122-469: The city of Plymouth , Devon, England is bounded by Dartmoor to the north, the Hamoaze to the west, the open expanse of water called Plymouth Sound to the south and the river Plym to the east. The Cattewater is that stretch of water where the mouth of the river Plym merges with Plymouth Sound, just to the east of Sutton Pool . It is around this Pool that the manor of Sutton started, which grew to form
244-584: A Royal Naval Engineering College was established at Keyham, housed in a new building just outside the dockyard wall alongside the Quadrangle where students (who joined at 15 years of age) gained hands-on experience of the latest naval engineering techniques. (The Engineering College moved to nearby Manadon in 1958; the Jacobethan -style building then went on to house the Dockyard Technical College for
366-464: A market town . During the Hundred Years' War a French attack in 1340 burned a manor house and took some prisoners, but failed to get into the town. In 1403 the town was burned by Breton raiders . On 12 November 1439 the market town of Sutton was incorporated as a borough and formally renamed Plymouth, with a subsequent charter the following year formalising its boundaries. It was the first time
488-476: A 'northern corridor' including Derriford and the vacant airfield site at Roborough ; and an 'eastern corridor' including major new settlements at Sherford and Langage . Plymouth is categorized as a Small-Port City using the Southampton System for port-city classification. Plymouth has a moderated temperate oceanic climate ( Köppen Cfb ) which is wetter and milder than the rest of England. This means
610-467: A borough charter had been issued by parliament rather than directly from the monarch. In the late fifteenth century, Plymouth Castle , a "castle quadrate", was constructed close to the area now known as The Barbican; it included four round towers, one at each corner, as featured on the city coat of arms. The castle served to protect Sutton Pool , which is where the fleet was based in Plymouth prior to
732-411: A destroyed city centre, but Abercrombie also took the opportunity to lay out a whole hierarchy of settlements across the city of communities, neighbourhoods and districts. Central to this was a revision of transport infrastructure that prioritised the position of the railway as a gateway to the city centre and provided in the long-term for a dual carriageway road by-pass that only finally came into being in
854-407: A dozen of these are listed. On higher ground behind the wharf itself is a contemporary terrace of houses for officers (1720), built from stone rubble excavated during the yard's construction. Morice Yard remains part of the operational Naval Base; in 2022 it became the headquarters of Surface Fleet Command . In 1758, the Plymouth and Portsmouth Fortifications Act provided the means to construct
976-598: A favoured location when the Azores High pressure area extends north-eastwards towards the UK, particularly in summer. Coastal areas have average annual sunshine totals over 1,600 hours. Owing to its geographic location, rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic depressions or with convection and is more frequent and heavier than in London and southeast England. The Atlantic depressions are more vigorous in autumn and winter and most of
1098-559: A fire in 1812). Where the old ropehouse had stood a short canal known as the Camber was laid out, terminating in a boat basin with a boathouse . On the New Ground to the south a new smithery was constructed, in 1776, containing 48 forges; though subsequently rebuilt it too still stands, the earliest surviving smithery in any royal dockyard. Initially used for the manufacture of anchors and smaller metal items, it would later be expanded to fashion
1220-599: A home of Waldorf and Nancy Astor , it was given by Lady Astor to the City of Plymouth as an official residence for future Lord Mayors and is also used today for civic hospitality, as lodgings for visiting dignitaries and High Court judges and it is also available to hire for private events. The Civic Centre municipal office building in Armada Way became a listed building in June 2007 because of its quality and period features, but has become
1342-682: A liability of £7.5 billion. Several sections of the South Yard (the oldest part of the Naval Base) are no longer used by the Ministry of Defence. Its historic slips were formerly the shipbuilding centre of the Royal Dockyard. In 2012 the southernmost part of the site was sold to a private company and in 2014 the northernmost section was leased to Plymouth City Council as part of a City Deal regeneration project; other areas are leased to Babcock. In 2022
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#17328454100961464-452: A long-running review of the long-term role of three naval bases. It was decided that Devonport would no longer be used as a base for attack submarines (these were subsequently moved to Faslane ), and that the Type 45 destroyers would be based at Portsmouth; however, Devonport retains a long-term role as the home of the survey vessels and more than half the frigate fleet (as well as HMS Triumph ,
1586-557: A noteworthy recent exception was the period of the European winter storms of 2009–10 which, in early January 2010, covered Plymouth in at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) of snow; more on higher ground. Another notable event was the 8 inches (20 cm) of snowfall between 17 and 19 December 2010 – though only 2 inches (5.1 cm) would lie at any one time due to melting. Over the 1961–1990 period, annual snowfall accumulation averaged less than 7 cm (3 in) per year. South West England has
1708-512: A permanent landward defence for the dockyard complex. The Lines round Plymouth Dock (later 'Devonport Lines') were a bastion fortification which consisted of an earthen rampart with a wide ditch and a glacis . The lines ran from Morice Yard on the River Tamar, enclosing the whole dockyard and town, finally meeting the river again at Stonehouse Pool, a total distance of 2,000 yards (1,800 metres). There were four bastions , Marlborough Bastion to
1830-513: A range of woodworkers and craftsmen, and an adjacent pedimented block containing the dockyard offices, as well as Edward Holl 's replacement Dockyard Church of 1814. The dockyard suffered severe damage in a large-scale fire on 25 September 1840, which started in the North Dock on HMS Talavera . Talavera and Imogene were completely gutted; the fire threatened HMS Minden , and spread to nearby buildings and equipment. Estimates for
