Devon & Cornwall Police News site

Detectives investigating a burglary at a museum in Exeter have released new images of a man they would like to speak to in connection with the incident, as well as details about some of the stolen items.

We were made aware at around 5am on Wednesday 10 September following a report of a break-in at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum [RAMM] and Art Gallery on Queen Street.

Two suspects are believed to have forced entry to the premises and stolen a number of items.

A total of 17 antique pocket watches were taken along with a flint lock blunderbuss attached to a bayonet.

Earlier this week we released images of two men investigating officers are keen to identify and speak to. Both men can be seen wearing dark clothing and face coverings and riding bicycles.

We are now releasing a second set of images of one of the men in which he is wearing a different set of shoes.

We appreciate the faces of the men are covered in the images, however it is hoped somebody may still be able to help the investigation with new information.

It is believed one of the men may speak with a Liverpudlian accent, and the other a Birmingham/Wolverhampton accent, and that they both may be able to help with enquiries.

Anyone who has information, or footage that may assist us is asked to contact police on 101 or via our website quoting log 64 of 10/09/25.

Details of some of the stolen items courtesy of Holly Morgenroth, Senior Collections Officer at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery.

The blunderbuss 

Blunderbuss guns like this one would have formed part of the arsenal used to protect a mail coach from the threat of robbery while travelling on remote roads.

In October 1816 the Exeter to London mail coach encountered a lion while stopped in Salisbury. The lion had escaped from a travelling menagerie. It attacked the horses but was held off by the guard with his blunderbuss, while the passengers sheltered in a nearby inn. Once the lion was collected by its owner, the coach continued its journey arriving in London only 45 minutes late.

This blunderbuss is inscribed with the name “The Quicksilver” suggesting it may have been used onboard the Quicksilver mail coach. However, it is impossible to know if this was the very blunderbuss used during the lion attack in 1816. 

Chronometers and chronographs

Amongst the pocket watches that were stolen on 10 September were three early 19^th century chronometers and a chronograph.

The two types of watches sound similar, they both have ‘chrono’ (Greek for time) in their names, but they actually have slightly different uses. Chronometers, also known as deck watches, are designed to be high precision timekeepers whereas chronographs have a function, like a stopwatch, for recording short periods of time.

Chronometers were originally developed for marine use as an aid to navigation. In 1714, following a series of disasters leading to ships sinking with a high loss of life, the Admiralty offered the Longitude Prize of £20,000 to someone who could find a way of measuring longitude at sea. In 1730 John Harrison developed a clock that could stay accurate even on long sea voyages and this early design gradually developed into the high precision chronometer.

The RAMM examples were made between the early 1800s to 1880 and mark important technological developments in these pocket-size precision watches. The makers are William John McMaster, Charles Cope, and Victor Kullberg.