Robert Southey, soon to be poet-laureate came to Exeter in April in one of the early years of the nineteenth century. He was writing a book, Letters from England, ( under the sobriquet Don Manuel Alvarez Espriella, - he would have us suppose him a Spanish visitor -, published by Longman, 1814, 3rd Edition,) He stayed at the New London Inn and gives us a rare glimpse of the place although we know what it looked like from the Square - viz. magnicent! - from early engravings :
"At length we crossed the river Exe by a respectable bridge, and immediately entered the city of Exeter, and drove up a long street to an inn as large as a large convent. Is it possible, I asked, that this immense house can ever be filled by travellers? He (his travelling companion) told me in reply that there were two other inns in the city nearly as large beside many smaller ones; and yet, that the last time he passed through Exeter, they were obliged to procure a bed for him in a private dwelling, not having one unoccupied in the house....
"If the outside of this New London Inn, as it is called, surprised me, I was far more surprised at the interior. Excellent as the houses appeared at which we had already halted, they were mean and insignificant compared with this. There was a sofa in our apartment, and the sideboard was set forth with china and plate. Surely, however, these articles of luxury are misplaced, as they are not in the slightest degree necessary to the accommodation of a traveller, and must be considered in his bill."
The New London Inn stood where Longbrook Street meets the New North Road meets the High Street. It is the area now covered by Waterstones bookshop and by the student accommodation behind.
From grand hotel to grand cinema to chain-bookshop - is that progress or regression?
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