History of The Royal Exeter Hotel

Bournemouths first hotel - The Royal Exeter Hotel

The Royal Exeter Hotel is something of a historical landmark in Bournemouth having originally been built by Captain Lewis Tregonwell in 1812 as a home.

Tregonwell was charged with defending the coastline around Bournemouth against Napoleonic forces, and liked the area so much that he built a mansion for his family. Later he added a number of buildings, which he let to visitors who wished to engage in the increasingly popular activity of ‘sea bathing’ – and so the origins of Bournemouth were laid.

It is unlikely that Captain Tregonwell could have envisaged how popular his then home and the seaside resort would become, though there is little doubt that his actions led to countless Victorians being drawn to the region in order to experience what they perceived to be the heath reviving properties of the sea and pine trees