88-715: Plymouth Hoe , referred to locally as the Hoe , is a large south-facing open public space in the English coastal city of Plymouth . The Hoe is adjacent to and above the low limestone cliffs that form the seafront and it commands views of Plymouth Sound , Drake's Island , and across the Hamoaze to Mount Edgcumbe in Cornwall. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon word hoh , a sloping ridge shaped like an inverted foot and heel (a term that survives in
176-473: A 1591 Spry map of Plimmouth from this era. A Tudor fortress guarded the neck of water between the eastern Hoe and Mount Batten and some sheer granite and limestone cannon points remain, however in the late 1660s, following The Restoration , a massive star-shaped stone fortress known as the Royal Citadel , was constructed to replace it. Its purpose was to protect the port and probably also to intimidate
264-718: 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 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
352-476: 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
440-433: 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 a borough charter had been issued by parliament rather than directly from
528-411: 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
616-598: 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
704-449: A few other placenames, notably Sutton Hoo ). John Lucas, sergeant, had 8d. for cutting Gogmagog. —An audit book of 1514. Until the early 17th century large outline images of the giants Gog and Magog (or Goemagot and Corineus ) had for a long time been cut into the turf of the Hoe exposing the white limestone beneath. These figures were periodically re-cut and cleaned. No trace of them remains today, but this likely commemorates
792-525: 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
880-599: 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
968-557: 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
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#17328548432361056-579: A reputation as one of Scotland's leading restoration architects following the restoration of Earlshall and Dunderave, and he went on to carry out significant alteration and restoration works at Dunrobin Castle in Sutherland following a fire (1915), and at Balmanno Castle in Perthshire (1916), said to have been the only one of his commissions he would like to have lived in. Although much of his work, and reputation,
1144-490: 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,
1232-402: A small old quarry site above Tinside as an historical theme tourist attraction, failed to obtain sufficient funding and closed in 2006, despite having been visited by 2.3 million people. Between 2013 and 2016 it was a restaurant owned by celebrity chef Gary Rhodes . In the early 21st century Plymouth Hoe became notorious for the practice of tombstoning , which involves leaping feet-first into
1320-481: 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
1408-497: 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
1496-493: 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
1584-470: 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
1672-588: 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 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
1760-558: 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 the Bronze Age to the Middle Iron Age have been found at Mount Batten , showing that it
1848-410: Is always a great deal of activity on the water, including frequent warship movements, ferries going and coming from France and Spain, fishing trawlers and a swarm of larger and smaller sailing boats. The Fastnet yacht race ends here. The annual two-day British Firework Championships attracts tens of thousands of spectators. For forty years, there has been controversy about development on the edges of
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#17328548432361936-577: 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 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
2024-687: The Arts and Crafts movement. Lorimer was born in Edinburgh , the son of Hannah Stodart (1835–1916) and James Lorimer , who was Regius Professor of Public Law at University of Edinburgh from 1862 to 1890. In his youth, the family lived at 21 Hill Street, a Georgian house in Edinburgh's South Side, close to where his father worked at Old College . From 1877 to 1882, he was educated at Edinburgh Academy , going on to study at University of Edinburgh from 1882 to 1885, however he left without completing his studies. He
2112-594: The Cornish foundation myth, being the point – Lam Goemagot , ' the Giant's Leap ' – from which the Giant was cast into the sea by the hero Corineus. Plymouth Hoe is perhaps best known for the probably apocryphal story that Sir Francis Drake played his famous game of bowls here in 1588 while waiting for the tide to change before sailing out with the English fleet to engage with the Spanish Armada . The British Library holds
2200-455: 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
2288-575: 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
2376-518: 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
