Pack Horse, c1980, Exeter

Photograph of the Pack Horse, c1980, Exeter

The Pack Horse Inn was situated on St. David's Hill. It began life as an old house in the corner of St David's churchyard. It is unclear when the building first became a public house, but it was certainly in use by 1779 as an advertisement in the Exeter Flying Post of 28th May of that year announced that the Pack Horse on St David’s Hill was to be the venue for a property sale and that the landlord was Nathaniel Harris. 

This photograph probably dates from about 1980 and the Pack Horse was then a typical local pub, drawing its trade mainly from local residents, workers from nearby offices and staff from Exeter College. By this time, however, many such local pubs were beginning to struggle, and the Pack Horse was no exception. It is often thought that this is a modern phenomenon, but it can be dated back to the 1970s. It has been estimated that there were some 75,000 when CAMERA was founded in the early 1970s and that this number had declined to 61,000 by 1992. The Pack Horse faced a loss of business as drinking habits changed and its trade really suffered when both the Inland Revenue and the EBC Group relocated their staff from offices adjacent to the pub to new premises in the New North Road area. The Pack Horse had never really been a student pub and lacked the trade from the Birks and Duryard halls of residence that helped to keep the pubs in Red Cow Village going for a few more years until they eventually succumbed to the competition from The Imperial, which was opened by Wetherspoons in 1996.

The Pack Horse finally closed in 1994 and was converted into a convenience store. This business was not very successful, and the venture closed in 2007, since then the building has stood empty and unloved. It is interesting to note that in recent years the Co-operative Society has pursued a policy of acquiring disused pubs and turning them into local convenience stores. In Exeter, this has been done to the former Barley Mow in Buddle Lane and to the old Crawford Hotel in Alphington Road, whilst in Topsham the existing Co-op shop has been expanded into the premises of the former London and South Western Hotel.

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