Waypoint 3 – Nail House/Wixels

Nail House and Wixels

The sights and sounds of the 18th and early 19th Century Topsham would have been very different from today. Topsham’s ship building industry was at its peak. It was building ships for the Royal Navy and repairing ships of varying sizes to sail all over the world.

‘Nail House and Cellars’ was a former 19th Century nail works owned by brothers Wigzell 1850-60. The nails were a patent, spiral fluted type, used to secure the copper sheathing of ships to their hulls. The design was not successful, and the business failed.

‘Wixels’, the house nearest the river, was once a sail loft, and had cellars with tanks used for dyeing sails with red ochre.

Over the years, rivermen used ‘Nail House’ as a navigational mark to help bring them safely home.

“… there were an old wreck on the left-hand side with two boards fore and aft and you’d have to keep near enough in the centre…then lose that and come to the third window of Nail House and you were home.”
(notes from an unknown sailor, 1910).

Steer straight ahead for your next stopping point
Look out for the trail sign on the Ferry and Canal heritage information board on the Ferry slipway wall just past the Passage House Inn.