About

Welcome to Exeter’s Heritage Harbour.

Heritage Harbour status was granted to the canal and basin by the Maritime Heritage Trust, National Historic Ships UK and Historic England in 2021. There are currently a growing number of Heritage Harbours across the UK who work together via a national organising group. The aim is to safeguard and conserve these historic locations and the buildings, quays, shipyards and environments that make them special. This also means we are committed to promoting traditional maritime skills and encouraging heritage vessels to use the canal.

Exeter’s Quay is a bustling area where people come to eat, drink, relax and walk by the water. In the summer there are plenty of activities which encourage more people and families. Exeter hosts a number of harbour events, including a highly successful annual Heritage Harbour festival.

We’re looking to welcome traditional vessels to visit Exeter or stay long term. If you’re interested in visiting Exeter, please contact the Heritage Harbour Development Officer through the Contact Us page.

To find out more about the history of the harbour see Custom House Exeter and Exeter Memories.

If you’re interested in visiting Exeter’s Heritage Harbour, click here.

If you’re an owner of a historic vessel, interested in networking or have industry questions, we recommend speaking to your local Shipshape Network Hub. The Shipshape Network was established by National Historic Ships UK, to ensure local skills and knowledge could be easily shared. Find your nearest Hub.

The Exeter Heritage Harbour Route Map has been created to provide a route to help regenerate Exeter Ship Canal and revive its maritime heritage.

Download the Route Map

Britannia

‘Britannia’ was built in 1914 in Kings Lynn and is the last Class 1 fishing ‘smack’ of her kind. She spent the next fifty years in the ‘whelking trade’ for which she had been designed.

In 1973, she was found in a dilapidated state by Sam and Vicki Samuels. They undertook her restoration and lived on board. Once completed, they used her for over twenty years as a charter vessel, mainly around the Scottish islands, until 1996.

In 2013 she was re-discovered, by their son, in a sad state in Brixham harbour. Incredibly, the Samuels family once again set about her restoration, having donated her to the Britannia Sailing Trust. In September 2023 she was re-launched to complete her restoration in Exeter Canal Basin and will use Exeter as a winter berth once sailing.

https://britanniasailingtrust.org/

Julie

For centuries, salmon fishing thrived along the river Exe. This old tradition no longer takes place and Julie is one of the last of her kind. She was found abandoned on the mud in Topsham and was brought to Exeter for restoration in the autumn of 2024.

Lynher

Lynher is one of only two surviving Tamar River Barges. She was built in Calstock in 1896 and spent 50 years carrying a range of cargoes up and down the Tamar and along the Devon coast.

Forty years and two restorations later, Lynher is now berthed at her new home at Exeter. Here she will become a centre for learning about the river trade and represent the very similar craft that, for centuries, carried goods down the Exeter Ship Canal.

https://tamarbarge.org.uk/

Snark

‘Snark’ is a modern version of a traditional coastal sailing barge. She was built, to an 1880’s design, by a father and son team, David and Nigel Speight as a replacement for their original sailing barge. Remarkably she was built in four sections in their Essex back garden during the 1990’s.

In 2015 she was acquired by Paul and Qiao (Chiao) Jenkins, named ‘Snark’ and converted to be used for chartered voyages. She arrived in Exeter during the September 2023 Heritage Harbour celebrations, the first visit by a substantial sailing vessel for many years and is now based here during the winter months where she is a venue for dining.

https://www.snark.limited/the-boat