1952-683: A service-based economy since the 1990s. It maintains strong maritime connections, hosting HMNB Devonport , the largest operational naval base in Western Europe, and offering ferry links to Brittany and Spain. The city is also home to the University of Plymouth , reflecting its educational and cultural significance. Today, the city is governed locally by Plymouth City Council and is represented nationally by three Members of Parliament . Upper Palaeolithic deposits, including bones of Homo sapiens , have been found in local caves, and artefacts dating from
2074-490: A single county borough of Plymouth. Collectively they were referred to as " The Three Towns ". Plymouth was granted city status on 18 October 1928. Between 1439 and 1935, Plymouth had a mayor. In 1935 the city was given the right to appoint a Lord Mayor. The city's boundaries further expanded in 1967 to include the town of Plympton and the parish of Plymstock . The 1971 Local Government White Paper proposed abolishing county boroughs, which would have left Plymouth,
2196-411: A single dock (No. 2 Dock) in 1860. At the end of the century the mast ponds were filled in to provide room for a new and very much larger No. 3 Slip, designed for the construction of dreadnoughts . Machine shops and plank stores were also put in place alongside. In 1912 the new No. 3 Slip was further extended in length, from 520 ft (160 m) to 752 ft (229 m), ready for the building of
2318-513: A stone-lined wet dock , giving access to what proved to be the first successful stepped stone dry dock in Europe. Previously the Navy Board had relied upon timber as the major building material for dry docks, which resulted in high maintenance costs and was also a fire risk. The docks Dummer designed were stronger with more secure foundations and stepped sides that made it easier for men to work beneath
2440-481: A third of the council being elected each time for a four year term. The total electorate for Plymouth's Parliamentary constituencies was 190,006 in April 2019. Since May 2023 Plymouth has had a Labour majority Council. Plymouth City Council is formally twinned with: Brest , France (1963), Gdynia , Poland (1976), Novorossiysk , Russia (1990) San Sebastián , Spain (1990) and Plymouth , United States (2001). Plymouth
2562-495: A time, but was demolished in 1985.) Until the late nineteenth century, sailors whose ships were being repaired or refitted, or who were awaiting allocation to a vessel, were accommodated in floating hulks . Construction of an onshore barracks, just north-east of the North Yard, was completed in 1889, with the barracks being named "HMS Vivid", after the base ship of the same name . It could accommodate 2,500 sailors and officers, and
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#17328454100962684-497: A town of 250,000 people, being administered from a council based at the smaller Exeter , on the other side of the county. This led to Plymouth lobbying for the creation of a Tamarside county, to include Plymouth, Torpoint , Saltash , and the rural hinterland . The campaign was not successful, and Plymouth ceased to be a county borough on 1 April 1974 with responsibility for education, social services, highways and libraries transferred to Devon County Council . All powers returned when
2806-493: A wide range of exotic plants, palm trees, and yuccas can be cultivated. The annual mean high temperature is approximately 14 °C (57 °F). Due to the moderating effect of the sea and the south-westerly location, the climate is among the mildest of British cities, and one of the warmest UK cities in winter. The coldest month of February is similarly moderate, having mild mean minimum temperatures between 3 and 4 °C (37 and 39 °F). Snow usually falls in small amounts but
2928-516: Is a Site of Special Scientific Interest , because of its geology. The bulk of the city is built upon Upper Devonian slates and shales and the headlands at the entrance to Plymouth Sound are formed of Lower Devonian slates, which can withstand the power of the sea. A band of Middle Devonian limestone runs west to east from Cremyll to Plymstock including the Hoe. Local limestone may be seen in numerous buildings, walls and pavements throughout Plymouth. To
3050-449: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Plymouth Plymouth ( / ˈ p l ɪ m ə θ / PLIH -məth ) is a port city and unitary authority in Devon , South West England . It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers Plym and Tamar , about 36 miles (58 km) southwest of Exeter and 193 miles (311 km) southwest of London. It
3172-596: Is a water taxi across it from the Mayflower Steps on Plymouth Barbican to Mount Batten and also Oreston both on the southern bank. The spelling 'Cattewater' is not old or consistent. Local sources and texts together with early maps and drawings refer to the opening of the estuary variously as Catwater, Cat Water and Catt Water. Internet search engines throw up other versions. 50°21′44″N 4°07′40″W / 50.36222°N 4.12778°W / 50.36222; -4.12778 This Devon location article
3294-456: Is co-located with HM Naval Base Devonport, providing 'through-life support for submarines, surface ships and associated systems and equipment'. Operational vessels are provided with 'in-service engineering maintenance support' from the yard, dry docks are available to 'maintain, refit, convert and modernise sophisticated modern surface warships' and specialised workshops enable complex systems to be 'removed, overhauled, tested and installed'. In
3416-484: Is located in Devonport , in the west of the city of Plymouth , England. The base began as a Royal Navy Dockyard in the late 17th century, designed and built on open ground by Edmund Dummer as an integrated facility for the repair and maintenance of warships, centred on his pioneering stone dry dock (one of the earliest stepped docks in the world). Over the next two centuries it expanded, reaching its present extent in
3538-461: Is no 13 Dock ). The base employs 2,500 service personnel and civilians, supports circa 400 local firms and contributes approximately 10% to the income of Plymouth. The Naval Base commander has in recent years been a Commodore (RN) , but in 2022 Brigadier Mike Tanner took command (the first Royal Marine officer to be appointed to the role). In 2009 the Ministry of Defence announced the conclusion of
3660-399: Is now called the South Yard, the dockyard expanded in stages (first to the south and then progressively northwards) over the next two-and-a-half centuries. Key periods in the geographical development of the yard included: In 1689 Prince William of Orange became William III and almost immediately he required the building of a new dry dock west of Portsmouth, 'for cruisers only' (to support
