Plymouth is a
cityCity status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...
and
unitary authority areaA unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
on the coast of
DevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, England, about 190 miles (305.8 km) south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers
PlymThe River Plym is a river in Devon, England. Its source is some 450m above sea level on Dartmoor, in an upland marshy area called Plym Head. From the upper reaches which contain antiquities and mining remains the river flows roughly southwest and enters the sea near to the city of Plymouth, where...
to the east and
TamarThe Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...
to the west, where they join
Plymouth SoundPlymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a bay at Plymouth in England.Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point on Devon, a distance of about 3 nautical miles . Its northern limit is Plymouth Hoe giving a north-south distance of nearly 3 nautical miles...
. Since 1967 the City of Plymouth has included the suburbs of
PlymptonPlympton, or Plympton Maurice or Plympton St Maurice or Plympton St Mary or Plympton Erle, in south-western Devon, England is an ancient stannary town: an important trading centre in the past for locally mined tin, and a former seaport...
and
PlymstockPlymstock is a civil parish and commuter suburb of Plymouth in the English county of Devon.The earliest surviving documentary reference to the place is as Plemestocha in the Domesday Book and its name is derived from Old English meaning either "outlying farm with a plum-tree" or, if it is short for...
, which are on the east side of the River Plym.
Plymouth's history goes back to the
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
, when its first settlement grew at
Mount BattenMount Batten is a 24-metre-tall outcrop of rock on a 600-metre peninsula in Plymouth Sound, Devon, England.After some redevelopment which started with the area coming under the control of the Plymouth Development Corporation for five years from 1993, the peninsula now has a marina and centre for...
. This settlement continued to grow as a trading post for the
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, until the more prosperous village of Sutton, the current Plymouth, surpassed it. In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers left Plymouth for the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
and established
Plymouth ColonyPlymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
– the second English settlement in what is now the United States of America. During the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
the town was held by the
Parliamentarians"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
and was besieged between 1642 and 1646.
Throughout the
Industrial RevolutionThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
Plymouth grew as a major shipping port, handling imports and passengers from the Americas, while the neighbouring town of Devonport grew as an important Royal Naval shipbuilding and dockyard town. The
county boroughCounty borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
s of Plymouth and
DevonportDevonport, formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889...
, and the
urban districtIn the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
of
East StonehouseEast Stonehouse is one of three towns that were amalgamated into modern-day Plymouth. West Stonehouse was a village that is within the current Mount Edgcumbe Country Park in Cornwall...
were merged in 1914 to form the single county borough of Plymouth – collectively referred to as
The Three TownsThe Three Towns is a term used to refer to the neighbouring towns of Plymouth, Devonport and East Stonehouse in the county of Devon, England. They were formally merged in 1914 to become the Borough of Plymouth. In 1928, the Borough was granted City status by Royal Charter.-Notes:...
. The city's naval importance later led to its targeting and partial destruction during World War II, an act known as the
Plymouth BlitzThe Plymouth Blitz was a series of bombing raids carried out by the Nazi German Luftwaffe on the English city of Plymouth in the Second World War. The bombings launched on numerous British cities were known as the Blitz....
. After the war the city centre was completely rebuilt.
Today the city is home to around 250,000 people, making it the
16th most populous city in England. It is governed locally by Plymouth City Council and is represented nationally by three MPs. Plymouth's economy is still strongly influenced by shipbuilding, but has become a more service-based economy since the 1990s. It has the 9th largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students, the
University of PlymouthPlymouth University is the largest university in the South West of England, with over 30,000 students and is 9th largest in the United Kingdom by total number of students . It has almost 3,000 staff...
, and the largest operational naval base in Western Europe –
HMNB DevonportHer Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
. Plymouth has ferry links to France and Spain and an airport with European services.
Early history
Upper Palaeolithic deposits, including bones of Homo sapiens, have been found in local caves, and artifacts dating from the
Bronze AgeThe Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
to the Middle
Iron AgeThe Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
have been found at
Mount BattenMount Batten is a 24-metre-tall outcrop of rock on a 600-metre peninsula in Plymouth Sound, Devon, England.After some redevelopment which started with the area coming under the control of the Plymouth Development Corporation for five years from 1993, the peninsula now has a marina and centre for...
showing that it was one of the main trading ports of the country at that time. The settlement of
PlymptonPlympton, or Plympton Maurice or Plympton St Maurice or Plympton St Mary or Plympton Erle, in south-western Devon, England is an ancient stannary town: an important trading centre in the past for locally mined tin, and a former seaport...
, further up the
River PlymThe River Plym is a river in Devon, England. Its source is some 450m above sea level on Dartmoor, in an upland marshy area called Plym Head. From the upper reaches which contain antiquities and mining remains the river flows roughly southwest and enters the sea near to the city of Plymouth, where...
than the current Plymouth, was also an early trading port, but the river silted up in the early 11th century and forced the mariners and merchants to settle at the current day
BarbicanThe Barbican is the name now given to the western and northern sides of the old harbour area of Plymouth, Devon, England. It was one of the few parts of the city to escape most of the destruction of The Blitz during the Second World War...
near the river mouth.
At the time this village was called Sutton, meaning
south town in Old English. The name
Plymouth, meaning "mouth of the River Plym" – the river name being a
back-formationIn etymology, back-formation is the process of creating a new lexeme, usually by removing actual or supposed affixes. The resulting neologism is called a back-formation, a term coined by James Murray in 1889...
from
Plympton ("Plum-tree town"), was first mentioned in a
Pipe RollThe Pipe rolls, sometimes called the Great rolls, are a collection of financial records maintained by the English Exchequer, or Treasury. The earliest date from the 12th century, and the series extends, mostly complete, from then until 1833. They form the oldest continuous series of records kept by...
of 1211.
Early defence and Renaissance
During the
Hundred Years' WarThe Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
a French attack (1340) burned a manor house and took some prisoners, but failed to get into the town. In 1403 the town was burned by
Breton raidersThe Bretons are an ethnic group located in the region of Brittany in France. They trace much of their heritage to groups of Brythonic speakers who emigrated from southwestern Great Britain in waves from the 3rd to 6th century into the Armorican peninsula, subsequently named Brittany after them.The...
. A series of fortifications were built in the
TudorThe Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
and
Elizabethan eraThe Elizabethan era was the epoch in English history of Queen Elizabeth I's reign . Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history...
s, which include the four round towers featured on the city coat of arms; the remains of two of these can still be found at
Mount BattenMount Batten is a 24-metre-tall outcrop of rock on a 600-metre peninsula in Plymouth Sound, Devon, England.After some redevelopment which started with the area coming under the control of the Plymouth Development Corporation for five years from 1993, the peninsula now has a marina and centre for...
and at Sutton Pool below the
Royal CitadelThe Royal Citadel in Plymouth, Devon, England, was built in the late 1660s to the design of Sir Bernard de Gomme. It is at the eastern end of Plymouth Hoe overlooking Plymouth Sound, and encompasses the site of the earlier fort that had been built in the time of Sir Francis Drake.During the Dutch...
. See
1591 Spry Map of Plimmouth and surrounding areas, British Library
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 tradeThe Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
, as well as Sir
Francis DrakeSir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
. According to legend, Drake insisted on completing his game of bowls on the
HoePlymouth 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...
before engaging the
Spanish ArmadaThis article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
in 1588. In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers set sail for the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
from Plymouth, establishing
Plymouth ColonyPlymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
– the second English colony in what is now the United States of America.
During the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
Plymouth sided with the
Parliamentarian"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
s and was besieged for almost four years by the
RoyalistsCavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
. The last major attack by the Royalist was by Sir
Richard GrenvilleSir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet was a Cornish Royalist leader during the English Civil War.He was the third son of Sir Bernard Grenville , and a grandson of the famous seaman, Sir Richard Grenville...
leading thousands of soldiers towards Plymouth, but they were defeated by the Plymothians. The civil war ended as a Parliamentary win, but monarchy was restored by
King Charles IICharles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
in 1660, who imprisoned many of the Parliamentary heroes on
Drake's IslandDrake's Island is a island lying in Plymouth Sound, the stretch of water south of the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The rocks which make up the island are volcanic tuff and lava, together with marine limestone of the mid-Devonian period.-Early history:...
. 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
the CrownThe Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
.
Naval power, docks and Foulston
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, although it played a relatively small part in the
Atlantic slave tradeThe Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
during the early 18th century. In 1690 the first dockyard,
HMNB DevonportHer Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
, opened on the banks of the
TamarThe Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...
and further docks were built in 1727, 1762 and 1793. In the 18th century new houses were built near the dock, called Plymouth Dock at the time, and a new town grew up. In 1712 there were 318 men employed and by 1733 it had grown to a population of 3,000 people.
Prior to the latter half of the 18th century grain, timber and then coal were Plymouth's greatest imports. During this time the real source of wealth was from the neighbouring town of Devonport – the major employer in the entire region was the dockyard. The
Three TownsThe Three Towns is a term used to refer to the neighbouring towns of Plymouth, Devonport and East Stonehouse in the county of Devon, England. They were formally merged in 1914 to become the Borough of Plymouth. In 1928, the Borough was granted City status by Royal Charter.-Notes:...
conurbation of Plymouth,
StonehouseEast Stonehouse is one of three towns that were amalgamated into modern-day Plymouth. West Stonehouse was a village that is within the current Mount Edgcumbe Country Park in Cornwall...
and
DevonportDevonport, formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889...
enjoyed some prosperity during the late 18th and early 19th century and were enriched by a series of
neo-classicalNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
urban developments designed by London architect
John FoulstonJohn Foulston was an English architect. He was a pupil of Thomas Hardwick and set up a practice in London in 1796. In 1810 he won a competition to design the Royal Hotel and Theatre group of buildings in Plymouth, Devon, and after relocating he remained the leading architect for twenty-five...
