10, Blackboy rd. - Kelly's

This 1½d token was produced by Seage & Son of Exeter for the George and Dragon. The intertwined CS initials on one side are those of the licensee Charles George Stevenson who ran the pub between 1897 (or earlier) and 1910..

Hotel Windsor- Bonhay House

In 1920, there was a row of three town houses and a corner shop, no's 42, 44, 45 and 46 Bonhay Road, opposite the station, although they were renumbered as 113 to 116 Bonhay Road by 1934. Albert Appleby with his wife Laura, saw the potential for a hotel and purchased the houses and shop. He converted them into the St David's Family and Commercial Hotel. This was one of several temperance hotels that were opened in the city. The temperance movement was mostly driven by women who wanted to see an end to drunkenness and disorderly behaviour. Hotels and halls were opened without bars and alcohol was banned.

In 1939, Albert Appleby had the hotel demolished and a new, modern style hotel built in its place with a new name, Windsor Hotel. Influenced by International Modernism, with a touch of art deco detailing, one can see the influence of the 1932, High Cross House by William Lescaze, at Dartington. The design is distinctly modern for the time with its clean lines, flat roof and horizontal windows. Striking features are the vertical columns and windows over the main entrance, in a simple, art deco influenced style. A leading influence in Devon on modern architecture were the Elmhurst's at Dartington who were responsible for commissioning High Cross House. They also took in the architect, Walter Gropius from the Bauhaus when he left Germany in the 1930's, so it is hardly surprising that such advanced ideas in architectural design were tried in other parts of the region.

It had 26 bedrooms, all with hot and cold running water and central heating. The building ran late and the hotel opened in rather a hurry. This was not a good time to open a new hotel as war was declared on 3rd September 1939. During the war it was used as No 13 Police Control Point while the upper floor was used as quarters for officers from the 504 Squadron flying Hurricanes, based at the airport.

In February 1980 a fire destroyed the south wing (right hand side on photo). A pile of linen stacked on a first floor landing had caught fire, leading to 29 guests being led to safety. Fire brigade enquiries did not confirm a cause. The Hotel Windsor was eventually renamed Chuffers in 1985 to revive its flagging fortunes, with a railway theme in the bar. It eventually closed in the early 1990's, was purchased by the University as a hostel and renamed Bonhay House.

Hour Glass Inn

One of a diminishing number of local city pubs to survive in Exeter, the Hour Glass Inn is notable for its shape. The earliest reference I can find for the pub is 1850 when it was listed in White's. The inn employed in 2004, 2 to 3 staff. Some landlords of the Hour Glass Inn listed in the trade directories are:

1850 - John Henry Parsons, Hour Glass Arms - White's
1878 - Hour Glass, Mrs Sophia Dymond, 21 Melbourne st, Exeter - White's
1889 - Hour Glass inn, Thomas Rowe, 21 Melbourne street, Exeter - Kelly's
1906 - Hour Glass, Miller, W.H., 21 Melbourne st - Besley's
1913 - Hour Glass, Miller, W.H., 21 Melbourne st - Besley's
1914 - Hour Glass, Miller, W.H., 21 Melbourne st - Besley's
1923 - Hour Glass Inn, Alfred Dorothy, 21 Melbourne st. Exeter - Kelly's
1956 - Hour Glass Inn, Rt. Houghton (fully licensed, snacks), 20 & 21 Melbourne st. Tel 58722 - Kelly's
1967 - Hour Glass Inn, 20/21 Melbourne st - Kelly's
2006 - Hour Glass Inn, Mr A Gardiner (Licensee)

The Lighter Inn - Topsham Quayside

This inn takes its name from the lighter, a flat bottomed boat used at Topsham to unload larger ships that had to anchor in the middle of the channel. Until 1958, the quay by the Lighter was still served by a railway siding, and the area not so developed for tourism.

The earliest reference I have found to the Lighter was this crime report in the Devonshire Chronicle & Exeter News of February 1832.

"Mrs Perriam, of the Lighter public house, Topsham, was fined 1s for allowing tippling in her house, from which arose the row we stated in our last."

In the previous issue, they reported that five were fined at Topsham a total of 16 shillings for assaulting a Mr Jones on the Quay.

Gutted by fire

On 4 May 1971 the inn was gutted by fire. The headline in the Express & Echo was "10 escape as blaze sweeps Exeter inn". The article went on to say " The fire started at dawn and swiftly spread to the roof timbers of the historic building—one of the oldest in Topsham......Smoke from the fire could be seen at a distance and roof tiles burst and scattered....". The inn was restored and has since passed through various owners.

The Lighter Inn has been listed in several Exeter directories over the years.

1844 - Lighter, Thomas Stancombe, Strand - Pigot's
1878 - Salisbury Mrs Ann W. victualler, Lighter Inn, Quay - White's Directory
1897 - Lighter inn, William Voysey, Quay, Topsham, Exeter - Kelly's
1919-23 - Lighter inn, Eli Pring - Kelly's and the Post Office
1971 - Lighter Inn, Alan Winmill - Express & Echo