3782-624: Is the most populous city in Devon. Plymouth's history extends back to the Bronze Age , evolving from a trading post at Mount Batten into the thriving market town of Sutton, which was formally re-named as Plymouth in 1439 when it was made a borough . The settlement has played a significant role in English history, notably in 1588 when an English fleet based here defeated the Spanish Armada , and in 1620 as
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3904-568: The Bronze Age to the Middle Iron Age have been found at Mount Batten , showing that it was one of few principal trading ports of pre-Roman Britannia dominating continental trade with Armorica . An unidentified settlement named TAMARI OSTIA (mouth/estuaries of the Tamar) is listed in Ptolemy's Geographia and is presumed to be located in the area of the modern city. An ancient promontory fort
4026-455: The Council House on Armada Way in the city centre. There are no civil parishes in the city, which is an unparished area . The city forms part of the ceremonial county of Devon for the purposes of lieutenancy , but has been administratively independent from Devon County Council since it became a unitary authority in 1998. The first record of the existence of a settlement at Plymouth
4148-558: The Hamoaze (a section of the River Tamar ) in the parish of Stoke Damerel . On 30 December 1690, a contract was let for a dock to be built; having selected the location, Dummer was given responsibility for designing and building it. Then the project began to grow: first the King requested a larger dock (suitable for first-rate ships, as well as cruisers), then the Navy required a basin to protect
4270-575: The Modernist zoned low-density garden city model advocated by Abercrombie. By 1964 over 20,000 new homes had been built, more than 13,500 of them permanent council homes and 853 built by the Admiralty . Plymouth is home to 28 parks with an average size of 45,638 square metres (491,240 sq ft). Its largest park is Central Park , with other sizeable green spaces including Victoria Park , Freedom Fields Park , Alexandra Park, Devonport Park and
4392-574: The Plymouth Blitz . He represented the seat until 1955. After serving as Secretary of State for Education and being responsible for the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act , he went on to become the leader of the Labour Party (1980–1983). The City of Plymouth is divided into 20 wards , 17 of which elect three councillors and the other three electing two councillors, making up a total council of 57. Elections are held three years out of every four, with
4514-564: The Portsmouth Flotilla (however, Monmouth retired in 2021, Montrose decommissioned in 2023 and Argyll in 2024); HM Ships Richmond , Kent and St Albans moved in the opposite direction, to Devonport. Richmond also became a Devonport ship on completion of her refit. St Albans moved to Devonport in July 2019 in preparation for her major refit. HMS Westminster retired in 2024. Babcock's privatised Devonport Royal Dockyard facility
4636-741: The University of Plymouth , the University of St Mark & St John , and the Arts University Plymouth . HMNB Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport ( HMNB Devonport ) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth ) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Royal Navy. The largest naval base in Western Europe , HMNB Devonport
4758-565: The cruiser squadrons that patrolled the western approaches to the English Channel ). Edmund Dummer , Surveyor of the Navy , travelled the West Country searching for an area where the dock could be built. Once he had settled on Plymouth, it took the rest of the year for the Admiralty to decide between two possible locations; eventually, in preference to Cattewater , they settled on a site on
4880-598: The modernist high rise of the Civic Centre was constructed, an architecturally significant example of mid-twentieth century civic slab-and-tower set piece. The Plymouth City Council allowed it to fall into disrepair but it was grade II listed in 2007 by English Heritage to prevent its demolition. Post-war, Devonport Dockyard was kept busy refitting aircraft carriers such as the Ark Royal and, later, nuclear submarines . New light industrial factories were constructed in
5002-493: The superdreadnought HMS Warspite . Meanwhile the 18th-century No. 1 Slip was converted into a patent slip for the repair of small craft, and in 1909 No. 2 Slip was made into a shallow dock for torpedo boats . The South Yard was drastically impacted by aerial bombardment during the Second World War: by the end of 1942, 85% of its buildings had been either heavily damaged or destroyed. Provision of ships' armaments
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5124-435: The 1760s a period of expansion began, leading to a configuration which (despite subsequent rebuildings) can still be seen today : five slipways , four dry docks and a basin. The two additional docks were built, in place of a pair of slips to the north of the double-dock, in 1762 and 1789. (Slipways were used for shipbuilding, but the main business of the eighteenth-century yard was the repair, maintenance and equipping of
5246-465: The 1840s and now known as No. 1 Basin and No. 1 Dock). The terrace survived into the 20th century, but was largely destroyed in the Blitz along with several others of Devonport's historic buildings. Just one end section of the terrace survives; dating from 1692 to 1696, it is the earliest surviving building in any royal dockyard. Once the dockyard was up and running, people (among them civilian workers from
5368-444: The 1980s (forty years after being planned). The plan is the subject of Jill Craigie 's documentary The Way We Live (1946). By 1964 over 20,000 new homes had been built, transforming the dense overcrowded and unsanitary slums of the pre-war city into a low density, dispersed suburbia. Most of the city centre shops had been destroyed and those that remained were cleared to enable a zoned reconstruction according to his plan. In 1962
5490-579: The 20th century. During the First World War , Plymouth was the port of entry for many troops from around the Empire . It was developed as a facility for the manufacture of munitions . Although major units of the Royal Navy moved to the safety of Scapa Flow , Devonport was an important base for escort vessels and repairs. Flying boats operated from Mount Batten. During the Second World War, Devonport
5612-431: The 20th century. Historically, the yard was also used for shipbuilding: over 300 naval vessels were built there, the last being HMS Scylla (launched in 1968). The yard was known as HM Dockyard, Plymouth until 1843, when it was renamed HM Dockyard, Devonport . (In the late 20th century, here as elsewhere, the term 'Naval Base' replaced 'Dockyard' in the official naval designation.) Today HMNB Devonport serves as
