After more than a decade operating from Silver Street Chilcott Auctioneers are on the move.

After eleven years in Honiton’s Silver Street, Chilcott Auctioneers are set to move – but they are not moving far. The new salerooms are located on the town’s High Street, just a stone’s throw away.

Although the move is a necessity as the current location is due to be redeveloped, Liz Chilcott says the time was right anyway.

“To be honest, we’ve outgrown the saleroom in more ways than one and we see this as the perfect opportunity to take the business to the next level,” Liz explained.

“We’d walked past the empty building so many times and it seemed the perfect fit with plenty of space and huge amounts of heritage. Plus, Chilcotts is very much part of the Honiton community and rather than move away, which we did consider, we wanted to remain firmly part of the town.”

There’s a new name for the Grade II listed building, which is being rechristened The Dolphin Salerooms, a nod to its previous incarnation as the Dolphin Hotel. In fact, the building has enjoyed a variety of identities in its long history. Most recently called Montgomery’s Hotel, locals also fondly remember it as Bill’s Bar.

But the story goes back much further, in Medieval times it was the manor house of the Courtenay family before they moved to Powderham Castle. During the Civil War it was used both as HQ for military operations and as a hospital for wounded soldiers.

“We’ve been told that a ghost remains from this particular period, haunting the upper rooms although we haven’t seen it, yet.” says Liz.

Another manifestation as a coaching hotel attracted many significant people including William of Orange and the young Princess Victoria who stopped there while her carriage horses were changed. With a nod to this legacy the salerooms will be named Courtenay Room, Victoria Room and Orange Room.

As well as ensuring the auction business continues to grow and develop, Liz and husband Duncan are committed to protecting the fabric of the building so that it remains for many more years to come.

The final sale at Silver Street is likely to be in late January with Chilcotts holding the first auction at the new Dolphin Salerooms in early March.