Plymouth's Origins and Layout
To understand Plymouth better it’s worth knowing something about its geography and background.
The city as we know it today is situated between the mouths of two rivers – The Tamar and The Plym, which meet up in Plymouth Sound, a bay protected from the elements of the English Channel by a Breakwater.
The city of Plymouth is actually made up of four separate towns – Plymouth, Stonehouse, Devonport and Plympton.
In medieval times Plymouth was just a small farming and fishing settlement, Stonehouse was of no significance, and Devonport didn’t even exist. Plympton, on the other hand, was one of the four influential stannary towns of Devon involved in the production of tin (the others being Tavistock, Ashburton, and Chagford).
Paradoxically, it was tin that was Plympton’s downfall due to sediment from the mining industry silting up the River Plym. Plympton’s loss was Sutton’s gain however, as being at the mouth of the river it didn’t suffer the same problems, and as if to reinforce its importance, Sutton changed its name to Plymouth.
Trade increased, and by the 16th century Plymouth became Devon’s most important naval port as well. As the Royal Navy grew so did the need for bigger and better facilities, and during the 18th century new docks were built at Stonehouse and Plymouth Dock, which changed its name to Devonport in 1824.
In 1914 Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport combined together to form the single county borough of Plymouth, and in 1928 it was awarded city status.
Plympton (along with Plymstock) was incorporated into the city boundary in 1967, and although Plympton St. Maurice is still at the heart of old Plympton, extensive modern development has turned it into a rather nondescript suburban dormitory town.
The River Tamar emerges from the ground about 6 miles from the North Cornish coast and almost makes Cornwall an island as it forms virtually the whole boundary between Devon and Cornwall.
Two bridges cross the Tamar from Plymouth into Cornwall. The modern road bridge and Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s famous railway bridge.
Originally posted 2017-10-16 20:29:39.
interesting. I ahd always thought Plymouth was small and then was surprised to find out it wasn’t, but I didn’t know about the amalgamation
It’s still one of the UK’s biggest dockyards. Up in your neck of the woods you have (had) Rosyth, speaking of which, I’m online at the moment to pay my respects to one of my dearest friends who came from Rosyth and was cremated today. He came to Paignton to live and we’ve been close friends and drinking buddies for quite a number of years and we always met up at the Ship for a drink at 5pm. This evening, I’m having a virtual drink at 5pm with his brother who lives in Stornoway.
Sorry about your friend Malc. Hard to lose a buddy. That is nice you are having avirtual drink with his brother.
Thanks Shey. There have been far too many people leaving me behind recently. I miss all of them, so your kind words are really appreciated. Thank you so much ❤️
Difficult for you to lose one friend, never mind more. I hope you enjoyed your virtual drink with your pal’s brother.
Life can be really cruel at times, but it’s best not to dwell on these things too much. I think John’s brother (who I’ve never met) was chuffed that we gave him a decent virtual send-off, especially as I commandeered around another thirty people who knew him to raise a virtual glass with us.
That wonderful actually. His brother will have been touched.