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DEVON - Topsham, Bridge Inn National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors Part One Bridge Hill, Topsham, Exeter, EX3 0QQ Tel: 01392 873862 Public Transport: Railway Station: Topsham Listed Status: Grade II View this pub on a local map
A fine public house that has been in the same family since 1897 when it was bought by William John Gibbings. Since 1930 it has come down through the female line and it is presently held by Caroline Cheffers-Heard. It has scarcely changed in over 100 years. The rendered and tile-hung building is probably of C18 origin (if not earlier) with lower, right-hand wing being late C18/early C19. At the back is a large wing, which used to serve as a brewery and malt-house in the19th century (brewing ceased in the early 1900s).
There are two public rooms at the front while the former brewery/maltings is also used as occasion requires (chiefly Sunday lunchtimes). Front right-hand room is known as the taproom and has some plain, old fixed seating. Over the doorway the attractions of Kennaway's Scotch whisky are advertised in old lettering! A panelled corridor leads on to the superb snug, right in the heart of the pub. A large high settle with glazed panels over bulges out into the corridor and effectively forms one of the sides of this intimate room. There is a large stone fireplace, old salt store high up above it, some fixed bench seating and a grandfather clock dating from 1726.
One of the few changes has been the provision of a hatch from the snug to the parlour for ease of service which took place just after WWII: this servery is known as the 'inner sanctum' and customers are allowed to sit there - but by invitation only. It has old window seating, a curved settle, small cast fireplace with log fire - note the three different bottle openers on the wall with one for the old marble stopper bottles. Beer - up to ten real ales, mostly from Devon breweries - is fetched from the cellar. The malt-house room with its own entrance from the car park has a bar counter which is XX years old, has a large 1930s brick fireplace and even one of the old hop shoots remains. Outside ladies' and gents'. Between the cellar and the malt-house there is a brick built furnace that provided hot air for hop-drying and malting operations.
The pub has the distinction of being the first to be visited by H.M. Queen Elizabeth on an official visit in March 1998 but we don't know which of the excellent beers she went for: the pub holds a letter from Prince Philip's equerry saying now much the Prince enjoyed his visit. Let us hope this will be the first of many such visits to one of Britain's Real Heritage Pubs! The opening hours are still those imposed by the government under the 1914 Defence of the Realm Act which restricted them with a view to ensuring people made more ammunition instead of getting drunk! They are 12 to 2 lunchtimes and in the evenings 6 to 10.30 Mon to Thu, 6 to 11 Fri, Sat, 7 to 10.30 Sun.
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