King’s Arms is a narrow spit of land between the River Exe and Exeter Ship Canal at the entrance to Exeter’s Riverside Valley Park.

This area of the Riverside Valley Park was utilitarian and dominated by the railings and structures installed as part of the Environment Agency’s flood relief scheme, constructed in the 1960s. The scheme removed the majority of the railings and clutter, opening up access to the river and canal, and introduced a series of new elements including a restored marine buoy as a focal feature at the entrance to the Valley Park, three new seating areas with associated semi-mature tree planting, and lighting to the busy pedestrian and cycle path that runs through the park.

Buoy 3430, a Class II gas buoy, was built in 1922 and used in the North Sea before becoming an exhibit at Exeter Maritime Museum. The buoy was restored by Ian Clarke Restoration and placed on a granite plinth at the head of the King’s Arms peninsula. At night LED lighting set into the plinth creates a play of green, blue and white light around the base of the buoy whilst a replica of the original gas lantern (based on original plans from Trinity House) has been installed at the apex of the buoy’s superstructure, flashing the code for ‘Safe Water’. An inscription around the base of the plinth is based upon ‘The Seafarer’, an Anglo-Saxon poem from the Exeter Book, whilst six inset stainless steel panels provide interpretation about the buoy and the surrounding area.