5734-630: The Athenaeum, the Theatre Royal and Royal Hotel, and much of Union Street . Local chemist William Cookworthy established his short-lived Plymouth Porcelain venture in 1768 to exploit the deposits of china clay that he had discovered in Cornwall. He was acquainted with engineer John Smeaton , the builder of the third Eddystone Lighthouse . The 1-mile-long (2 km) Breakwater in Plymouth Sound
5856-555: The Board of Ordnance was abolished and the War Office then took over management of the Morice Yard. Morice Ordnance Yard remained independent from the dockyard until 1941, at which point it was integrated into the larger complex. In contrast to South Yard, which fared badly in the Blitz, most of the original buildings survive at Morice Yard, enclosed behind their contemporary boundary wall; over
5978-557: The Crown . Mount Batten tower also dates from around this time. Throughout the 17th century, Plymouth had gradually lost its pre-eminence as a trading port. By the mid-17th century, commodities manufactured elsewhere in England cost too much to transport to Plymouth, and the city had no means of processing sugar or tobacco imports, major products from the colonies. Local sailors turning to piracy such as Henry Every became infamous, celebrated in
6100-521: The Fleet Maintenance Base, in the north-west corner of No. 5 Basin. It opened in 1981. Within it, two new dry docks were created (Nos. 14 and 15) for nuclear-powered fleet submarines , and between them an 80-ton cantilever crane , one of the largest in western Europe, was installed to lift nuclear cores from submarines for maintenance and refuelling. As part of the same works, the North Lock (at
6222-502: The Freeport). Phase 3, the westernmost area extending to the waterfront, encompasses three 18th-century dry docks and several listed buildings; it was being offered for sale on a lease of up to 295 years. As of 2022 this area has been incorporated into the Freeport plan. Devonport Naval Heritage Centre , a volunteer-run maritime museum , is currently housed within two listed buildings in
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#17328454100966344-426: The Hoe. Central Park is the home of Plymouth Argyle Football Club and a number of other leisure facilities. The Plymouth Plan 2019–2034 was published May 2019 and sets the direction for future development with a new spatial strategy which reinforces links with the wider region in west Devon and east Cornwall in its Joint Local Plan and identifies three development areas within the city: the City centre and waterfront;
6466-593: The Hoe. This location was further strengthened by the building of a fort (later known as Drake's Fort) in 1596; it was the site of the Citadel , established in the 1660s (see below). During the 16th century, locally produced wool was the major export commodity. Plymouth was the home port for successful maritime traders, among them Sir John Hawkins , who led England's first foray into the Atlantic slave trade , as well as Sir Francis Drake , Mayor of Plymouth in 1581–2. Crews for
6588-608: The Innovation Centre will require 'relocating' the Naval Heritage Centre.) Eventually it is hoped that the Freeport with its tax advantages will enable 'defence and other contractors to invest and bring back into productive and sustainable use dormant waterfront spaces [...] which, for the time being, must remain "behind the wire" [i.e. within the MOD restricted area]'. From its original 17th-century site, around No.1 Dock in what
6710-420: The London play The Successful Pyrate . It played a part in the Atlantic slave trade during the early 18th century, although it was relatively small. In the nearby parish of Stoke Damerel the first dockyard, HMNB Devonport , opened in 1690 on the eastern bank of the River Tamar . Further docks were built here in 1727, 1762 and 1793. The settlement that developed here was called "Dock" or "Plymouth Dock" at
6832-474: The North Yard, had more than doubled in size with the addition of No. 4 and No. 5 Basins (of 10 and 35 acres respectively), linked by a very large lock-cum-dock (the North Lock), 730 ft in length, alongside three more dry docks of a similar size (Nos. 8, 9 and 10), able to "accommodate ships larger than any war-vessel yet constructed". At the northernmost end of the site the north-west promontory, together with
6954-506: The Oceansgate area of the yard. The majority of the South Yard site remains in Ministry of Defence (MOD) ownership. All land to the south of 'Oceansgate' (with the exception of the area which is owned by Princess Yachts) is currently retained by the MOD, with No. 4 Slip having been recently refurbished for use with landing craft . Largely used by MOD contractors, it remains a closed site and subject to security restrictions. As approved by
7076-626: The Plymothians at Freedom Fields Park. The civil war ended as a Parliamentary win, but monarchy was restored by King Charles II in 1660, who imprisoned many of the Parliamentary heroes on Drake's Island . Construction of the Royal Citadel began in 1665, after the Restoration ; it was armed with cannon facing both out to sea and into the town, rumoured to be a reminder to residents not to oppose
7198-522: The Sound is Drake's Island which is seen from Plymouth Hoe , a flat public area on top of limestone cliffs. The Unitary Authority of Plymouth is 80 square kilometres (31 sq mi). The topography rises from sea level to a height, at Roborough , of about 509 feet (155 m) above Ordnance Datum (AOD). Geologically, Plymouth has a mixture of limestone, Devonian slate , granite and Middle Devonian limestone. Plymouth Sound, Shores and Cliffs
7320-498: The South Yard being focused on marine and defence sector development, and at the same time 'forming the centrepiece of the Freeport’s Innovation Hotbed'. Proposed developments include expansion of Oceansgate beyond its current footprint, construction of a new factory for Princess Yachts and the building of a new Innovation Centre and 'Mobility Hub' (described elsewhere as a 'huge multi-storey car park'). (Development of
7442-400: The basin, in the 1720s. Slipways were also added in the early 18th century, either side of the dry docks, to enable shipbuilding to take place. The numbers employed at the yard increased from 736 in 1711 to 2,464 in 1730. Around this time the small cove on the south side of the dockyard was partially reclaimed to create an enclosed mast pond and ground which was used for storing timber. In
