Artefacts from Topsham's salty past fill this 17th-century waterfront building, including model sailing ships, shipwrights' tools and tublike historic boats. There's also a surprising Vivien Leigh room (she was the sister-in-law of the museum's founder), where memorabilia includes the nightdress the film star wore in Gone with the Wind.
Topsham Museum
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
4.23 MILES
Magnificent in warm, honey-coloured stone, Exeter's cathedral is one of Devon’s most impressive ecclesiastical sights. Dating largely from the 12th and…
21.24 MILES
High on Devon’s must-see list, the captivating summer home of crime writer Agatha Christie sits beside the placid River Dart. Part-guided tours allow you…
4.41 MILES
A fixture on the city's cultural scene since Victorian times, this hulking red-brick museum recently received a £24 million revamp. It's a treasure trove…
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15.34 MILES
Beer's creamy chalk cliffs hint at the presence of a seam of high-quality masonry material called Beer stone. It's been used in countless famous buildings…
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18.16 MILES
This innovative, 32-hectare zoo is by far and away Paignton's top draw. Spacious enclosures recreate habitats from savannah and wetland to tropical forest…
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23.16 MILES
For an evocative glimpse of jazz-age glamour, drop by the former home of the D'Oyly Carte family of theatre impresarios. Built in the 1920s, its faultless…
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28.57 MILES
This plunging gorge is the deepest in the southwest, and can be reached via a 1.5-mile rugged riverside hike past a series of bubbling whirlpools …
4.26 MILES
Prepare to crouch down, don a hard hat and possibly get spooked in what is the only publicly accessible system of its kind in England. These medieval…
Nearby attractions
1.4 MILES
You get more than a whiff of southern Europe on these winery tours that take in south-facing slopes, neatly staked vines and the heady aroma of fermenting…
2.49 MILES
The historic home of the Earl of Devon, Powderham is a stately but still friendly place built in 1391 and remodelled in the Victorian era. A visit takes…
2.87 MILES
For a sense of what life's like on the farms tucked into East Devon's red-soil hills, head to one of the auctions at Exeter Livestock Market. Join farmers…
3.51 MILES
This quirky 16-sided cottage was built in 1796 so two spinster cousins could display a mass of curiosities acquired on their 10-year European grand tour…
4.04 MILES
On fine sunny days the people of Exeter head to the quay. Cobbled paths lead between former warehouses that have been converted into antique shops, quirky…
4.07 MILES
Newly arrived ships in Dartmouth would once have paid their wharfing fees at this picturesque house, which was built in the 1700s. Not open to the public.
4.08 MILES
This stately 17th-century building was once the address where ships arriving in Dartmouth were required to pay customs duties. Look out for the antique…
4.23 MILES
Magnificent in warm, honey-coloured stone, Exeter's cathedral is one of Devon’s most impressive ecclesiastical sights. Dating largely from the 12th and…