Waypoint 7-Fore Street

The heart of the town and historic thoroughfare

Fore Street has long served as Topsham’s main street, linking the quay to the town’s upper reaches and is a historic thoroughfare. Buildings are tightly packed and frontages directly on the street—ideal for trade and travel. Fore Street has hosted everything from political debates to local celebrations. Sailors would drink in its taverns and ships and property were bought and sold in its inns. It remains central to Topsham’s identity, with heritage buildings repurposed into shops, cafés, and homes that preserve the town’s character.

A social crossroads: rich and poor

The street hosted a mix of grand merchant houses and modest cottages, reflecting Topsham’s diverse social fabric. Wealthy residents involved in maritime trade lived alongside artisans, shopkeepers, and labourers.

Commercial lifeblood

Fore Street has always been a hub of local commerce, with shops selling everything from ship supplies to groceries. The street was lined with coaching inns that served travellers and traders arriving by road or river.

The Globe Hotel dates to the 16th century and was a key coaching stop in the 1830s, with routes to London, Salisbury, and Lyme Regis. ‘Globe’ is a commonly used name for an inn as it was the sign of the Portuguese wine traders. Port merchants had connections to Topsham with bases in Porto.

The Salutation Inn featured a cobbled courtyard and stables, welcoming weary travellers and their horses and stands as a distinguished example of an 18th-century coaching inn and meeting house.

Constructed around 1720, its imposing Carriage Porch door, complete with entrance hatch, dominates the front. Look closely and you’ll spot faint scratch marks—believed to be protective symbols carved to ward off evil spirits, a tradition often found near thresholds.

Above, the piered wing of the Assembly Room features a grand Venetian window, still bearing graffiti etched into the glass and dated 1774. This was once a bustling hub where the people of Topsham gathered to bid in auctions for land, property and vessels. In 1792 and again in 1814, townsfolk assembled here to sign a petition calling for the abolition of slavery—a document later presented to Parliament by the Earl of Devon.

A token gesture

This pub token issued by the Salutation Inn was found in a garden in Exe Street. This one had a value of 3 pence. It showed the landlord’s name ‘Bray’ made in Exeter. James Bray was the landlord from sometime after 1853 until the pub temporarily closed in 1869.

Up anchor and head for the next stop – Victoria Road
Walk past the Salutation Inn, then cross over the road, keeping left. Follow round until you reach Victoria Road.