. Foulston was important for the town and was responsible for several grand public buildings, many now destroyed, including the Athenaeum, the
Theatre RoyalThe Theatre Royal in Plymouth, Devon, England is "the largest and best attended regional producing theatre in the UK and the leading promoter of theatre in the south west", according to Arts Council England...
and Royal Hotel, and much of
Union StreetUnion Street in Plymouth, Devon, is a long straight street connecting the city centre to Devonport, the site of Plymouth's naval base and docks...
.
The mile-long Breakwater in Plymouth Sound was designed by John Rennie and 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 fortsThe Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures, around the coast of Britain.The forts were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, following concerns about the strength of the French Navy, and...
was constructed around the outskirts of Devonport, to protect the dockyard from attack from any direction. Some of the greatest imports to Plymouth from the Americas and Europe during the latter half of the 19th century included maize, wheat, barley, sugar cane,
guanoGuano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
,
sodium nitrateSodium nitrate is the chemical compound with the formula NaNO3. This salt, also known as Chile saltpeter or Peru saltpeter to distinguish it from ordinary saltpeter, potassium nitrate, is a white solid which is very soluble in water...
and
phosphateA phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in...
. Aside from the dockyard in 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 the 20th century.
Twentieth century
During World War I, Plymouth was the port of entry for many troops from around the Empire and also developed as a facility for the manufacture of munitions. Although major units of the Royal Navy moved to the safety of
Scapa Flowright|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
, Devonport was an important base for escort vessels and repairs. Flying boats operated from Mount Batten.
In World War II,
DevonportHer Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
was the headquarters of
Western Approaches CommandCommander-in-Chief, Western Approaches was the commander of a major operational command of the Royal Navy during World War II. The admiral commanding, and his forces, sometimes informally known as 'Western Approaches Command,' were responsible for the safety of British shipping in the Western...
until 1941 and
SunderlandThe Short S.25 Sunderland was a British flying boat patrol bomber developed for the Royal Air Force by Short Brothers. It took its service name from the town and port of Sunderland in northeast England....
flying boats were operated by the
Royal Australian Air ForceThe Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
. It was an important embarkation point for US troops for
D-DayD-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
. The city was heavily bombed by the
LuftwaffeLuftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
, in a series of 59 raids known as the
Plymouth BlitzThe Plymouth Blitz was a series of bombing raids carried out by the Nazi German Luftwaffe on the English city of Plymouth in the Second World War. The bombings launched on numerous British cities were known as the Blitz....
. Although the
dockyardsHer Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
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 was largely due to Plymouth's status as a major port Charles Church was hit by
incendiary bombsIncendiary weapons, incendiary devices or incendiary bombs are bombs designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using materials such as napalm, thermite, chlorine trifluoride, or white phosphorus....
and partially destroyed in 1941 during the Blitz, but has not been demolished, as it is now an official permanent monument to the bombing of Plymouth during World War II.
The redevelopment of the city was planned by
Sir Patrick AbercrombieSir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie ) was an English town planner. Educated at Uppingham School, Rutland; brother of Lascelles Abercrombie, poet and literary critic.-Career:...
in 1943 and by 1964 over 20,000 new homes had been built. Most of the shops had been destroyed and those that remained were cleared to enable a zoned reconstruction according to his plan. In 1962 the modernist high rise of the Civic Centre was constructed, an architecturally significant example of mid twentieth century civic slab-and-tower set piece allowed to fall into disrepair by and recently grade II listed to prevent its demolition.
Postwar, Devonport Dockyard was kept busy refitting aircraft carriers such as the . By the time this work ended in the late 1970s the nuclear submarine base was operational. The army had substantially left the city by 1971, with barracks pulled down in the 1960s, however the city has become home to the
42 Commando42 Commando Royal Marines is a battalion sized formation of the British Royal Marines and a subordinate unit within 3 Commando Brigade, the principal Commando formation, under the Operational Command of Commander in Chief Fleet....
of the
Royal MarinesThe Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
.
Local government history
The first record of the existence of a settlement at Plymouth was in the
Domesday BookDomesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
in 1086 as
Sudtone, Saxon for south farm, located at the present day
BarbicanThe Barbican is the name now given to the western and northern sides of the old harbour area of Plymouth, Devon, England. It was one of the few parts of the city to escape most of the destruction of The Blitz during the Second World War...
. From Saxon times, it was in the hundred of
RoboroughThe hundred of Roborough was the name of one of thirty two ancient administrative shires of Devon, England.The parishes in the hundred were:* Bere Ferrers* Bickleigh * Buckland Monachorum* East Stonehouse* Egg Buckland* Maker...
. In 1254 it gained status as a town and in 1439, became the first town in England to be granted a Charter by
ParliamentThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
. Between 1439 and 1934, Plymouth had a Mayor. In 1914 the
county boroughCounty borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
s of Plymouth and
DevonportDevonport, formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889...
, and the
urban districtIn the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
of
East StonehouseEast Stonehouse is one of three towns that were amalgamated into modern-day Plymouth. West Stonehouse was a village that is within the current Mount Edgcumbe Country Park in Cornwall...
merged to form a single county borough of Plymouth. Collectively they were referred to as "
The Three TownsThe Three Towns is a term used to refer to the neighbouring towns of Plymouth, Devonport and East Stonehouse in the county of Devon, England. They were formally merged in 1914 to become the Borough of Plymouth. In 1928, the Borough was granted City status by Royal Charter.-Notes:...
".
In 1919 Nancy Astor was elected the first ever female member of parliament to take office in the British Houses of Parliament for the constituency of Plymouth Sutton. Taking over office from her husband Waldorf Astor, Lady Astor was a vibrantly active campaigner for her resident constituents . Plymouth was granted
city statusCity status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...
on 18 October 1928. The city's first Lord Mayor was appointed in 1935 and its boundaries further expanded in 1967 to include the town of
PlymptonPlympton, or Plympton Maurice or Plympton St Maurice or Plympton St Mary or Plympton Erle, in south-western Devon, England is an ancient stannary town: an important trading centre in the past for locally mined tin, and a former seaport...
and the
parishIn England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
of
PlymstockPlymstock is a civil parish and commuter suburb of Plymouth in the English county of Devon.The earliest surviving documentary reference to the place is as Plemestocha in the Domesday Book and its name is derived from Old English meaning either "outlying farm with a plum-tree" or, if it is short for...
.
In 1945, Plymouth-born
Michael FootMichael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
was elected Labour MP for the war-torn constituency of Plymouth Devonport and after serving as Secreatry of State for Education and responsible for the 1974
Health and Safety at Work ActThe Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that defines the fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare within the United Kingdom.The Act defines general duties on...
, went on to become one of the most distinguished leaders of the Labour party.
The 1971
Local Government White PaperThe Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
proposed abolishing county boroughs, which would have left Plymouth, a town of 250,000 people, being administered from a council based at the smaller
ExeterExeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, on the other side of the county. This led to Plymouth lobbying for the creation of a Tamarside county, to include Plymouth,
TorpointTorpoint is a civil parish and town on the Rame Peninsula in southeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated opposite the city of Plymouth across the Hamoaze which is the tidal estuary of the River Tamar....
,
SaltashSaltash is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a population of 14,964. It lies in the south east of Cornwall, facing Plymouth over the River Tamar. It was in the Caradon district until March 2009 and is known as "the gateway to Cornwall". Saltash means ash tree by...
, and the rural
hinterlandThe hinterland is the land or district behind a coast or the shoreline of a river. Specifically, by the doctrine of the hinterland, the word is applied to the inland region lying behind a port, claimed by the state that owns the coast. The area from which products are delivered to a port for...
. 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 the city become a
unitary authorityA unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
on 1 April 1998 under recommendations of the
Banham CommissionThe Local Government Commission for England was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. It was established under the Local Government Act 1992, replacing the Local Government Boundary Commission for England...
.
In the
Parliament of the United KingdomThe Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, Plymouth is represented by the three
constituencies of Plymouth Moor View, Plymouth Sutton and Devonport and South West Devon and within the
European ParliamentThe European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
as
South West EnglandSouth West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, reduced from 7 in 2004.-Boundaries:...
. In the 2010 general election, Sutton and Devonport and South West Devon were held by
ConservativeThe Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MPs
Oliver ColvileOliver Newton Colvile is the ConservativeMember of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton & Devonport. He won the seat from the Labour candidate Linda Gilroy at the May 2010 general election.-Background:...
and
Gary StreeterGary Nicholas Streeter is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. From 1997 he was Member of Parliament for South West Devon, having previously been the Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton between 1992 and 1997...
, with Moor View held by
LabourThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
MP
Alison SeabeckAlison Jane Seabeck is an English Labour Party politician and shadow Minister in the Ministry of Defence. She was previously the shadow Housing Minister...
.
City Council
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. Each year a third of the council is up for election for three consecutive years – there are no elections on the following "fourth" year, which is when County Council elections take place. The total electorate for Plymouth was 183,358 in December 2007. The
local election of May 2010The 2010 Plymouth City Council elections were held on Thursday 6 May 2010, for 19 seats, that being one third of the total number of councillors...
resulted in a political composition of 36
ConservativeThe Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
councillors, 20
LabourThe Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
and one independent, resulting in a Conservative administration
Plymouth has a
Lord MayorThe Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...
, which is elected each year on the third Friday of May by a group of six people. 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. As of May 2009 and until May 2010
Ken FosterKenneth James Foster was the Lord Mayor for the city of Plymouth in Devon, England from May 2009 to May 2010. Prior to the post he worked in the dockyard and later a councillor for Plymstock Radford.- Personal life :...
holds the position of Lord Mayor.
