Old Exeter Inn, Ashburton

Restoration

The oldest pub in Ashburton, dating from the late medieval period, remodelled in the early C18 and Grade II listed. It was built to house the builders of the church opposite but has been an inn since its early days. It is reputed that Sir Francis Drake visited regularly and that Sir Walter Raleigh was arrested here in July 1603 before being imprisoned in the Tower of London. Painstaking restorations are sympathetic to the heritage of the building, retaining some of its ancient woodwork, and transforming it into a pub of five small dimly-lit rooms of character. There are drinking areas either side of the entrance hallway and the main bar is L-shaped, rustic and wood-panelled. Behind the bar are the old millstones, in what was one of two genuine, old stone fireplaces, both still present. To the rear are a snug, containing the beer engine that was in the bar, a curved high-backed settle forming a wall and casks on stillage. A flagstone-floored rambling passage leads to a small walled garden. Meals are available and can be accompanied with real ales and ciders.