This pub started life as the Old Bottle and became the Railway Hotel in 1872, when the South Devon Railway branch line from Totnes arrived in the town. It became the Silent Whistle in 1962 when the branch line was closed, save for a brief period in the late '80s - early '90s when it became the Fleece & Firkin, reverting to the Silent Whistle when Ushers took over the premises in 1994.