The Lord Mayor's official residence is 3 Elliot Terrace, located on
the HoePlymouth 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...
. Once a home of
WaldorfWaldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor was an American-born British politician and newspaper proprietor.-Early life:...
and
Nancy AstorNancy Witcher Astor, Viscountess Astor, CH, was the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons.Constance Markievicz was the first woman elected to the House of Commons in December 1918 after running for the Sinn Féin party in 1918 General Election, but in line...
, 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 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 City Council is formally
twinnedTwin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with:
BrestBrest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, France (1963)
GdyniaGdynia is a city in the Pomeranian Voivodeship of Poland and an important seaport of Gdańsk Bay on the south coast of the Baltic Sea.Located in Kashubia in Eastern Pomerania, Gdynia is part of a conurbation with the spa town of Sopot, the city of Gdańsk and suburban communities, which together...
, Poland (1976)
NovorossiyskNovorossiysk is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the country's main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for importing grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Population: -History:...
, Russia (1990)
San SebastiánDonostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
, Spain (1990) Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States (2001)
Geography
Plymouth lies between the
River PlymThe River Plym is a river in Devon, England. Its source is some 450m above sea level on Dartmoor, in an upland marshy area called Plym Head. From the upper reaches which contain antiquities and mining remains the river flows roughly southwest and enters the sea near to the city of Plymouth, where...
to the east and the
River TamarThe Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...
to the west; both rivers flow into the natural harbour of
Plymouth SoundPlymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a bay at Plymouth in England.Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point on Devon, a distance of about 3 nautical miles . Its northern limit is Plymouth Hoe giving a north-south distance of nearly 3 nautical miles...
. Since 1967, the
unitary authorityA unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
of Plymouth has included the, once independent, towns of
PlymptonPlympton, or Plympton Maurice or Plympton St Maurice or Plympton St Mary or Plympton Erle, in south-western Devon, England is an ancient stannary town: an important trading centre in the past for locally mined tin, and a former seaport...
and
PlymstockPlymstock is a civil parish and commuter suburb of Plymouth in the English county of Devon.The earliest surviving documentary reference to the place is as Plemestocha in the Domesday Book and its name is derived from Old English meaning either "outlying farm with a plum-tree" or, if it is short for...
which lie along the east of the River Plym. The River Tamar forms the county boundary between
DevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
and
CornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and its estuary forms the
HamoazeThe Hamoaze is an estuarine stretch of the tidal River Tamar, between the River Lynher and Plymouth Sound, England.The Hamoaze flows past Devonport Dockyard, which belongs to the Royal Navy...
on which is sited
Devonport DockyardHer Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
.
The River Plym, which flows off
DartmoorDartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
to the north-east, forms a smaller estuary to the east of the city called
CattewaterThe city of Plymouth, Devon, England is bounded by Dartmoor to the north, the river Tamar to the west. The open expanse of water called Plymouth Sound to the south and the river Plym to the east....
.
Plymouth SoundPlymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a bay at Plymouth in England.Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point on Devon, a distance of about 3 nautical miles . Its northern limit is Plymouth Hoe giving a north-south distance of nearly 3 nautical miles...
is protected from the sea by the
Plymouth BreakwaterPlymouth Breakwater is a stone breakwater protecting Plymouth Sound and the anchorages therein. It is wide at the top and the base is . It lies in about of water. Around 4 million tons of rock were used in its construction in 1812 at the then-colossal cost of £1.5 million .-History:In 1806, as...
, in use since 1814. In the Sound is
Drake's IslandDrake's Island is a island lying in Plymouth Sound, the stretch of water south of the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The rocks which make up the island are volcanic tuff and lava, together with marine limestone of the mid-Devonian period.-Early history:...
which is seen from
Plymouth HoePlymouth 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...
, a flat public area on top of
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
cliffs. The
Unitary AuthorityA unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
of Plymouth is 30.8 square miles (79.8 km²), but the city of Plymouth, as cited from Plymouth City Council, is 30.61 square miles (79.3 km²). The topography rises from sea level to a height, at
RoboroughRoborough is a village in the South Hams of Devon, England. It lies just outside the northern boundary of the city of Plymouth on the main road to Tavistock, and is a popular dormitory village....
, of about 509 feet (155 m) above
Ordnance DatumIn the British Isles, an Ordnance Datum or OD is a vertical datum used by an ordnance survey as the basis for deriving altitudes on maps. A spot height may be expressed as AOD for "above ordnance datum". Usually mean sea level is used for the datum...
(AOD).
Geologically, Plymouth has a mixture of limestone, Devonian
slateSlate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
,
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and Middle
DevonianThe Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
limestone.
Plymouth Sound, Shores and CliffsPlymouth Sound, Shores and Cliffs is a Site of Special Scientific Interest around the Plymouth Sound, a large area of water where the River Plym and Tamar meet. It stretches across the two ceremonial counties of Devon and Cornwall and the unitary authority area of Plymouth...
is a
Site of Special Scientific InterestA Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
, 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
CremyllCremyll is a coastal village in south-east Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately one mile west of Plymouth.Cremyll is on the Rame Peninsula facing Plymouth Sound. The Cremyll Ferry carries foot passengers and cyclists from Cremyll to Plymouth...
to
PlymstockPlymstock is a civil parish and commuter suburb of Plymouth in the English county of Devon.The earliest surviving documentary reference to the place is as Plemestocha in the Domesday Book and its name is derived from Old English meaning either "outlying farm with a plum-tree" or, if it is short for...
including the Hoe. Local limestone may be seen in numerous buildings, walls and pavements throughout Plymouth. To the north and north east 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,
tungstenTungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
, 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'sSir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie ) was an English town planner. Educated at Uppingham School, Rutland; brother of Lascelles Abercrombie, poet and literary critic.-Career:...
Plan for Plymouth to rebuild the city was published; it called for the demolition of the few remaining pre-War buildings in the city centre and their replacement with wide, modern
boulevardA Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...
s aligned east–west linked by a north–south
avenue__notoc__In landscaping, an avenue or allée is traditionally a straight route with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each, which is used, as its French source venir indicates, to emphasize the "coming to," or arrival at a landscape or architectural feature...
(Armada Way) connecting the railway station and Plymouth Hoe.
PrefabsPrefabricated homes, often referred to as prefab homes, are dwellings manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled....
had started to be built by 1946, and over 1,000 permanent
council houseA council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...
s were built each year from 1951–57. By 1964 over 20,000 new homes had been built, more than 13,500 of them permanent council homes and 853 built by the
AdmiraltyThe Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
. Plymouth is home to 28 parks with an average size of 45638 square metres (54,582.6 sq yd). Its largest park is
Central ParkPlymouth's Central Park is a large centralised park situated to the north of Plymouth city centre in south west Devon, England, stretching north from the train station to Pounds House, Peverell and west from Ford Park Cemetery to the A386 .Central Park is trust land, which explains why it has not...
, with other sizeable green spaces including
Victoria ParkVictoria Park in Millbridge in Plymouth is a small recreational area. It extends at the eastern end from the bowling green beneath what was once a railway viaduct to what is now the merging of Molesworth Road and Eldad Hill, and which once was a toll bridge, and an important thoroughfare between...
,
Freedom Fields ParkLipson is a ward in the city of Plymouth, England. It is an affluent area with a substantial park called 'Freedom Fields', a Civil War battle site where the towns folk of nearby Plymouth resisted substantial Cavalier raiding parties and enabled the town to sustain the royalist siege...
, Alexandra Park,
Devonport ParkDevonport Park is a public park located in Devonport, Devon. The historic park dates back to the 1850s and is situated on former military land. The park is home to many historic monuments including a war memorial to the 2,000 Devonport citizens who died in the First World War.-External links:*...
and the Hoe.
Climate
Along with the rest of
South West EnglandSouth West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
, Plymouth has a temperate
oceanic climateAn oceanic climate, also called marine west coast climate, maritime climate, Cascadian climate and British climate for Köppen climate classification Cfb and subtropical highland for Köppen Cfb or Cwb, is a type of climate typically found along the west coasts at the middle latitudes of some of the...
(
KöppenThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Cfb) which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of England. This means a wide range of exotic plants can be grown. The annual mean temperature is approximately 11 °C (52 °F). Due to the modifying effect of the sea the seasonal range is less than in most other parts of the UK. February is the coldest month with mean minimum temperatures between 3 °C (37 °F) and 4 °C (39 °F). Snow is rare, not usually equating to more than a few flakes, but there have been exclusions, namely the European winter storms of 2009-10 which, in early January, covered Plymouth in at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) of snow; more on higher ground. Another period of notable snow occurred from 17–19 December 2010 when up to 8 inch (20 cm) of snow fell through the period – though only 2 inches (5 cm) would lie at any one time due to melt. Over the 1961-1990 period, annual snowfall accumulation averaged less than 7 cm (3 in) per year. July and August are the warmest months with mean daily maxima over 19 °C (66 °F).
South West England has a favoured location when the
Azores HighThe Azores High is a large subtropical semi-permanent centre of high atmospheric pressure found near the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean, at the Horse latitudes...
pressure area extends north-eastwards towards the UK, particularly in summer. Coastal areas have average annual sunshine totals over 1,600 hours.
Rainfall tends to be associated with Atlantic
depressionsA low-pressure area, or "low", is a region where the atmospheric pressure at sea level is below that of surrounding locations. Low-pressure systems form under areas of wind divergence which occur in upper levels of the troposphere. The formation process of a low-pressure area is known as...
or with convection. The Atlantic depressions are more vigorous in autumn and winter and most of 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 26.6 °C (80 °F), although in June 1976 the temperature reached 31.6 °C (89 °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 although in January 1979 the temperature fell to -8.8 °C. Typically, 18.6 nights of the year will register an air frost.