2464-664: The Prince of Wales in 1927. Following the completion of the memorial, Lorimer was in December 1927 appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE). He designed the Doiran Memorial and the three great naval memorials to the missing: Portsmouth Naval Memorial , Plymouth Naval Memorial and Chatham Naval Memorial , each of which is a Grade I Listed Building . Lorimer
2552-547: The University of Plymouth , the University of St Mark & St John , and the Arts University Plymouth . Robert Lorimer Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer , KBE (4 November 1864 – 13 September 1929) was a prolific Scottish architect and furniture designer noted for his sensitive restorations of historic houses and castles , for new work in Scots Baronial and Gothic Revival styles, and for promotion of
2640-598: 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
2728-444: 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
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2816-632: 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
2904-625: The Arts and Crafts approach to architecture. He assembled a collaborative group of artists and craftsmen who, collectively, often contributed to his various commissions and to the manufacture of furniture sent to the Arts and Crafts exhibitions in London . In 1896 he was elected to the Art Workers Guild . Lorimer designed a series of cottages in the Arts and Crafts style in the Colinton area of Edinburgh,
2992-579: 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
3080-557: 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
3168-457: The Hoe green space. The erection of two discount hotel chain buildings, at the southern end of Armada Way and the other at the Sound end of Leigham Street, contrast with their Victorian surroundings. The former Grand Hotel has been converted into apartments and the long derelict yacht club site has now been filled by a modern block of flats. The Plymouth Dome , a turreted and domed building, built into
3256-426: 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;
3344-473: 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
3432-571: 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
3520-474: 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
3608-411: 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
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3696-463: 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
3784-418: The building when he bought it in 1903, adding small window panes, an extra attic storey, and central French doors on the frontage leading to a small balcony. He lived here for his last 26 years, though he died at 12 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh in 1929. He was cremated at the newly opened Warriston Crematorium and his ashes were thereafter buried with his parents at Newburn in rural south-east Fife, close to
3872-496: 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
3960-641: 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
4048-3546: The design of several CWGC cemeteries in Germany (for PoWs dying in captivity) and in the Middle East. In 1918, Lorimer was appointed Principal Architect to the Imperial War Graves Commission. Between 1919 and 1927, he designed over three hundred war memorials in Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Greece, Macedonia, Egypt, Palestine, and one in Queenstown in South Africa. Cemeteries by Lorimer include: Bordighera (Italy); Campo Santo in Genoa (Italy); Monte Sunio, Caltrano near Venice (Italy); Savara (Italy); Taranto (Italy); Chatby (Egypt); El Arish (Egypt); Hadra near Alexandria (Egypt); Ismailia (Egypt); Kantara (Egypt); Minia (Egypt); Tel El-Kabir (Egypt); Lake Dorian ( North Macedonia ); Baranthal, Asiago near Vernice (Italy); Boscon, Asiago near Venice (Italy); Cairo War Cemetery (Italy); Cavalletto, Asiago near Venice (Italy); Doiran (Greece); Granezza, Asiago near Venice (Italy); Karasouli ( Salonika ); Hortakoi, Kirechkoi ( Thessalonika ); Lahana (Thessalonika); Magnaboschi, Asiago near Venice (Italy); Montecchio Precalcino near Venice (Italy); Port Said (Egypt); Salonika ; Sarigol near Kriston (Greece); Struma near Kalokastron (Greece); Suez (Egypt); Stahnsdorf POW cemetery near Berlin (Germany); Colonial Hill ( North Macedonia ); Delijski Vis, Palilula, Nis, Serbia; Niederzwehren POW cemetery near Berlin (Germany); Ohlsdorf POW cemetery near Hamburg (Germany); Suedfriedhof POW cemetery near Cologne (Germany); Zehrensdorf POW cemetery near Brandenburg (Germany). Public or notable private war memorials by Lorimer include: Gullane ; Bowden, Scottish Borders ; Border Regiment Memorial in Carlisle Cathedral ; Harrow School ; 1st and 5th Battalions Royal Scots and RAMC memorials in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh; 90th Light Infantry in Perth; Arbroath Academy, Caddonfoot ; Carnbee ; Clackmannan ; Currie ; Gairloch , Gargunnock ; Parliament House (advocates memorial) in Edinburgh; Selkirk ; St Andrews ; Garelochhead ; Lake Dorian in North Macedonia ; Alloa ; Carlisle ; Dirleton ; Glenelg ; Markinch ; Merton College in Oxford ; Newport, Monmouthshire ; Pencaitland ; Plymouth ; Portsmouth ; Urquhart ; Westminster School ; Wisley ; Culross ; Colinsburgh ; Edinburgh City Chambers ; Galston ; Humbie ; Inveresk ; Lower Largo ; Melrose, Scottish Borders ; Newport-on-Tay ; Penicuik ; Spott ; Kew Gardeners Memorial (St Lukes in Kew); Stenton ; Whitekirk ; Woolhampton ; Kelso, Scottish Borders ; GSWR memorials in Ayr and Glasgow; Strathblane ; Colmonell ; Paisley (with sculpture by Alice Meredith Williams ); Queenstown, Eastern Cape in South Africa (with sculpture by Alice Meredith Williams ); Waterford ( Eire ); Lerwick ; Shetland . He
