Dartmouth. Located on the Dartmouth harbourfront, it was built in 1639 for merchants William Barnes and Joseph Cubbitt, the original structure consisted of two townhouses. In 1688 one of the houses was used as an apothecary, offering medical advice to locals and visiting seafarers, as well as tobacco and a range of medicines, herbs, spices, and minerals shipped to Dartmouth from around the world. By the 18th century the buildings functioned as inns, the New Inn established in 1736 and the Castle Inn in 1762. It became the Castle Hotel in the 1800s with the word Royal added in 1902, likely after a visit by King Edward VII when he was Prince of Wales. It is historically linked to King Charles II's mistresses, and Mary (later Queen Mary II) visited in 1688. Other famous visitors include Sir Francis Drake, Cary Grant, and Agatha Christie, who used the hotel as a setting in her novel Ordeal of Innocence, and it

was used as a location for the 1984 film. The cozy interior features wooden beamed ceilings, flagstone floors and Tudor fireplaces. I found a nice seat by one of the fireplaces to enjoy a Hick's Traditional Strong Cornish Ale (5%!) on a cool windy day in the South Hams.