Education
The
University of PlymouthPlymouth University is the largest university in the South West of England, with over 30,000 students and is 9th largest in the United Kingdom by total number of students . It has almost 3,000 staff...
is the 9th largest university in the United Kingdom by total number of students (including the
Open UniversityThe Open University is a distance learning and research university founded by Royal Charter in the United Kingdom...
). It has over 30,000 students, almost 3,000 staff and an annual income of around £160 million. It was founded in 1992 from Polytechnic South West (formerly Plymouth Polytechnic) following the
Further and Higher Education Act 1992The Further and Higher Education Acts 1992 made changes in the funding and administration of further education and higher education within the United Kingdom. The most visible result was to allow thirty-five polytechnics to become universities. In addition the Act created bodies to fund higher...
. It has courses in maritime business, marine engineering, marine biology and Earth, ocean and environmental sciences, surf science, shipping and logistics. The university formed a joint venture with the fellow Devonian
University of ExeterThe University of Exeter is a public university in South West England. It belongs to the 1994 Group, an association of 19 of the United Kingdom's smaller research-intensive universities....
in 2000, establishing the
Peninsula College of Medicine and DentistryPeninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry is a Medical and Dental school in England, run in partnership with the University of Exeter, the University of Plymouth and the...
. The college is ranked 8th out of 30 universities in the UK in 2011 for medicine. Its dental school was established in 2006, which also provides free dental care in an attempt to improve access to dental care in the South West.
The city is also home to three large colleges. The University College Plymouth St Mark & St John (known as "Marjon" or "Marjons"), which specialises in
teacher trainingTeacher education refers to the policies and procedures designed to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school and wider community....
, offers training across the country and abroad. The
City College PlymouthCity College Plymouth is a tertiary institution and further education college in South West England having two main sites: the Goschen Centre in Keyham and the Kings Road Centre in Devonport, both in Plymouth, Devon. The Kings Road Centre is built on the site of the former Devonport Kings Road...
provides courses from the most basic to
Foundation degreeThe Foundation Degree is a vocational qualification introduced by the government of the United Kingdom in September 2001, which is available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
s for approximately 26,000 students. Plymouth College of Art offers a selection of courses including media. It was started 153 years ago and is now one of only four independent colleges of art and design in the UK. Plymouth also has 71 state primary phase schools, 13 state secondary schools, eight special schools and three selective state grammar schools, as well as an independent school,
Plymouth CollegePlymouth College is a co-educational independent school in Plymouth, Devon, England, for day and boarding pupils from the ages of 11 to 18...
.
The city was also home to the
Royal Naval Engineering CollegeThe Royal Naval Engineering College was a specialist establishment for the training of Royal Navy engineers. It was founded as Keyham College in 1880, new buildings were opened in Manadon in 1940 and the old college site at Keyham closed in 1958...
; opened in 1880 in Keyham, it trained engineering students for five years before they completed the remaining two years of the course at Greenwich. The college closed in 1910, but in 1940 a new college opened at
ManadonManadon is an area in Plymouth, England. It has two primary schools, St Boniface's Catholic College , and is home to the Manadon interchange, on the A38 road....
. This was renamed
Dockyard Technical College in 1959 before finally closing in 1994; training was transferred to the
University of SouthamptonThe University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England, a member of the Russell Group. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley. In 1902, the Institution developed...
.
Plymouth is home to the
Marine Biological Association of the United KingdomThe Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom is a learned society with a scientific laboratory that undertakes research in marine biology. The organisation was founded in 1884 and has been based in Plymouth since the laboratory was opened in June 1888...
(MBA) which conducts research in all areas of the marine sciences. The
Plymouth Marine LaboratoryPlymouth Marine Laboratory in the city of Plymouth, England is an independent collaborative centre of the Natural Environment Research Council . PML's Chairman is Terence Lewis and PML's Chief Executive is Prof. Stephen de Mora.They focus global issues of climate change and sustainability...
is an offshoot of the MBA. Together with the
National Marine AquariumThe National Marine Aquarium is a marine aquarium located in the city of Plymouth, England. Built on reclaimed land, it is located in Sutton Harbour, next to the Barbican and fishmarket, and was opened in May 1998. It is the largest aquarium in the United Kingdom.The mission statement of the...
, the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Sciences, Plymouth University's Marine Institute and the
Diving Diseases Research CentreThe Diving Diseases Research Centre is a British hyperbaric medical organisation located near Derriford Hospital in Plymouth, Devon. It is a registered charity and was established in 1980 to research the effects of diving on human physiology....
, these marine-related organisations form the Plymouth Marine Sciences Partnership. The
Plymouth Marine LaboratoryPlymouth Marine Laboratory in the city of Plymouth, England is an independent collaborative centre of the Natural Environment Research Council . PML's Chairman is Terence Lewis and PML's Chief Executive is Prof. Stephen de Mora.They focus global issues of climate change and sustainability...
, which focuses on global issues of
climate changeClimate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
and
sustainabilitySustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
. It monitors the effects of ocean acidity on
coralCorals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
s and
shellfishShellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...
and reports the results to the UK government. It also cultivates
algaeAlgae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...
that could be used to make
biofuelBiofuel is a type of fuel whose energy is derived from biological carbon fixation. Biofuels include fuels derived from biomass conversion, as well as solid biomass, liquid fuels and various biogases...
s or in the treatment of waste water by using technology such as
photo-bioreactorsBiochemical engineering is a branch of chemical engineering or biological engineering that mainly deals with the design and construction of unit processes that involve biological organisms or molecules, such as bioreactors...
. It works alongside the Boots Group to investigate the use of algae in skin care protects, taking advantage of the chemicals they contain that adapt to protect themselves from the sun.
Demography
In June 2010, the
Office for National StatisticsThe Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
estimated that Plymouth's unitary authority area population for mid-2009 was 256,700; 15,980 more people than that of the
last censusA nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
from 2001, which indicated that Plymouth had a population of 240,720. The average household size was 2.3 persons. At the time of the 2001 UK census, the ethnic composition of Plymouth's population was 98.4%
WhiteWhite people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
, with the largest minority ethnic group being
ChineseBritish Chinese , including British-born Chinese are people of Chinese ancestry who were born in, or have migrated to, the United Kingdom. They are part of the Chinese diaspora, or overseas Chinese...
at 0.3%. To the right is a graph showing the population change of the city since 1801. The population rose rapidly during the second half of the 19th century, but declined by over 1.6% from 1931 to 1951.
Plymouth's
gross value addedGross Value Added ' is a measure in economics of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy...
(a measure of the size of its economy) was 4,105 million
GBPThe pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
in 2007 making up 24% of
DevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
's GVA. Its GVA per person was £16,377 and compared to the national average of £20,430, was £4,053 lower. Plymouth's unemployment rate was 7.9% in July 2009 – June 2010 which was 1.7 points higher than the South West average and 0.2 points higher than the average for Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland).
Economy
Because of its coastal location, the economy of Plymouth has traditionally been maritime, in particular the defence sector with over 12,000 people employed and approximately 7,500 in the armed forces. The
Plymouth Gin DistilleryThe Plymouth Gin Distillery in The Barbican, Plymouth, England has been in operation since 1793 and used to be a significant manufacturer of gin in the UK. Also known as the Black Friars Distillery, it is the only gin distillery in the city....
has been producing
Plymouth GinPlymouth Gin is a style of gin that by law can only be produced in Plymouth, England, it being a Protected Geographical Indication within the European Union. The Plymouth Gin Distillery is the only gin distillery located in Plymouth in what was once a Dominican Order monastery built in 1431 and...
since 1793, which was exported around the world by the
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. During the 1930s, it was the most widely distributed
ginGin is a spirit which derives its predominant flavour from juniper berries . Although several different styles of gin have existed since its origins, it is broadly differentiated into two basic legal categories...
and has a
controlled term of originAppellation d’origine contrôlée , which translates as "controlled designation of origin", is the French certification granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National...
. Since the 1980s, employment in the defence sector has decreased substantially and the public sector is now prominent particularly in administration, health, education, medicine and engineering.
Devonport DockyardHer Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
is the UK's only naval base that refits nuclear submarines and the Navy estimates that the Dockyard generates about 10% of Plymouth's income. Plymouth has the largest cluster of marine and maritime businesses in the south west with 270 firms operating within the sector. Other substantial employers include
the universityPlymouth University is the largest university in the South West of England, with over 30,000 students and is 9th largest in the United Kingdom by total number of students . It has almost 3,000 staff...
with 30,000 students and almost 3,000 staff, as well as the
Tamar Science ParkTamar Science Park is a science and technology park located in Plymouth.The Park:* Incorporated in 1995* Two principal stakeholders and founding partners – Plymouth City Council and University of Plymouth...
employing 500 people in 50 companies, which is the fastest growing science park in the United Kingdom.
Plymouth has a post-war shopping area in the city centre with substantial pedestrianisation. At the west end of the zone inside a grade II
listed building is the Pannier Market that was completed in 1959 –
pannierA pannier is a basket, bag, box, or similar container, carried in pairs either slung over the back of a beast of burden, or attached to the sides of a bicycle or motorcycle. The term derives from the Old French, from Classical Latin, word for bread basket....
meaning "basket" from French, so it translates as "basket market". In terms of retail floorspace, Plymouth is ranked in the top five in the
South WestSouth West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
, and 29th nationally. Plymouth was one of the first ten British cities to trial the new
Business Improvement DistrictA business improvement district is a defined area within which businesses pay an additional tax or fee in order to fund improvements within the district's boundaries. Grant funds acquired by the city for special programs and/or incentives such as tax abatements can be made available to assist...
initiative. The
Tinside PoolTinside Pool is a unique 1935 Art Deco lido in the city of Plymouth in south-west England.It is sited beside Plymouth Sound and is overlooked by Plymouth Hoe and Smeaton's Tower...
is situated at the foot of the Hoe and became a grade II listed building in 1998 before being restored to its 1930s look for £3.4 million.