4136-521: 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
4224-399: 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 the current day Barbican near the river mouth. At
4312-435: 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
4400-584: The family home of Kellie Castle . The grave (which he had designed himself at the death of his father) lies in the extreme south-west corner of this tiny and very remote churchyard, overlooking rural Fife towards the Firth of Forth . Over and above the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle , Lorimer was responsible for the simple and elegant design of the Commonwealth gravestone and for
4488-630: 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 –
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#17328548432364576-550: The grand clubhouse of the Royal Western Yacht Club. The club then merged with the Royal Southern and occupied that club's older premises which it had created from the regency public steam baths by the basin at West Hoe before the rejuvenated club moved in the late 1980s to Queen Anne Battery. A prominent landmark on the Hoe is Smeaton's Tower . This is the upper portion of John Smeaton 's Eddystone Lighthouse , which
4664-518: The local unemployed during the Depression. A statue of Sir Francis Drake by Joseph Boehm (a copy of the original in his home town of Tavistock ) was placed here in 1884 to commemorate him. There are also several war memorials along the northern side of the Hoe. The largest commemorates the Royal Naval dead of the two world wars; its central obelisk is by Robert Lorimer and was unveiled in 1924, while
4752-412: 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 the establishment of Plymouth Dockyard . In 1512, an Act of Parliament
4840-416: 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
4928-421: 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
5016-468: 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
5104-429: 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
5192-447: The raw materials sympathetic, but he could also disregard existing architectural qualities in a way that modern conservation practice would question, if he felt the result justified its replacement, such as at Hill of Tarvit , Fife (1907) where he demolished a previous house probably by Sir William Bruce , or at Marchmont, Berwickshire (1914) where he re-configured an altered house by William Adam (from 1750), ignoring Adam's design. He
5280-413: 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
5368-415: The sea from any accessible high point. This caused a number of serious injuries and deaths, leading to the dismantling of seafront diving boards and closure of parts of the waterfront to discourage the activity. 50°21′52″N 4°8′32″W / 50.36444°N 4.14222°W / 50.36444; -4.14222 Plymouth Plymouth ( / ˈ p l ɪ m ə θ / PLIH -məth )
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#17328548432365456-479: 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
5544-407: The shape of the southern sea facing fortifications of the Royal Citadel is the Citadel Hill Laboratory of the Marine Biological Association of the UK , which also houses the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science . Below and to the east, perched on the rocky foreshore is the clubhouse of the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club. The Hoe is a popular area for Plymothians and visitors. There
5632-703: The so-called "Colinton Cottages". Constructed using traditional methods and materials, each cottage included a garden layout and interior design, including furniture, in keeping with the Arts and Crafts concept. By 1900, eight cottages had been built and four others were under construction. As his reputation grew the scale of his commissions increased, including major alterations and additions to important houses in various styles, culminating in three entirely new country houses designed in his personal interpretation of Scots baronial style; at Rowallan Castle , Ayrshire (1903), Ardkinglas , Argyll (1906), and Formakin House , Renfrewshire (1912). Of these, Ardkinglas, on Loch Fyne ,
5720-488: The surrounding sunken garden was added by Edward Maufe in 1954. The Armada Memorial was opened in 1888 to celebrate the tercentenary of the Spanish Armada . The Hoe also includes a long broad tarmacked promenade (currently a disabled motorists car park) which serves as a spectacular military parade ground and which is often used for displays by Plymouth-based Royal Navy , Royal Marines, the Army garrison, as well as for travelling funfairs and open-air concerts. Set into
5808-534: 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,
5896-412: 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 a market town . During the Hundred Years' War
5984-403: 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
