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This was one of the reasons I procurred a John Smiths cardboard cut-out and sat it in my chair by the poolside while I strolled around Topsham one pub at a time. Its called research and she never noticed I was gone.

Topsham has always been the big gap in my website, one that will now be partially closed. Leanne's swimming lessons have allowed me the opportunity to do this. Special thanks to Jack Dee and the volunteers at Topsham Swimming Club.

The plan as ever is to get arse-faced and learn a bit of history while walking between Topsham's ten pubs, the infamous Topsham Ten. My plan is to tell the history of Topsham from the beginning in Roman times to the present day. Simple? I don't think so. Topsham history does seem to have been ignored in favour of it's more illustrious historical partner, Exeter and for that reason there will be many years of historical silence. Months of scouring bookshops and libraries for information yielded very little. I was only able to find snippets of information tied in with that of Exeter. One ray of light though, EM Carus Wilson's, "The Expansion Of Exeter at the close of the Middle Ages", (1961), an Exeter University publication that was part of the Harte Memorial Lecture. This lecture forms the basis of the story of Topsham.

Topsham is often referred to as Apsam or Toppisham in old documents, possibly derived from the Saxon, Toppa's Ham, meaning Toppa's estate. Aethelstan granted a charter for the manor of Toppesham in 937.

Sup up and head towards Topsham town centre. Next stop is Denley's on your right.

In 1282 Lady Isabella de Fortibus decided that a barrier should be placed across the river at a place now named after her, Countess Wear. Ships were initially able to pass through the barrier until Hugh de Courtenay closed the gap in 1311. Thus trade was blocked to Exeter forcing trade through the Earl's own port of Topsham. Though trade was fairly insignificant at the time, this trade was to grow and grow making Topsham and in turn Exeter wealthy.

Finish up and head off down Topsham High Street. The Lord Nelson is now a proper pub again but from around 2000 until September 2008 only served drinks if you ate. It was herefore a restaurant. In November 2008, it re-opened under new ownership as a proper pub.

The black and white photo shows how the pub looked in 1954.

Keep walking across the mini-roundabout into Fore Street and you'll find Drake's Wine and Alehouse on the left past Mathews Hall.

You'll notice the superb Georgian architecture of Broadway (built 1776) on your left. Grove House stands on the corner of Fore Street, again Georgian but slightly later than Broadway. It was the home of the Holman family in the C19th. As for Mathews Hall, it was originally built as the Tivoli Cinema in the 1920's but has ceased functioning as such and now is used as a community hall. The area around the hall is Topsham's leisure area with bowls, tennis and swimming.

Tryphena Sparks, used to live next door at the antique shop (N0.13). She was supposedly a sweetheart or lover of Thomas Hardy, depending upon which biography you read. She married the publican of the Western Union Hotel, Charles Frederick Gale on 15th December 1877.

They raised a family. Four children were born to them; Eleanor Tryphena, (1878), Charles (1880), George (1882), and Herbert (1886). Sometime after the birth of Herbert she suffered a "rupture". Her health suffered until she died three days before her 39th birthday, on 17th March, 1890. She is buried in Topsham.

During the reign of Richard II, the commercial boom enjoyed by many English ports largely passed Exeter and Topsham by. Exeter and East Devon had little to export and coarse Devon wool was not in great demand. 40,000 cloths were exported from English ports during Richard's reign and Devon's contribution, mostly through Topsham was only 400. A few further consignments of hide or fish did not qualify Topsham as a great port. The Hundred Years war fought with France had effectively crippled the wine trade with bordeaux which had previously brought profit to the people of Devon. Exports from bordeaux during this period were down by 80%. The wine trade did however recover in the late C14th but this again largely passed Topsham and Exeter by, Southampton becoming an important wine port. Out of the 12000 tuns of wine reaching England in the late C14th, only 300 tuns came into Devon and not all through Topsham. Things were looking a little bleak.

The sectioned off public bar can get very crowded. There are the ubiquitous sofas but this time with a baby grand piano making it all look a bit more authentic. Authentically what!? I think the idea is 1920's chic but I aint sure. There is also a dining section and a beer garden with more flowers than a Laura Ashley print. Pretty good beers considering this is the fifth pub. My sense of taste has normally deserted me by now.

The Fencibles were based here in 1774, these people kept a keen eye on the coastline in case of French invasion. They were only in existence for about 8 years but even so, their colours can be seen in St Margarets Church. The Inn closed in November 2008 after the landlord had got himself into trouble. Hopefully it re-open.

The C15th saw the tide turn for the port of Topsham, slowly at first, Exeter's overseas trade began to grow. Probably the initial impetus for this came with the signing of the Treaty of Picquigny negotiated between Edward IV and Louis XI of France in 1475. This was the "merchant peace" and mean't that trade between England and France could restart. The early signs of an improvement were seen 1481/83 when 6000 wool cloths were exported through Topsham, these levels were interupted though by the Breton War in 1488, however thereafter 3000 cloths were exported every year, nearly ten times the level of those exported in the late C14th.

In 1497, England negotiated the Convention of Boulogne with France in an attempt to check piracy, always the sad legacy of war. After 1497 wine imports into Devon ports reached 1000 tuns a year most of this coming up the Exe through Topsham. While England's wine imports were roughly half what they were a century earlier, Exeter via Topsham was now taking a much higher proportion of the total with Southampton falling into insignificance as a wine port.

Two Churches

Your next pub stop is the Globe Hotel, head out and down Fore Street, it is on your left. On the way, take a good look at Topshams two Churches, the Methodist Church is on the left and St Margaret's Church on the right.

Topsham Methodist Church is dedicated to St Nicholas (patron saint of Seafarers) and is designed in Early English style (C13th) but is obviously much younger, the wooden roof is meant to resemble the hull of a ship. The building was built by the Holman family.

St Margarets displays several architectural styles. The top of the church tower is older than the bottom which you'd at first think was near impossible. A civil war cannon caused such extensive damage to the bottom of the tower that the belfry was made totally innaccesible until the lower section of the tower was replaced. The Church overlooks the estuary and is a great vantage point. It was rebuilt after having been destroyed by fire 1876-78. The main body of the Church is re-build number four and is of limestone. The tower of red breccia and sandstone, the wall surrounding the Church dates from 1721.

Exeter's spectacular recovery and that of Topsham as a port was in no small measure due to the renaissance of France, once the wars with England were over. Exeter merchants dealt principally with Gascony, Brittany and Normandy. From Brittany came linens, table cloths, napkins, towels and huge quantities of sea salt. Normandy supplied wheat, nuts, apples, dried vegetables such as peas and beans as well as an array of clothing and linen. The list is in fact near endless!

Your next pub is just a short crawl away and is the Lighter Inn.

Twenty seven Fore Street displays the date it was built (1693). Cromer House is C18th and it's neighbour C19th. No.48 was the Custom House until 1826 but was constructed in 1708. White Street is now a street of very desirable cottages but was once Topsham's red light area. The Quay end of Holman Way is at the mini-roundabout. A barrier at this point, once controlled the railway branch line which followed the path of Holman way. The road itself was built in order to ease traffic flow when Topsham's drainage system was laid in the 1970's.