Air SouthwestAir Southwest was a British airline owned by Eastern Airways. It operated regional scheduled passenger services in the South West of England. Its main base was Plymouth City Airport, with hubs at Newquay Cornwall Airport and Bristol Airport...
has its management head office and its main engineering base on property of
Plymouth City AirportPlymouth City Airport is an airport located within the City of Plymouth north northeast of the city centre in Devon, England. The airport opened on this site in 1925 and was officially opened by the Edward VIII, as Prince of Wales, in 1931...
. When
Brymon AirwaysBrymon Airways is a former British airline with its head office in the Brymon House on the property of Plymouth City Airport in Plymouth, Devon...
existed, its head office was in the Brymon House on the airport property.
Plymouth 2020
Plymouth Council is currently undertaking a project of urban redevelopment called the "Vision for Plymouth" launched by the architect
David MackayDavid Mackay is a British architect and partner in MBM . He was active in Catalonia, where he worked on the design for the renovation of the port area of Barcelona and the construction of the Olympic Village there in 1992....
and backed by both Plymouth City Council and the Plymouth Chamber of Commerce (PCC). Its projects range from shopping centres, a cruise terminal, a boulevard and to increase the population to 300,000 and build 33,000 dwellings.
In 2004 the old Drake Circus shopping centre and Charles Cross car park were demolished and replaced by the latest
Drake Circus Shopping Centre-External links:*****...
, which opened in October 2006. It received negative feedback before opening when David Mackay said it was already "ten years out of date". In contrast, the
Theatre RoyalThe Theatre Royal in Plymouth, Devon, England is "the largest and best attended regional producing theatre in the UK and the leading promoter of theatre in the south west", according to Arts Council England...
's production and education centre, TR2, which was built on wasteland at
CattedownCattedown is an inner city suburb of Plymouth, Devon. Its position beside the River Plym estuary just short of the mouth led to its early settlement....
, was a runner-up for the RIBA
Stirling PrizeThe Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects...
for Architecture in 2003.
There is a project involving the future relocation of Plymouth City Council's headquarters, the civic centre, to the current location of the Bretonside bus station; it would involve both the bus station and civic centre being demolished and a rebuilt together at the location with the land from the civic centre being sold off. Other suggestions include the demolition of the
Plymouth PavilionsPlymouth Pavilions is an entertainment and sports complex in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has a Fun Pool, Ice Rink, Live Cafe and arena. The arena is used for corporate hire and as an entertainment venue....
entertainment arenaAn arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the...
to create a canal "boulevard" linking
MillbayMillbay, also known as Millbay Docks, is an area of dockland in Plymouth, Devon, England. It lies south of Union Street, between West Hoe in the east and Stonehouse in the west.-Early history:Mill Bay was a natural inlet to the west of the Hoe...
to the city centre. Millbay is being regenerated with mixed residential, retail and office space alongside the ferry port.
Transport
The
A38 dual-carriagewayThe A38, part of which is also known as the Devon Expressway, is a major A-class trunk road in England.The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, making it one of the longest A-roads in England. It was formerly known as the Leeds — Exeter Trunk Road,...
runs from east to west across the north of the city. Heading east, it connects Plymouth to the
M5 motorwayThe M5 is a motorway in England. It runs from a junction with the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham through Sandwell Valley...
about 40 miles (64.4 km) away near
ExeterExeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
; and heading west it connects Cornwall and Devon via the
Tamar BridgeThe Tamar Bridge is a major road bridge at Saltash in southwest England carrying traffic between Cornwall and Devon. When it opened in 1961 it was the longest suspension bridge in the United Kingdom...
. Regular bus services are provided by
Plymouth CitybusPlymouth Citybus is one of the principal bus operators serving the City of Plymouth, England, and the surrounding area. Plymouth Citybus's route network serves almost exclusively the boroughs and inner-city areas of Plymouth, with the majority of rural services handled by First Devon and...
,
First Devon & CornwallFirst Devon & Cornwall is a bus operating company providing services within the English counties of Devon and Cornwall. It is a subsidiary of First Group which operates public transport in many parts of Great Britain. It was formed from two previous operators: Western National and Red Bus...
and Target Travel. There are three
Park and ridePark and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...
services located at
MilehouseMilehouse is a late Victorian and 1930s suburb of Plymouth. It is now notable for a substantial traffic junction, the vast depot base of the local city bus company, a Wetherspoons pub and an undertaker. Formerly it was famous for the site of Outland House, the large family home of Robert Falcon...
, Coypool (
PlymptonPlympton, or Plympton Maurice or Plympton St Maurice or Plympton St Mary or Plympton Erle, in south-western Devon, England is an ancient stannary town: an important trading centre in the past for locally mined tin, and a former seaport...
) and George Junction (
Plymouth City AirportPlymouth City Airport is an airport located within the City of Plymouth north northeast of the city centre in Devon, England. The airport opened on this site in 1925 and was officially opened by the Edward VIII, as Prince of Wales, in 1931...
), which are operated by First Group.
A regular international ferry service provided by
Brittany FerriesBrittany Ferries is a French ferry company that runs ships between France, the UK, Ireland and Spain.-1970s and 1980s:Following the provision of the deep-water port at Roscoff, the company commenced in January 1973 at the instigation of Alexis Gourvennec, when existing ferry companies showed...
operates from
MillbayMillbay, also known as Millbay Docks, is an area of dockland in Plymouth, Devon, England. It lies south of Union Street, between West Hoe in the east and Stonehouse in the west.-Early history:Mill Bay was a natural inlet to the west of the Hoe...
taking cars and foot passengers directly to France (
RoscoffRoscoff is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.The nearby Île de Batz, called Enez Vaz in Breton, is a small island that can be reached by launch from the harbour....
) and Spain (
SantanderThe port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
) on the three ferries,
MV ArmoriqueThe MV Armorique is a passenger and freight ferry built for Brittany Ferries by STX Europe in Finland at a cost of £81 million . The vessel was delivered to Brittany Ferries on 26 January 2009, it was originally planned for her to be delivered in September 2008. Armorique is named after a national...
,
MV BretagneMV Bretagne is a ferry operated by Brittany Ferries. She was built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France and has been sailing for Brittany Ferries since 1989...
and
MV Pont-AvenM/V Pont-Aven is a cruiseferry operated by Brittany Ferries. She was built at Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany and has been sailing for Brittany Ferries since March 2004. She is the current Brittany Ferries flagship...
. There is a passenger ferry between
StonehouseEast Stonehouse is one of three towns that were amalgamated into modern-day Plymouth. West Stonehouse was a village that is within the current Mount Edgcumbe Country Park in Cornwall...
and the Cornish hamlet of
CremyllCremyll is a coastal village in south-east Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately one mile west of Plymouth.Cremyll is on the Rame Peninsula facing Plymouth Sound. The Cremyll Ferry carries foot passengers and cyclists from Cremyll to Plymouth...
, which is believed to have operated continuously since 1204. There is also a pedestrian ferry from the Mayflower Steps to
Mount BattenMount Batten is a 24-metre-tall outcrop of rock on a 600-metre peninsula in Plymouth Sound, Devon, England.After some redevelopment which started with the area coming under the control of the Plymouth Development Corporation for five years from 1993, the peninsula now has a marina and centre for...
, and an alternative to using the
Tamar BridgeThe Tamar Bridge is a major road bridge at Saltash in southwest England carrying traffic between Cornwall and Devon. When it opened in 1961 it was the longest suspension bridge in the United Kingdom...
via the
Torpoint FerryThe Torpoint Ferry is a car and pedestrian chain ferry, connecting the A374 road which crosses the Hamoaze, a stretch of water at the mouth of the River Tamar, between Devonport in Plymouth and Torpoint in Cornwall...
(vehicle and pedestrian) across the
River TamarThe Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...
.
The city's airport is
Plymouth City AirportPlymouth City Airport is an airport located within the City of Plymouth north northeast of the city centre in Devon, England. The airport opened on this site in 1925 and was officially opened by the Edward VIII, as Prince of Wales, in 1931...
about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the city centre. The airport is home to the local airline
Air SouthwestAir Southwest was a British airline owned by Eastern Airways. It operated regional scheduled passenger services in the South West of England. Its main base was Plymouth City Airport, with hubs at Newquay Cornwall Airport and Bristol Airport...
, which operates flights across Great Britain and Ireland. In June 2003 a report by the South West RDA was published looking at the future of aviation in the south-west and the possible closure of airports. It concluded that the best option for the south-west was to close Plymouth City Airport and expand
Exeter International AirportExeter International Airport is an airport located at Clyst Honiton in the District of East Devon close to the city of Exeter and within the county of Devon, South West England....
and Newquay Cornwall Airport, although it did conclude that this was not the best option for Plymouth.
Plymouth railway stationPlymouth railway station serves the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. It is situated on the northern edge of the city centre close to the North Cross roundabout...