6072-415: The townsfolk who had leaned towards Parliament during the Civil War . It remains occupied by the military. From 1880 there was a popular bandstand on the Hoe. It was removed for scrap metal during the Second World War and never rebuilt. A three tier belvedere built in 1891 survives; it was built on the site of a camera obscura , probably built in the 1830s, which showed views of the harbour. Below this site
6160-521: 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
6248-408: Was Earlshall Castle in Fife for Robert MacKenzie, a friend of his parents. He was influenced by Scottish domestic architecture of the 16th and 17th centuries and the Scottish baronial style of Kellie Castle where he had spent much of his childhood and adolescence. From his time in Bodley's office, Lorimer was influenced by the ideas of William Morris , and went on to become a committed exponent of
6336-595: Was also responsible for St Andrew's Garrison Church, Aldershot , completed 1927, a large Army church dedicated to the soldiers of the Church of Scotland and kindred churches who lost their lives in World War One. In 1928, he returned to complete St Peter's Church in Morningside, Edinburgh , which he had designed in 1905. One of his last works (completed posthumously) was Knightswood St Margaret's Parish Church , Glasgow, which
6424-510: Was called in to a number of properties to carry out a range of improvements, such as minor alterations, design of interiors and furnishings, work to ancillary buildings, and garden designs and features. A good representative of this sort of work is Hunterston Castle in Ayrshire (1912). The First World War restricted the demand for large new houses and his attention shifted to smaller scale projects, war memorials , and restorations. He already had
6512-658: Was dedicated in 1932. Lorimer became President of the professional body in Scotland, the Incorporation of Architects in Scotland , and it was during his tenure in office that the body received its second royal charter , permitting use of the term 'Royal' in the title. Lorimer was a fellow of the North British Academy of Arts . Ironically Lorimer lived in a mid-19th century town-house designed by Robert Brown , 54 Melville Street in Edinburgh , but Lorimer did heavily remodel
6600-403: 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
6688-522: 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
6776-595: 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 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
6864-631: 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
6952-482: 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
7040-558: Was in the sphere of domestic architecture, Lorimer also carried out significant public works. Principal amongst these include his design for the new chapel for the Knights of the Thistle in St Giles' Cathedral , Edinburgh in 1911. He received a knighthood for his efforts and went on to gain the commission for the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle in 1919, subsequently opened by
7128-472: 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
7216-534: 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 was located at Rame Head at the mouth of Plymouth Sound with ancient hillforts located at Lyneham Warren to
7304-486: Was originally built on the Eddystone Rocks , located 14 miles (22.5 km) to the south, in 1759. It was dismantled in 1877 and moved, stone by stone, to the Hoe where it was re-erected. Smeaton's Tower overlooks Tinside Lido , a 1930s outdoor pool or lido which sits upon the limestone shoreline at the base of the cliff. Most of the works to create the swimming areas and Madeira Road were carried out to make work for
7392-614: Was part of a talented family, being the younger brother of painter John Henry Lorimer , and father to the sculptor Hew Lorimer . In 1878 the Lorimer family acquired the lease of Kellie Castle in Fife and began its restoration for use as a holiday home. Lorimer began his architectural career in 1885 working for Sir Robert Rowand Anderson in Edinburgh, and in 1889 for George Frederick Bodley in London. He returned to Edinburgh opening his own practice in 1891. His first major restoration commission
7480-405: 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 the Hoe. This location was further strengthened by the building of
7568-567: Was the Bull Ring (now a memorial garden), and a grand pleasure pier, started in 1880, which provided a dance hall, refreshment, promenading and a landing place for boat trips. The pier was destroyed by German bombing in World War II. There is an imposing series of Victorian terraces to the west of the naval memorial which previously continued to the Grand Hotel and, until it was destroyed by bombing,
7656-612: 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
7744-537: Was the only one built as originally designed and, Lorimer having been given carte blanche, represents his masterpiece. His important restorations at this time include Lennoxlove House , Haddington (1912) and probably his most evocative; at Dunderave Castle , Argyllshire (1912) on the Ardkinglas estate. He could take a house of modest character and give it a strong personality, such as Pitkerro, Forfarshire (1902) or Briglands, Kinross (from 1903), particularly where he found
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