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#17328454100967564-411: The bomb-damaged city was published; it called for demolition of the few remaining pre-War buildings in the city centre to make way for their replacement with wide, parallel, modern boulevards aligned east–west linked by a north–south avenue (Armada Way) linking the railway station with the vista of Plymouth Hoe. A peripheral road system connecting the historic Barbican on the east and Union Street to
7686-463: The borough of Plymouth", but generally known as the corporation or town council. When elected county councils were established in 1889, both Plymouth and neighbouring Devonport were considered large enough to provide their own county-level services and so they were made county boroughs , independent from Devon County Council . In 1914 the county boroughs of Plymouth and Devonport and the adjoining urban district of East Stonehouse were merged to form
7808-496: The centre of a controversy as the council planned for its demolition estimating that it could cost £40m to refurbish it, resulting in possible job losses. Plymouth lies between the River Plym to the east and the River Tamar to the west; both rivers flow into the natural harbour of Plymouth Sound . Since 1967, the unitary authority of Plymouth has included the, once independent, towns of Plympton and Plymstock which lie along
7930-584: The city became a unitary authority on 1 April 1998 under recommendations of the Banham Commission . In the Parliament of the United Kingdom , Plymouth is represented by the three constituencies of Plymouth Moor View , Plymouth Sutton and Devonport and South West Devon . Prior to Brexit in 2020 it was represented within the European Parliament as South West England . In 1919, Nancy Astor
8052-554: The covered docks of the current refit complex). Thirteen out of service nuclear submarines were stored at Devonport in 2018. In 2018, the UK Parliament's Public Accounts Committee criticised the slow rate of decommissioning of these submarines, with the Ministry of Defence admitting that it had put off decommissioning due to the cost. The National Audit Office in 2019 stated that the costs of laid up storage of all nuclear submarines had reached £500 million, and they represent
8174-520: The current day Barbican near the river mouth. At the time this village was called Sutton, meaning south town in Old English . The name Plym Mouth , meaning "mouth of the River Plym" was first mentioned in a Pipe Roll of 1211. Plympton Priory owned land at Sutton and secured a charter from Henry III in 1254 granting the priory the right to hold a weekly market and annual fair at Sutton, making it
8296-400: The damage were put at £150,000 in the values of the day, and would have totalled £500,000 had the fire not been contained by demolishing several surrounding buildings. The South Yard continued to be upgraded to keep abreast of changes in shipbuilding technology. The docks and slips were expanded and extended at various points in the 19th century, with the double dock being reconfigured to form
8418-692: The departure point for the Pilgrim Fathers to the New World . During the English Civil War , the town was held by the Parliamentarians and was besieged between 1642 and 1646. In 1690 a dockyard was established on the River Tamar for the Royal Navy and Plymouth grew as a commercial shipping port throughout the Industrial Revolution . After absorbing nearby settlements in 1914, the borough
8540-441: The dock entrance; and finally, in July 1692, the Admiralty resolved that 'where the new dock is now building' a full Royal Navy Dockyard should be established, with 'buildings erected therein as well for the accommodation of the officers of the Navy that shall be appointed there, as for storehouses and other services'. This was the start of Plymouth (later Devonport) Royal Dockyard. At the heart of his new dockyard, Dummer placed
8662-421: The dockyard) began to settle and build houses in the immediate vicinity. The settlement came to be known as Plymouth Dock ; it was renamed Devonport in 1824. The area where the dockyard began is now known as the South Yard. It was here that Dummer built his groundbreaking stone dry dock and basin. A further, double-dock (i.e. long enough to accommodate two ships of the line, end to end) was added, just north of
8784-561: The early 1970s it was announced that Devonport would join Chatham and Rosyth in serving as a refit base for nuclear submarines ; the Submarine Refit Centre duly opened in 1981. Since 2002, Devonport has been the sole refitting base for all Royal Navy nuclear submarines. In 2022 Babcock began a ten-year programme of work to upgrade its Devonport Dockyard facilities. The project is described as 'a major infrastructure refurbishment of
8906-454: The early 21st century the name HMS Drake (and its command structure ) has been extended to cover the entire Naval Base, while HMS Vivid is Plymouth's Royal Naval Reserve unit (which has its headquarters within the base). The Naval Base as a whole covers an area of 650 acres (2.6 km ) with four miles (6 km) of waterfront; it has twenty-five tidal berths, five basins and fourteen dry docks (docks numbered 1 to 15, but there
9028-468: The east of the River Plym. The River Tamar forms the county boundary between Devon and Cornwall and its estuary forms the Hamoaze on which is sited Devonport Dockyard . The River Plym, which flows off Dartmoor to the north-east, forms a smaller estuary to the east of the city called Cattewater . Plymouth Sound is protected from the sea by the Plymouth Breakwater , in use since 1814. In
9150-435: The entire region was the dockyard. The Three Towns conurbation of Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport enjoyed some prosperity during the late 18th and early 19th century and were enriched by a series of neo-classical urban developments designed by London architect John Foulston . Foulston was important for both Devonport and Plymouth and was responsible for several grand public buildings, many now destroyed, including
9272-409: The establishment of Plymouth Dockyard . In 1512, an Act of Parliament was passed to further fortify Plymouth. The work included defensive walls at the entrance to Sutton Pool (across which a chain was extended in times of danger). Defences on St Nicholas Island also date from this time, and a string of six artillery blockhouses were built, including one on Fishers Nose at the south-eastern corner of
9394-579: The first English failed settlement attempt at Roanoke Colony in North America departed in 1587 under Sir Walter Raleigh 's and Drake's leadership; returning bearing maize, tobacco and potatoes . In 1588, according to legend, Drake insisted on completing his game of bowls on the Hoe before engaging the Spanish Armada . In 1620 the Pilgrims set sail for the New World from Plymouth, establishing Plymouth Colony –