, which opened in 1877, is managed by
First Great WesternFirst Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
and also sees trains on the
CrossCountryCrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...
and
South West TrainsSouth West Trains is a British train operating company providing, under franchise, passenger rail services, mostly out of Waterloo station, to the southwest of London in the suburbs and in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight...
networks. Smaller stations are served by local trains on the
Tamar Valley LineThe Tamar Valley Line is a railway line from Devonport in Plymouth Devon, to Gunnislake in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The line follows the River Tamar for much of its route.-History:...
and
Cornish Main LineThe Cornish Main Line is a railway line in the United Kingdom, which forms the backbone for rail services in Cornwall, as well as providing a direct line to London.- History :...
.
First Great WesternFirst Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
have come under fire recently, due to widespread rail service cuts across the south-west, which affect Plymouth greatly. Three
MPsA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
from the three main political parties in the region have lobbied that the train services are vital to its economy.
Religion
Plymouth has about 150 churches and its Roman Catholic cathedral (1858) is in
StonehouseEast Stonehouse is one of three towns that were amalgamated into modern-day Plymouth. West Stonehouse was a village that is within the current Mount Edgcumbe Country Park in Cornwall...
. The city's oldest church is
St Andrew'sSt Andrew's Church, Plymouth is an Anglican church in Plymouth. It is the original parish church of Sutton, one of the three towns which were later combined to form the city of Plymouth. The church is the largest parish church in the historic county of Devon and was built in the mid to late 15th...
(Anglican) located at the top of Royal Parade—it is the largest parish church in
DevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
and has been a site of gathering since AD 800. The city also includes five Baptist churches, a
Greek OrthodoxThe Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...
church and 13 Roman Catholic churches. In 1831 the first
BrethrenThe Plymouth Brethren is a conservative, Evangelical Christian movement, whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland, in the late 1820s. Although the group is notable for not taking any official "church name" to itself, and not having an official clergy or liturgy, the title "The Brethren," is...
assembly in England, a movement of conservative non-denominational Evangelical Christians, was established in the city, so that Brethren are often called Plymouth Brethren, although the movement did not begin locally.
Plymouth has the first known reference to Jews in the
South WestSouth West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
from Sir
Francis DrakeSir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
's voyages in 1577 to 1580, as his log mentioned "Moses the Jew" – a man from Plymouth. The
Plymouth SynagogueThe Plymouth Synagogue is a synagogue in the city of Plymouth, England. Built in 1762 it is a Listed Grade II* building and the oldest synagogue built by Ashkenazi Jews in the English speaking world. -History:...
is a
Listed Grade II* building, built in 1762 and is the
oldestThe designation oldest synagogue in the world requires careful definition. Many very old synagogues have been discovered in archaeological digs. Some synagogues have been destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site, so, while the site or congregation may be ancient, the building may be...
AshkenaziAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
Synagogue in the
English speaking worldAnglosphere is a neologism which refers to those nations with English as the most common language. The term can be used more specifically to refer to those nations which share certain characteristics within their cultures based on a linguistic heritage, through being former British colonies...
. There are also places of worship for Islam,
Bahá'íThe Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
,
BuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
,
UnitarianUnitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
, Chinese beliefs and
HumanismHumanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....
.
73.6% of the population described themselves in the last census return as being at least nominally Christian with all other religions represented by less than 0.5% each. The number of people without a religion is above the national average at 18.3%, with 7.1% not stating their religion.
Culture
Built in 1815,
Union StreetUnion Street in Plymouth, Devon, is a long straight street connecting the city centre to Devonport, the site of Plymouth's naval base and docks...
was at the heart of Plymouth's historical culture. It became known as
the servicemen's playground, as it was where sailors from the Royal Navy would seek entertainment of all kinds. During the 1930s, there were 30 pubs and it attracted such performers as
Charlie ChaplinSir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
to the Palace Theatre. It is now the late-night hub of Plymouth's entertainment strip, but has a reputation for trouble at closing hours.
Outdoor events and festivals are held including the annual British Firework Championships in August, which attracts tens of thousands of people across the waterfront. In August 2006 the world record for the most amount of simultaneous fireworks was surpassed, by Roy Lowry of the
University of PlymouthPlymouth University is the largest university in the South West of England, with over 30,000 students and is 9th largest in the United Kingdom by total number of students . It has almost 3,000 staff...
, over
Plymouth SoundPlymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a bay at Plymouth in England.Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point on Devon, a distance of about 3 nautical miles . Its northern limit is Plymouth Hoe giving a north-south distance of nearly 3 nautical miles...
. Since 1992 the Music of the Night has been performed in the
Royal CitadelThe Royal Citadel in Plymouth, Devon, England, was built in the late 1660s to the design of Sir Bernard de Gomme. It is at the eastern end of Plymouth Hoe overlooking Plymouth Sound, and encompasses the site of the earlier fort that had been built in the time of Sir Francis Drake.During the Dutch...
by the
29 Commando Regiment29 Commando Regiment is the Commando-trained unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery. The regiment is under the operational control of 3 Commando Brigade providing artillery support and gunnery observation.- History :...
and local performers to raise money for local and military charities.
The city's main theatres are the
Theatre RoyalThe Theatre Royal in Plymouth, Devon, England is "the largest and best attended regional producing theatre in the UK and the leading promoter of theatre in the south west", according to Arts Council England...
(1,315 capacity), its Drum Theatre (200 capacity), and its production and creative learning centre, The TR2. The
Plymouth PavilionsPlymouth Pavilions is an entertainment and sports complex in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has a Fun Pool, Ice Rink, Live Cafe and arena. The arena is used for corporate hire and as an entertainment venue....
has multi uses for the city staging music concerts, basketball matches and stand-up comedy. There are also three cinemas: Reel Cinema at Derrys Cross, Plymouth Arts Centre at Looe Street and a
Vue cinemaVue Entertainment , formerly known as SBC International Cinemas, is a cinema company in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The company was formed in May 2003 when SBC acquired 36 Warner Village cinemas. There are now 69 Vue cinemas, with 654 screens totaling 140,500 seats, including the rebranded...
at the Barbican Leisure Park. The
Plymouth City Museum and Art GalleryPlymouth City Museum and Art Gallery in the Drake Circus area of Plymouth, Devon, England is the largest museum and art gallery in the city. It was built in 1907-10 by Thornely and Rooke in Edwardian Baroque style. Its interior was restored in 1954 after being gutted in The Blitz.The Museum has...
is operated by Plymouth City Council allowing free admission – it has six galleries.
Plymouth is the regional television centre of
BBC South WestBBC South West is the BBC English Region serving Devon, Cornwall and the Channel Islands.-Television:BBC South Wests television service consists of the flagship regional news service Spotlight, the opt-out service BBC Channel Islands, the topical magazine programme Inside Out and a 20-minute...
. A team of journalists are headquartered at Plymouth for the
ITV South WestITV West & Westcountry, also known as ITV South West, is a non-franchise ITV regional station covering the South West of England and incorporating the former ITV West and ITV Westcountry regions.-History:...
regional station, after a merger with ITV West forced ITV Westcountry to close on 16 February 2009. The main local newspapers serving Plymouth are
The Herald and
Western Morning NewsThe Western Morning News is a politically independent daily regional newspaper founded in 1860 and covering Devon and Cornwall and parts of Somerset and Dorset.-Organisation:...
with
BBC Radio DevonBBC Radio Devon is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Devon. It began transmissions on 17 January 1983, replacing a previous breakfast show for Devon and Cornwall broadcast on the local frequencies of Radio 4....
,
Heart PlymouthHeart Plymouth was an Independent Local Radio station broadcasting to Plymouth in Devon, England.-History:The name heritage name Plymouth Sound was a pun on the popular meaning of sound and the bay of Plymouth Sound between Penlee Point and Wembury Point in Devon.In November 2005 it was announced...
,
Radio PlymouthRadio Plymouth is an independent commercial radio station broadcasting from the Devon city of Plymouth.-History:Radio Plymouth was launched at 10am on Sunday 28 February 2010 by television presenter Phillip Schofield, an investor in the station. The first song played was The Way It Is by Bruce...
and
Pirate FMPirate FM is one of the Independent Local Radio stations for Cornwall, playing a range of music from the 1960's to the present day.-Background:...
being the main local radio stations.
Sport
Plymouth is home to
Plymouth Argyle Football ClubPlymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...
, who play in the fourth tier of English football league known as
Football League TwoFootball League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....
. The teams home ground is called
Home ParkHome Park is an all-seater football stadium in the Central Park area of Plymouth, England, and is the home of Football League Two club Plymouth Argyle. The ground, given the nickname the Theatre of Greens by the club's supporters, has been Argyle's permanent residence since 1901...
and is located in
Central ParkPlymouth's Central Park is a large centralised park situated to the north of Plymouth city centre in south west Devon, England, stretching north from the train station to Pounds House, Peverell and west from Ford Park Cemetery to the A386 .Central Park is trust land, which explains why it has not...
. It links itself with the group of English non-conformists that left Plymouth for the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
in 1620: its nickname is "The Pilgrims".
Other sports clubs include
Plymouth Albion R.F.C.Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The club was founded around 1915 from a merger between Plymouth RFC and Devonport Albion RFC...
and the
Plymouth RaidersThe Plymouth Raiders, officially called UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders for sponsorship reasons, is South-west England's leading basketball team. Based in the city of Plymouth, they play their home games at the Pavilions arena and have competed in the top-tier British Basketball League since 2004...
basketball club. Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club is a
rugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
club that was founded in 1875 and are currently competing in the second tier of Professional English Rugby the
RFU ChampionshipThe RFU Championship replaced National Division One as the second tier in the English rugby union system in September 2009. Unlike National Division One, which is semi-professional, the RFU Championship is a fully professional league.-History:...
