This lesser known Exeter pub is in one of the oldest surviving streets of the city, Tudor Street, on the edge of the old Exe Island district, just below the city wall. Indeed, it is next door to the famous Tudor House, an Elizabethan town house, one of the oldest buildings in Exeter, long since returned to pristine condition. It is time the Queen Victoria enjoyed the same renaissance.
The old Exe Island district was once a furnace of industry, brewing and squalor. It began just below New Bridge Street, about fifty feet away, where there once stood an older, smaller, arched stone bridge, the sort that you might find propping up a railway line in Cold Blow Lane in Millwall, or anywhere in south London. Altogether, it was an entrance, a border, an escape route and a trap - those above passed happily by, on their way out West; those below entered Exe Island for a day of toil. The newest bridge - a 1970s, streamline slab of concrete - is a measure of how much this whole area has changed since the 1960s.
Exe Island - really a salient of shoreline on a bend in the Exe, as distinct from the ‘true’ islands of Shilhay and Bonhay - was a world away from what exists now. After shaking off the Courteney yoke, the district grew to become the Venice of Devon, its leats, mills and factories like an overfull suitcase, packed in tight by the belts of the river and the city wall. Then it vanished.
Every old building was cleared years ago leaving just this side of Tudor Street as a remnant from the past, facing all of the new arrivals and making a defiant last stand. The Bonhay cattle market left years ago, cast-out to Marsh Barton and then Matford. In a delicate, brilliant sleight of hand, the landlady has placed on the wall an 1889, large-scale Ordnance Survey map; you could spend one hour in the pub looking at this alone, such is the story it tells.
Now, you might wonder what customers are left for a pub here. But the Queen Victoria has been refurbished and re-opened to create a fantastic, metropolitan-style oasis here, down by the river, amidst the dreary 1970s banalities of Renslade House office tower and its like. The new terrace outside should make many new friends come the summer (or even its colder fringes, given the Stella Artois stainless steel gas heat canopies).
From outside, you approach what looks like a typical Dublin bar, its shiny black glass panelling contrasting neatly with the lighter shades of the surrounding buildings and townscape. Heavy, prominent gold lettering proclaims: QUEEN VICTORIA. The pub itself is invitingly set back 15 feet from the pavement.
Passing the usual, obligatory disabled ramp, inside you will find an interior full of wooden floors and wooden panelled walls, fireplaces and balustrades. No expense has been spared (according to the local press, to the tune of £265,000). They haven't used that ghastly, light, shiny and slippery, modern MDF rubbish; here, it is real, dark wood, both relaxing on the eyes and comfortable on the feet (with just the right level of acoustics). It is all part of the authentic 19th century Victorian mini-theme, though in an appropriate, suitably modern rendition. This old pub has fully landed on its feet, though there is no sawdust.
The effect is complimented by a traditional style double-aspect, corner bar, backed by glass hallmarked mirrors – just like in Dublin – housing a well-presented array of liquor. The beer is Whitbread, Worthingtons and the usual lagers. Shame there are no real ales, though; if only they could bring in some Otter or Abbot, the effect would be total.
Once word gets out on this place, it’ll undoubtedly become a part of the pre-club circuit at the weekend, even if it is a slight detour. For the younger element, it has all of the computer games, fruit machines and ‘The Music’ (2 million song internet jukebox). It’s also a handy staging post for a journey from the city centre to St Thomas. In fact, it deserves to become a destination in its own right. Perhaps it could do with Sky football and a pool table, though, in the modern fashion.
There are at least a thousand people - all potential customers - on its doorstep: the mighty Renslade House with its five hundred office workers, the new flats at Powhay Mills (on the old Little Bonhay), and the riverside millionaires of Princess Alexandra Court. And that's excluding Fitness First, the only place of hard labour left on Exe Island. The Queen Victoria must surely hope to draw in some of the 500 lunch-time crowd from the nearby BT premises, too.
Here, the menu is superb, all local meat and vegetables, sourced from Exmoor and other local producers, and reasonably priced (£9.95 for a 10 oz rump steak). Brand new kitchens await the patter of order chitties as a Riley snooker table awaits the arrival of Ronnie 'The Rocket' O'Sullivan at the Embassy World Championships; action is inevitable. The only drawback is the reduced floorspace though this adds to the continental, bistro ambience.
There are numerous little table and chair sets, ideal for either a romantic tete-a-tete in the evening or a business showdown at lunchtime. For a more leisurely, extended drinking session, there are adequate comfy chairs.
This is the closest pub to the city centre that has such a distance before it meets another pub; there is surely no rival within 600 yards. Punch Taverns have done a tremendous job in creating a meeting place of history, leisure and business in this most under-rated corner of Exeter. It deserves major success.