9516-574: The first personnel moved in during June of that year. The barracks were renamed HMS Drake on January 1, 1934; in the early 21st century the barracks area remained part of HMNB Devonport, but was re-designated the Fleet Accommodation Centre . It remains in Ministry of Defence ownership. In 1895 the decision was taken to expand the Keyham Steam Yard to accommodate the increasing size of modern warships. By 1907 Keyham, now renamed
9638-488: The fleet, for which the dry docks and basin were used). New slips were built on the New Ground to the south. One slipway (Slip No.1 of 1774) survives unaltered from this period: a rare survival. It is covered with a timber superstructure of 1814, a similarly rare and early survival of its type; indeed, only three such timber slip covers have survived in Britain, two of them at Devonport. (The second, of similar vintage, stands over
9760-472: The former No.5 Slip; in 1870 it was converted to house a scrieve board, for full-size drafting of ship designs). Before the expansion could begin, a rocky hillside to the south had to be cut away; the rubble was used to reclaim the mudflats ready for building. To open up the site, the old ropehouse was demolished and a new rope-making complex built alongside the east perimeter wall of the expanded site (where it still survives in part, albeit rebuilt following
9882-477: The frontispiece to a huge integrated manufacturing complex. This 'steam factory' became known as the Quadrangle: it housed foundries, forges, pattern shops, boilermakers and all manner of specialized workshops. Two stationary steam engines drove line shafts and heavy machinery, and the multiple flues were drawn by a pair of prominent chimneys. The building still stands, and is Grade I listed ; architectural detailing
10004-456: The government in December 2022, the South Yard is now one of the three 'freezones' of the Plymouth and South Devon Freeport. Freeport status provides certain tax advantages for businesses based there. The South Yard Freeport zone includes all the land owned by the MOD and Princess Yachts, and most of the land leased to Plymouth City Council as 'Oceansgate'. The Freeport's business plan envisages
10126-502: The home port of the Devonport Flotilla . FOST , the training hub of the front-line Fleet, is also based there, as is the Royal Navy's Amphibious Centre of Excellence (at RM Tamar ). Although shipbuilding ceased at Devonport in the late 1960s, ship repair and maintenance work has continued; the now privatised maintenance facilities are operated under the name Devonport Royal Dockyard by Babcock International Group , who took over
10248-406: The hull of a docked vessel. These innovations also allowed rapid erection of staging and greater workforce mobility. He discarded the earlier three-sectioned hinged gate, which was labour-intensive in operation, and replaced it with the simpler and more mobile two-sectioned gate. Dummer wished to ensure that naval dockyards were efficient working units that maximised available space, as evidenced by
10370-465: The iron braces with which wooden hulls and decks began to be strengthened; as such, it provided a hint of the huge change in manufacturing technology that would sweep the dockyards in the nineteenth century as sail began to make way for steam, and wood for iron and steel. In the space between the new slips and the new ropehouse, south of the boat pond and smithery, was a sizeable mast pond, flanked by mast-houses. The most imposing building of this period
10492-565: The land occupied by the lines was either sold or utilised by the dockyard. Also in 1860 the main dockyards' policing was transferred to the new dockyard divisions of the Metropolitan Police , in Devonport's case No. 3 Division, which remained in that role until 1934. In the mid-nineteenth century, all royal dockyards faced the challenge of responding to the advent first of steam power and then metal hulls. Those unable to expand were closed;
10614-467: The most significant imports to Plymouth from the Americas and Europe during the latter half of the 19th century included maize, wheat, barley, sugar cane, guano , sodium nitrate and phosphate . Aside from the dockyard in the town of Devonport, industries in Plymouth such as the gasworks, the railways and tramways, and a number of small chemical works had begun to develop in the 19th century, continuing into
10736-476: The newly zoned industrial sector, attracting rapid growth of the urban population. The army had substantially left the city by 1971, after barracks were pulled down in the 1960s, but the city remains home to 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery and also 42 Commando of the Royal Marines . As a unitary authority there is only one tier of local government covering Plymouth. Plymouth City Council meets at
10858-568: The north and northeast of the city is the granite mass of Dartmoor; the granite was mined and exported via Plymouth. Rocks brought down the Tamar from Dartmoor include ores containing tin, copper, tungsten , lead and other minerals. There is evidence that the middle Devonian limestone belt at the south edge of Plymouth and in Plymstock was quarried at West Hoe, Cattedown and Radford. On 27 April 1944 Sir Patrick Abercrombie's Plan for Plymouth to rebuild
10980-647: The north, Granby Bastion to the north-east, Stoke Bastion to the east and George Bastion to the south east. There were originally two gates in the lines, the Stoke Barrier at the end of Fore Street and the Stonehouse Barrier. A third gate called New Passage was created in the 1780s, giving access to the Torpoint Ferry . After 1860, the fortifications were superseded by the Palmerston Forts around Plymouth and
11102-523: The northern section of the South Yard was being redeveloped in phases, from east to west, with a marketing strategy focused on 'the development of marine industries and the high growth area of marine science and technology'. The area has been renamed Oceansgate. Phase 1 (east of the 18th-century dockyard wall) was completed in 2018; Phase 2 (immediately to the west) was completed in 2021. These areas, containing new-build offices and business units, have been designated an Enterprise Zone (and are not part of
11224-478: The nuclear licensed docking and berthing facilities at the dockyard' to meet the evolving requirements of the Royal Navy. The work is focused around No. 5 Basin, with Dry Docks 9, 10, 14 and 15 being upgraded (along with their surrounding buildings and infrastructure) to support the maintenance programme for 'new and existing classes of submarine', along with Dry Docks 8, 11 and 12 which will be used for new classes of frigate (some of which are likely to be too large for