. They play at
The BrickfieldsThe Brickfields is a sports stadium in Devonport, England. It is used as the home ground of Rugby Union team Plymouth Albion of the RFU Championship, who moved there in 2003. The highest crowd was 6871, for a match against rivals Exeter Chiefs in October 2008....
. Plymouth Raiders play in the
British Basketball LeagueThe British Basketball League, often abbreviated to the BBL, is the premier men's professional basketball league in the United Kingdom. The BBL runs two knockout competitions alongside the league championship; the BBL Cup and the BBL Trophy....
– the top tier of British basketball. They play at the
Plymouth PavilionsPlymouth Pavilions is an entertainment and sports complex in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has a Fun Pool, Ice Rink, Live Cafe and arena. The arena is used for corporate hire and as an entertainment venue....
entertainment arena and were founded in 1983.
Plymouth DevilsThe Plymouth Devils are a speedway team in the British Premier League. The club was re-formed after a gap of thirty-six years in 2006 by former St Austell Gulls rider Mike Bowden....
are a
speedwayMotorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...
team in team in the British
Premier LeagueThe Premier League is the second division of Speedway in the United Kingdom and goverened by the Speedway Control Board , in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association . The Premier League was founded in 1995 when it replaced the British League as the first division...
. Plymouth is home to an
American footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
club: The
Plymouth AdmiralsThe Plymouth Admirals were an American Football team who competed in the British American Football League up until 2010. They played their home games at the Parkway Sports Club in Ernesettle, Plymouth. Formed in 1984, the Admirals were one of the longest established American football teams in the...
. Plymouth is also home to Plymouth Marjons Hockey Club, with their 1st XI playing in the National League last season.
Plymouth is an important centre for watersports, especially scuba diving and sailing. The Port of Plymouth Regatta is one of the oldest regattas in the world, and has been held regularly since 1823.
Public services
Since 1973 Plymouth has been supplied water by
South West WaterSouth West Water provides drinking water and waste water services throughout Cornwall and Devon and in small areas of Dorset and Somerset. South West Water came into being in 1989 with the privatisation of the water industry...
. Prior to the 1973 take over it was supplied by Plymouth County Borough Corporation. Before the 19th century two
leatA leat is the name, common in the south and west of England and in Wales, for an artificial watercourse or aqueduct dug into the ground, especially one supplying water to a watermill or its mill pond...
s were built in order to provide drinking water for the town. They carried water from
DartmoorDartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
to Plymouth. A watercourse, known as Plymouth or
Drake's LeatDrake's Leat, also known as Plymouth Leat, was a watercourse constructed in the late 16th century to tap the River Meavy on Dartmoor, England in order to supply Plymouth with water. It was one of the first municipal water supplies in the country.-Plans:...
, was opened on 24 April 1591 to tap the
River MeavyThe river Meavy is a river in Dartmoor in Devon in south-west England. It forms the outlet from Burrator Reservoir, and flows generally south-west past the village of Meavy and then south before it joins the River Plym at the upper end of Bickleigh Vale....
. The
Devonport LeatThe Devonport Leat was a leat constructed in the 1790s to carry fresh drinking water from the high ground of Dartmoor to the expanding dockyards at Devonport, Devon, England. It is fed by three Dartmoor rivers: the West Dart, the Cowsic and the Blackabrook...
was constructed to carry fresh drinking water to the expanding dockyards at
DevonportDevonport, formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889...
. It was fed by three Dartmoor rivers: The
West DartThe West Dart River is one of the two main tributaries of the River Dart in Devon, England.Its source is near Lower White Tor 1.5 km north of Rough Tor on Dartmoor. It flows south to Two Bridges, then south east past Hexworthy to meet the East Dart River at Dartmeet...
, Cowsic and Blackabrook. It seems to have been carrying water since 1797, but it was officially completed in 1801. It was originally designed to carry water to Devonport Dockyard, but has since been shortened and now carries water to
Burrator ReservoirBurrator Reservoir is a reservoir on the south side of Dartmoor in the English county of Devon. It is one of a number of reservoirs and dams that were built over the course of the 19th and 20th centuries in the area now covered by Dartmoor National Park to supply drinking water to the rapidly...
, which feeds most of the water supply of Plymouth. Burrator Reservoir is located about 5 miles (8 km) north of the city and was constructed in 1898 and expanded in 1928.
Plymouth City Council is responsible for waste management throughout the city and
South West WaterSouth West Water provides drinking water and waste water services throughout Cornwall and Devon and in small areas of Dorset and Somerset. South West Water came into being in 1989 with the privatisation of the water industry...
is responsible for sewerage. Plymouth's electricity is supplied from the National Grid and distributed to Plymouth via
Western Power DistributionWestern Power Distribution is the trading identity of four electricity distribution companies - WPD South West , WPD South Wales and WPD Midlands...
. On the outskirts of
PlymptonPlympton, or Plympton Maurice or Plympton St Maurice or Plympton St Mary or Plympton Erle, in south-western Devon, England is an ancient stannary town: an important trading centre in the past for locally mined tin, and a former seaport...
a
combined cycleIn electric power generation a combined cycle is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem off the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy, which in turn usually drives electrical generators...
gas-powered station, the
Langage Power StationLangage Power Station is to be constructed near the city of Plymouth in Devon, England.Centrica, owners of the site, announced on 16 June 2006 that the natural gas fired power station was to be constructed on their behalf by Alstom. Section 36 consent was granted in 2000 and Reserved Matters were...
, which started to produce electricity for Plymouth at the end of 2009.
Her Majesty's Courts ServiceHer Majesty's Courts Service is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice and is responsible for the administration of the civil, family and criminal courts in England and Wales....
provide a
Magistrates' CourtA magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions...
and a Combined
CrownThe Crown Court of England and Wales is, together with the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal, one of the constituent parts of the Senior Courts of England and Wales...
and
County CourtA county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of county courts held by the High Sheriff of each county.-England and Wales:County Court matters can be lodged...
in the city. The Plymouth Borough Police, formed in 1836, eventually became part of
Devon and Cornwall ConstabularyDevon and Cornwall Police, formerly Devon and Cornwall Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Devon and Cornwall in England and the unitary authorities of Plymouth, Torbay and the Isles of Scilly....
. There are police stations at Charles Cross and Crownhill (the Divisional HQ) and smaller stations at Plympton and Plymstock. The city has one of the Devon and Cornwall Area
Crown Prosecution ServiceThe Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
Divisional offices. Plymouth has five fire stations located in Camel's Head,
CrownhillCrownhill is an area of northern Plymouth, in the English county of Devon.-Overview:It was originally known as Knackersknowle, meaning "the hill of the knacker's yard". In 1860 a fort was built on a high piece of land, just to the north west of the village, on the site of a building called Crown...
,
GreenbankGreenbank is part of the city of Plymouth in the county of Devon, England.Greenbank lies to the west of Freedom Fields, a park preserving the approximate site of a battle during the English Civil War. It is a Victorian and Edwardian residential area with many small public houses and shops, and is...
,
PlymptonPlympton, or Plympton Maurice or Plympton St Maurice or Plympton St Mary or Plympton Erle, in south-western Devon, England is an ancient stannary town: an important trading centre in the past for locally mined tin, and a former seaport...
and
PlymstockPlymstock is a civil parish and commuter suburb of Plymouth in the English county of Devon.The earliest surviving documentary reference to the place is as Plemestocha in the Domesday Book and its name is derived from Old English meaning either "outlying farm with a plum-tree" or, if it is short for...
which is part of
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue ServiceDevon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the counties of Devon and Somerset, including the unitary authorities of Plymouth and Torbay, in South West England...
. The
Royal National Lifeboat InstitutionThe Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
have an
Atlantic 85 class lifeboatAtlantic 85 class lifeboats serve the shores of the UK and Ireland as a part of the RNLI inshore fleet.The Atlantic 85 is the third generation B-Class Rigid Inflatable Boat developed from the Atlantic 21 and later Atlantic 75...
and
Severn class lifeboatAt long, the Severn class lifeboat is the largest lifeboat operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution . Introduced to service in 1996, the class is named after the River Severn, the longest river in Great Britain...
stationed at Millbay Docks.
Plymouth is served by Plymouth Hospitals
NHS TrustA National Health Service trust provides services on behalf of the National Health Service in England and NHS Wales.The trusts are not trusts in the legal sense but are in effect public sector corporations. Each trust is headed by a board consisting of executive and non-executive directors, and is...
and the city's
NHSThe National Health Service or NHS is the publicly funded healthcare system in England. It is both the largest and oldest single-payer healthcare system in the world. It is able to function in the way that it does because it is primarily funded through the general taxation system, similar to how...
hospital is
Derriford HospitalDerriford Hospital, is a large teaching hospital situated in Plymouth, England. The hospital serves Plymouth and nearby areas in Devon and Cornwall. It also provides tertiary Cardiothoracic surgery, Neurosurgery and Renal Transplant surgery for the whole of the South West Peninsula...
4 miles (6.4 km) north of the city centre and there is also the Royal Eye Infirmary near the city centre.
South Western Ambulance ServiceThe South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust is the authority responsible for providing ambulance services for the National Health Service in the English counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset...
NHS Foundation Trust operates in Plymouth and the rest of the south west; its headquarters are in
ExeterExeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
.
The mid-19th century burial ground at
Ford Park CemeteryFord Park Cemetery is a cemetery in central Plymouth, England, established by the Plymouth, Stonehouse & Devonport Cemetery Company in 1846 and opened in 1848. At the time it was outside the boundary of the Three Towns and was created to alleviate the overcrowding in the churchyards of the local...
was reopened in 2007 by a successful trust and the City council operate two large early 20th century cemeteries at Weston Mill and
EffordEfford is a large mostly post-war suburb of Plymouth in the county of Devon, England.It stands on high ground above the Laira estuary of the River Plym and variously offers views over long distances: to the north across Dartmoor the east across the South Hams of Devon and also to the south...
both with crematoria and chapels. There is also a privately owned cemetery on the outskirts of the city, Drake Memorial Park which does not allow headstones to mark graves, but a brass plaque set into the ground.
