The Salutation Hotel - Exe Street, Topsham

Dating from the year 1720 when it opened as a coaching inn, some sources state that before that time it was a granary. The first Freemasons Lodge in Topsham was formed at the Salutation in 1764. In 1768 it was rebuilt by a Mr Baker who became a wealthy man after a poor childhood. At one time, a James Moore kept the Salutation which was described as a hotel and posting-house. It retains a side entrance, through an arch, from the street. The room projecting over the pavement was once an Assembly Room, and also a billiard room.

For a short time, when England was afraid of a French invasion, the inn was the Headquarters for Colonel Robert Hall's, Devon and Cornwall Fencibles. They were raised in 1794 to patrol the coast and protect the citizens from an incursion during the Napoleonic emergency.

Topsham comes out against slavery

Just two years before the Devon and Cornwall Fencibles, Trewman's Exeter Flying Post reported a meeting of the inhabitants of Topsham at the Salutation Inn, when almost unanimously, they agreed and signed a -

"Petition to Parliament for the Abolition of the AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE"

The petition went on to say:

"That your Petitioners cannot know that very considerable Numbers of their Fellow Creatures are trepanned or forced from their native Country and tenderest Connections, and subjected to a capricious, rigorous, and involuntary Servitude, without feeling a Conviction that the Exercise of the African Slave Trade is injurious to the natural and inherent Rights and Privileges of Mankind". 6 March 1792.

Wrestling also used to take place here - a serious and tough version of the sport that attracted large crowds. One Abraham Cann who came from Colebrooke, near Crediton, was a great favourite with the betting clientele - he is believed to have been the champion of England in 1827.

In the first two decades of the 20th century the Salutation Inn had a bowling green at the rear, a skittle alley and a ballroom. The bowling green was in existence from at least 1687 until its' last remembered use in 1917. The rear of the inn has a limestone building that was once a malt-house.

There was a second Salutation in Exeter which was situated in rooms over the arch and in the towers of the Eastgate.

Some past landlords -

1839 and 1850 - Salutation Commercial Hotel - William Lake
1863 - Eddy's Salutation Hotel - Flying Post
1878 - Salutation Hotel - John Moore, farmer, maltster, carrier and victualler - Gazetteer and directory of Devon
1893 - Salutation Hotel - George Byron Carlile
1897 - Salutation Hotel - Herbert Grantham
1914 and 1919 - Salutation Hotel - Arthur Helmore