11346-578: The only remaining Trafalgar -class nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarine). In 2018 the Defence Secretary announced that the proposed new Type 26 frigates would all be based at Devonport. Ships based at the port are known as the Devonport Flotilla; they include: In changes to base porting arrangements announced in November 2017, HM Ships Argyll , Monmouth and Montrose were all to join
11468-435: The opposite end of the basin) was divided to form two submarine docks (Nos. 11 and 12). In 1993 the Submarine Refit Centre was upgraded following the announcement that Devonport was to become the Royal Navy's only nuclear refit yard; among other things Nos. 9 and 10 dry docks were strengthened and reconfigured so as to be able to accommodate the much larger Vanguard-class submarines , which entered into service from that year;
11590-411: The present day city. On the northern shore of this confluence of waters there was a rock outcrop, which it was claimed, had the appearance of a cat. This gave its name to this stretch of water and eventually the name of Cattedown to the adjoining wharves and commercial area. Apart from an occasional small oil tanker the area is now used mostly by fishing trawlers, yachts, and smaller pleasure craft. There
11712-505: The previous owner Devonport Management Limited (DML) in 2007 (DML had been running the Dockyard since privatisation in 1987). Babcock owns around a third of the overall area of the base (having been sold the freehold in 2011). Accommodation and support services are provided within the base for naval personnel. The Royal Naval Barracks, dating from 1889, were first commissioned as HMS Vivid , before being renamed HMS Drake in 1934. Since
11834-474: The quayside, launched on No. 3 Slip, tested in No. 2 Slip and moored alongside the quay wall. Alongside the modern yachts, classic vessels are repaired and restored by Stirling & Son, on and around the 18th-century covered No. 1 Slip. In 2014 it was announced, as part of a 'City Deal' regeneration agreement, that more of the South Yard would be 'unlocked' with a view to it becoming a 'marine industries hub'. By 2016
11956-429: The rain which falls in those seasons in the south-west is from this source. Average annual rainfall is around 980 millimetres (39 in). November to March have the highest mean wind speeds, with June to August having the lightest winds. The predominant wind direction is from the south-west. Typically, the warmest day of the year (1971–2000) will achieve a temperature of 28.6 °C (83 °F), although in July 2022
12078-413: The reconstruction plan for London. This initially included plans to expand the city into south east Cornwall , but these were abandoned after opposition from Cornwall County Council . Between 1951 and 1957 over 1000 homes were completed every year, mostly using innovative prefabricated systems of just three main types. The Plan for Plymouth was, on the one hand, a template for the rapid reassembly of
12200-404: The repair of sails and a separate rigging house stood nearby. The anchor smithery with its fire and forge was positioned to the north, safely separate from the other buildings. On high ground overlooking the rest of the yard he built a grand terrace of thirteen three-storey houses for the senior dockyard officers (the first known example in the country of a palace-front terrace ); the commissioner
12322-401: The rest underwent a transformation through growth and mechanisation. At Devonport, in 1864, a separate, purpose-built steam yard was opened on a self-contained site at Keyham, a little to the north of the Morice Yard (and a tunnel was built linking the new yard with the old). A pair of basins (8–9 acres each) were constructed: No. 2 Basin gave access to three large dry docks, while No. 3 Basin was
12444-755: The second English colony in what is now the United States. In 1625, the town Mayor estimated that African slavers captured that summer about 1,000 villagers from the area, to be sold in Africa. During the English Civil War Plymouth sided with the Parliamentarians and was besieged for almost four years by the Royalists . The last major attack by the Royalists was by Sir Richard Grenville leading thousands of soldiers towards Plymouth, but they were defeated by
12566-405: The simplicity of his design layout at Plymouth Dock. He introduced a centralised storage area (the quadrangular Great Storehouse) alongside the basin, and a logical positioning of other buildings around the yard. The southern boundary of his yard was formed by a 'double' rope-house (combining the previously separate tasks of spinning and laying within a single building); the upper floor was used for
12688-584: The temperature reached 33.9 °C (93.0 °F), the site record. On average, 4.25 days of the year will report a maximum temperature of 25.1 °C (77 °F) or above. During the winter half of the year, the coldest night will typically fall to −4.1 °C (25 °F) although in January 1979 the temperature fell to −8.8 °C (16 °F). Typically, 18.6 nights of the year will register an air frost. Source 3: Time and Date (dewpoints, between 1985-2015) There are three universities based in Plymouth,
12810-403: The time, and a new town, separate from Plymouth, grew up. In 1712 there were 318 men employed and by 1733 the population had grown to 3,000 people. Before the latter half of the 18th century, grain, timber and then coal were Plymouth's main imports. During this time the real source of wealth was from the neighbouring town of Plymouth Dock (renamed in 1824 to Devonport) and the major employer in
12932-521: The west determines the principal form of the city centre, even following pedestrianisation of the shopping centre in the late 1980s, and continues to inform the present 'Vision for Plymouth' developed by a team led by Barcelona-based architect David MacKay in 2003 which calls for revivification of the city centre with mixed-use and residential. In suburban areas, post-War prefabs had already begun to appear by 1946, and over 1,000 permanent council houses were built each year from 1951 to 1957 according to
13054-462: The wharves facing on to Weston Mill Lake, functioned as a vast coaling yard for the steam-powered fleet. In the 1970s a new Fleet Maintenance Base was built at the North West Corner of the North Yard; opened in 1978, it was commissioned as HMS Defiance (remaining so until 1994, when it was amalgamated into HMS Drake ). At the same time, a new Submarine Refit Complex was created, alongside