Notable people
People from Plymouth are known as Plymothians or less formally as
JannerJanner is a British regional nickname associated with people from Plymouth or people who live in areas near the sea, both as a noun and as an adjective for the local accent and colloquialisms...
s. Its meaning is described as a person from
DevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, deriving from Cousin Jan (the
DevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
form of John), but more particularly in
navalThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
circles anyone from the Plymouth area. The Elizabethan navigator, Sir
Francis DrakeSir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
was born in the nearby town of Tavistock and was the mayor of Plymouth. He was the first
EnglishmanThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
to circumnavigate the world and was known by the Spanish as
El Draco meaning "The Dragon" after he raided many of their ships. He died of
dysenteryDysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
in 1596 off the coast of
Puerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
. In 2002 a mission to recover his body and bring it to Plymouth was allowed by the
Ministry of DefenceThe Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
. His cousin and contemporary
John HawkinsAdmiral Sir John Hawkins was an English shipbuilder, naval administrator and commander, merchant, navigator, and slave trader. As treasurer and controller of the Royal Navy, he rebuilt older ships and helped design the faster ships that withstood the Spanish Armada in 1588...
was a Plymouth man. Painter Sir
Joshua ReynoldsSir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
, founder and first president of the
Royal AcademyThe Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly, London. The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and...
was born and educated in nearby
PlymptonPlympton, or Plympton Maurice or Plympton St Maurice or Plympton St Mary or Plympton Erle, in south-western Devon, England is an ancient stannary town: an important trading centre in the past for locally mined tin, and a former seaport...
, now part of Plymouth.
Antarctic explorers
Robert Falcon ScottCaptain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
and
Frank BickertonFrank Bickerton was an Antarctic explorer, and engineer, and a pioneer in the usage of aircraft and telegraphy. He also led a three man sledging team which discovered the first meteorite to be found in the Antarctic.-Life:...
both lived in the city. Artists include
Beryl CookBeryl Cook, OBE was an English artist best known for comical paintings of people she encountered in her home city. She had no formal training and did not take up painting until middle age.- Early life :...
whose paintings depict the culture of Plymouth and
Robert LenkiewiczRobert Oscar Lenkiewicz was one of the South West England's most celebrated artists of modern times. Perennially unfashionable in high art circles, his work was nevertheless popular with the public...
, whose paintings looked at themes such as:
vagrancyA vagrant is a person in poverty, who wanders from place to place without a home or regular employment or income.-Definition:A vagrant is "a person without a settled home or regular work who wanders from place to place and lives by begging;" vagrancy is the condition of such persons.-History:In...
, sexual behaviour and suicide, lived in the city from the 1960s until his death in 2002. In addition, actors Sir Donald Sinden and
Judi TrottJudi Trott is an English actress, best known for her portrayal of the Lady Marion of Leaford in the popular 1980s series Robin of Sherwood....
.
George PassmoreGilbert & George are two artists who work together as a collaborative duo. Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore have become famous for their distinctive, highly formal appearance and manner and their brightly coloured graphic-style photo-based artworks.-Early life:Gilbert Proesch was...
of
Turner PrizeThe Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
winning duo
Gilbert and GeorgeGilbert & George are two artists who work together as a collaborative duo. Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore have become famous for their distinctive, highly formal appearance and manner and their brightly coloured graphic-style photo-based artworks.-Early life:Gilbert Proesch was...
were born in the city, as was Labour peer
Michael FootMichael Mackintosh Foot, FRSL, PC was a British Labour Party politician, journalist and author, who was a Member of Parliament from 1945 to 1955 and from 1960 until 1992...
. Notable athletes include swimmer
Sharron DaviesSharron Elizabeth Davies MBE is a retired swimmer from the United Kingdom. She won a silver medal in the 400 metre individual medley at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, and two gold medals at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton...
, diver
Tom DaleyThomas Robert "Tom" Daley is an English diver who specialises in the 10 metre platform event and was the 2009 FINA World Champion in the individual event at the age of 15. He started diving at the age of seven and is a member of Plymouth Diving Club. He has made an impact in national and...
, dancer
Wayne SleepWayne Philip Colin Sleep OBE is a British dancer, director, choreographer and panelist. He was a Principal Dancer with the Royal Ballet and has appeared as a Guest Artist with several other ballet companies.-Early life:...
, and footballer
Trevor FrancisTrevor John Francis , is a former footballer who won the European Cup with Nottingham Forest and played for England 52 times. He was England's first £1 million player...
. Other past residents include composer
Ron GoodwinRonald Alfred Goodwin was a British composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years....
, and journalist
Angela RipponAngela M. Rippon, OBE, born 12 October 1944, Plymouth, Devon, England, is an English television journalist, newsreader, writer and presenter. Rippon presented radio and television news programmes in South West England before moving to BBC One's Nine O'Clock News, becoming a regular presenter in 1975...
and comedian
Dawn French. Canadian politician and legal scholar Chris Axworthy hails from Plymouth.
Landmarks and tourist attractions
After the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
the
Royal CitadelThe Royal Citadel in Plymouth, Devon, England, was built in the late 1660s to the design of Sir Bernard de Gomme. It is at the eastern end of Plymouth Hoe overlooking Plymouth Sound, and encompasses the site of the earlier fort that had been built in the time of Sir Francis Drake.During the Dutch...
was built in 1666 on the east end of
Plymouth HoePlymouth 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...
, to defend the port from naval attacks, suppress Plymothian Parliamentary leanings and to train the armed forces. Guided tours are available in the summer months. Further west is
Smeaton's TowerSmeaton's Tower is the third and most notable Eddystone Lighthouse. It marked a major step forward in the design of lighthouses. In use until 1877, it was largely dismantled and rebuilt on Plymouth Hoe in the city of Plymouth, Devon where it now stands as a memorial to its designer, John Smeaton,...
, which was built in 1759 as a lighthouse on rocks 14 miles (22.5 km) off shore, but dismantled and the top two thirds rebuilt on the Hoe in 1877. It is open to the public and has views over the Plymouth Sound and the city from the lantern room. Plymouth has 20 war memorials of which nine are on
The HoePlymouth 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...
including:
Plymouth Naval MemorialThe Plymouth Naval Memorial is a war memorial in Devon, England to British and Commonwealth sailors who were lost in the World Wars.-History:...
, to remember those killed in World Wars I and II, and the National Armada memorial, to commemorate the defeat of the
Spanish ArmadaThis article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
.
The early port settlement of Plymouth, called "Sutton", approximates to the area now referred to as the
BarbicanThe Barbican is the name now given to the western and northern sides of the old harbour area of Plymouth, Devon, England. It was one of the few parts of the city to escape most of the destruction of The Blitz during the Second World War...
and has 100
listed buildings and the largest concentration of
cobbledCobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...
streets in Britain. The Pilgrim Fathers left for the
New WorldThe New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
in 1620 near the commemorative Mayflower Steps in Sutton Pool. Also on Sutton Pool is the
National Marine AquariumThe National Marine Aquarium is a marine aquarium located in the city of Plymouth, England. Built on reclaimed land, it is located in Sutton Harbour, next to the Barbican and fishmarket, and was opened in May 1998. It is the largest aquarium in the United Kingdom.The mission statement of the...
which displays 400 marine species and includes Britain's deepest aquarium tank.
A mile upstream on the opposite side of the
River PlymThe River Plym is a river in Devon, England. Its source is some 450m above sea level on Dartmoor, in an upland marshy area called Plym Head. From the upper reaches which contain antiquities and mining remains the river flows roughly southwest and enters the sea near to the city of Plymouth, where...
is the Saltram estate, which has a
JacobeanThe Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
and
GeorgianGeorgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
mansion.
On the northern outskirts of the city,
Crownhill FortCrownhill Fort is a Royal Commission fort built in the 1860s in Crownhill as part of Lord Palmerston's ring of land defences for Plymouth. Restored by the Landmark Trust, it is now open to the public.-History of the fort:...
is a well restored example of a "
Palmerston's FollyThe Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures, around the coast of Britain.The forts were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom, following concerns about the strength of the French Navy, and...
". It is owned by the
Landmark TrustThe Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then gives them a new life by making them available for holiday rental...
and is open to the public.
To the west of the city is
DevonportDevonport, formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889...
, one of Plymouth's historic quarters. As part of Devonport's millennium regeneration project, the
Devonport Heritage Trail has been introduced, complete with over 70 waymarkers outlining the route.
Plymouth is often used as a base by visitors to
DartmoorDartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
, the
TamarThe Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...
Valley and the beaches of south-east
CornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
.
KingsandKingsand and Cawsand are twin villages in southeast Cornwall, United Kingdom. The villages are situated on the Rame Peninsula and in the parish of Maker-with-Rame....
,
CawsandCawsand and Kingsand are twin villages in southeast Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated on the Rame Peninsula and is in the parish of Maker-with-Rame....
and
Whitsand BayWhitsand Bay, situated in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom runs from Rame Head in the east to Portwrinkle in the west. It is characterised by sheer, high cliffs, dramatic scenery and long stretches of sandy beaches...
are popular.
Further reading
N.B. Carew refers to Plymouth Hoe as "the Hawe at Plymmouth" N.B. the publication carries the date 1943, which is incorrect according to The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History
External links