A Home for British Nautical History

The Old Exeter Inn has seafaring in its bones.

Sir Walter Raleigh and his cousin Sir Francis Drake – two of the finest explorers and privateers of the Elizabethan age – were regular customers here. Add to that the inn’s place on the Ancient Mariners Way, a well-trodden route for soldiers, sailors and merchants journeying to and from the coast, and our nautical credentials run deep.

So when the opportunity arose to acquire the ship’s badge of the Ark Royal – the original vessel built for Raleigh himself in the 1580s – we couldn’t resist. And whilst we were about it, another very special badge caught our eye. HMS Virago. What a hero ship she was.

HMS Ark Royal & HMS Virago ships’ badges are on permanent display at the Old Exeter Inn

HMS Ark Royal
Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier 1950
Original Ship’s Badge
From the Ferrers Walker Collection
The Original Ark Royal was built by R Chapman of Deptford for Sir Walter Raleigh and purchased by Queen Elizabeth I in 1587 for the Tudor Navy

HMS Virago
V-Class Destroyer with Battle Honours
Original Ship’s Badge 1943
From the Ferrers Walker Collection
HMS Virago was a V-Class Destroyer with Battle Honours in the Atlantic 1943-1944, the Battle of the North Cape, December 26 1943 and the Normandy Landings, June 6 1944