13176-439: The whole of the South Yard (except for the north-east corner of the site) became part of Plymouth's Freeport . In 2012 Princess Yachts acquired the freehold to 20 acres (0.081 km ) at the southern end of the site, which now houses its construction facility for ' superyachts '. The company sees itself as continuing the boat building tradition within the dockyard, and 'adding drama to the site' with yachts being moved around
13298-466: The work was completed by Carillion in 2002. In 2011 the MOD sold the freehold of much of the North Yard to the Dockyard operator, Babcock; the site includes Basins No. 2 and No. 5 and their adjoining dry docks, together with the land between and around them (containing six listed buildings and structures, including the Grade I listed Quadrangle). To the north of No. 5 Basin, land around Weston Mill Lake
13420-433: Was a double-quadrangular storehouse of 1761 (probably designed by Thomas Slade ); replacing the 17th-century Great Storehouse, it also incorporated a new rigging house and sail loft. It remained in use until it was destroyed in the Plymouth Blitz . The same fate befell several other buildings of the 18th and early 19th century, including a long and prominent pedimented workshop with a central clocktower, built to accommodate
13542-625: Was accommodated in the centre, and at each end of the terrace was a two-storey block of offices (one for the commissioner, the other for the Clerk of the Cheque). Work on the dockyard was completed by 1698. Two years later a chapel was built, alongside the Porter's Lodge at the main gate (it was destroyed by a fire in 1799). Most of these buildings and structures were rebuilt over ensuing years, including Dummer's original wet dock and dry dock (completely rebuilt in
13664-579: Was awarded city status in 1928. During World War II , Plymouth suffered extensive damage in the Plymouth Blitz , leading to post-war rebuilding that significantly shaped its modern appearance. A further expansion of its boundaries in 1967 contributed to its current status as the 30th-most populous built-up area in the UK and the second-largest city in the South West after Bristol , with a population in 2022 of 266,862. Plymouth's economy, historically rooted in shipbuilding and seafaring, has transitioned towards
13786-511: Was by Sir Charles Barry . English Heritage calls it 'one of the most remarkable engineering buildings in the country'. In the 1970s the three dry docks (Nos. 5, 6 and 7) were rebuilt, expanded and covered over to serve as an up-to-date Frigate Refit Complex. They remain very much in use, together with the adjacent Quadrangle building, which (while extensively modernised within its original walls and roofs) continues to fulfil its original purpose, manufacturing items for ships in refit. In 1880
13908-403: Was designed by John Rennie to protect the fleet moving in and out of Devonport; work started in 1812. Numerous technical difficulties and repeated storm damage meant that it was not completed until 1841, twenty years after Rennie's death. In the 1860s, a ring of Palmerston forts was constructed around the outskirts of Devonport, to protect the dockyard from attack from any direction. Some of
14030-522: Was elected the first-ever female member of parliament to take office in the British Houses of Parliament for the constituency of Plymouth Sutton . She was elected to the seat vacated by her husband Waldorf Astor on his elevation to the peerage. Lady Astor was a vibrantly active campaigner for her resident constituents. In 1945, Plymouth-born Michael Foot was elected Labour MP for the constituency of Plymouth Devonport which had been heavily damaged in
14152-631: Was granted the dignity of Lord Mayor by King George V in 1935. The position is elected each year by a group of six councillors. It is traditional that the position of the Lord Mayor alternates between the Conservative Party and the Labour Party annually and that the Lord Mayor chooses the Deputy Lord Mayor. The Lord Mayor's official residence is 3 Elliot Terrace, located on the Hoe . Once
14274-482: Was in the Domesday Book in 1086 as Sudtone (Sutton), Saxon for south farm, located at the present-day Barbican . From Saxon times, it was in the hundred of Roborough . Sutton became a market town in 1254 and a borough in 1439, when it was formally renamed Plymouth. Plymouth was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836, governed by a corporate body officially called the "mayor, aldermen and burgesses of
14396-424: Was largely due to Plymouth's status as a major port. Charles Church was hit by incendiary bombs and partially destroyed in 1941 during the Blitz, but has not been demolished. It has been designated as an official permanent monument to the bombing of Plymouth during World War II. The redevelopment of the city was planned by Sir Patrick Abercrombie in his 1943 Plan for Plymouth whilst simultaneously working on
14518-463: Was located at Rame Head at the mouth of Plymouth Sound with ancient hillforts located at Lyneham Warren to the east, Boringdon Camp and Maristow Camp to the north. The settlement of Plympton , further up the River Plym than the current Plymouth, was also an early trading port. (See Plympton for the derivation of the name Plym .) As the river silted up in the early 11th century, mariners and merchants were forced to settle downriver, at
14640-552: Was not the responsibility of the Navy but of the independent Board of Ordnance , which already had a wharf and storage facility in the Mount Wise area of Plymouth. This, however, began to prove insufficient and in 1719 the board established a new gun wharf on land leased from one Sir Nicholas Morice , immediately to the north of the established Dockyard. The Morice Yard was a self-contained establishment with its own complex of workshops, workers, officers, offices and storehouses. Gunpowder
14762-419: Was stored on site, which began to be a cause for concern among local residents (as was the older store in the Royal Citadel within the city of Plymouth); so new gunpowder magazines were built further to the north, at Keyham, in the 1770s. (In the mid-19th century, to make room for the dockyard's expansion into Keyham, the gunpowder magazines were relocated to Bull Point , north of Weston Mill Lake). In 1855
14884-612: Was the headquarters of Western Approaches Command until 1941, and Sunderland flying boats were operated by the Royal Australian Air Force . It was an important embarkation point for US troops for D-Day . The city was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe , in a series of 59 raids known as the Plymouth Blitz . Although the dockyards were the principal targets, much of the city centre and over 3,700 houses were completely destroyed and more than 1,000 civilians lost their lives. This
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