Local historian David Cornforth has an excellent history of the Thatched House on his Exeter Memories website, and in his informative book “Exeter Pubs” We are indebted to him for the information and documents he has given us about The Thatch.
There are stories about a suit of armour, or at least part of a suit, dating from the Civil War, found in the central chimney breast, but we have not been able to locate the suit, which apparently went to “a war museum,” or any documentation relating to it, so for the moment that rests only in local folklore, unless you know different!!!!
The Express and Echo has in the past made reference to “The Thatch” as being the oldest pub in Exeter, but as David Cornforth explains, it has only actually been a pub since 1937, although the building dates from the 1600’s and has a varied and interesting history.
We recently refurbished the pub completely and during the redecoration discovered many original features of the pub from 1937 and have kept these wherever possible.
We have on display a “History Wall” which features all the plans, drawings and pictures of the Thatched House we have collected or which have been donated to the pub and further past images of the pub are on separate pages of this site.
We still have regulars who have been drinking here for many years and are often furnishing us with little stories that help emphasize The Thatch’s place in the heart of this community