Plymouth ::: Project ETERNITY

This article is about Plymouth, England. For articles about other uses of Plymouth, see Plymouth (disambiguation).

Plymouth (Latitude: 50°25N, Longitude: 4°5W) is a city and unitary authority in South West England, situated in the traditional county of Devon. Historically, it was Britain's largest and (after Portsmouth) second most important naval base. Now one of Britain's few remaining naval dockyards, and still the largest naval base in Western Europe, it is situated at the mouths of the rivers Plym and Tamar. Heavily blitzed by the Luftwaffe during World War II, Plymouth was one of the English cities to be rebuilt by Patrick Abercrombie in the 1950s.

Plymouth became the first town incorporated by the English Parliament on November 12, 1439. On April 1, 1998 it became a unitary authority.

The majority of modern Plymouth is actually an agglomeration of three separate towns: Plymouth, Devonport and East Stonehouse; this amalgamation occurred in 1914, and prior to the merger, they were referred to collectively as "The Three Towns". In 1967 the town of Plympton and the parish of Plymstock were incorporated into the city.

Most visitors to Plymouth are drawn to the spectacular Plymouth Hoe, a stretch of greensward overlooking the sea and Plymouth Sound; it is believed that this is the place where Sir Francis Drake completed his game of bowls before setting sail to defeat the Spanish Armada.

It is one of the primary gateways to Cornwall providing access by way of the Torpoint Ferry across the Hamoaze, the mouth of the Tamar, and the Tamar Bridge linking the A38 through the St Budeaux area of Plymouth on the Devon bank of the Tamar to Saltash on the Cornish bank. The major rail link to Cornwall, the Royal Albert Bridge runs side-by-side with the road bridge but, as its name suggests, it was built much earlier by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

People born in Plymouth are known as Plymothians or less formally as Janner. In the Royal Navy, "Guz" is a nickname for Devonport.

Media

The city's radio station is Plymouth Sound FM.The regional stations include BBC Radio Devon and Pirate FM.

The main regional newspaper is the Western Morning News, whose headquarters and printworks were designed by architect Nicholas Grimshaw.The local news printed by the same publisher is The Evening Herald. (Formerly The Western Evening Herald)

Education

Plymouth has a university, the University of Plymouth which has a slight tendency to specialise in naval and maritime related disciplines.

There is also The College of St Mark and St John (often referred to as "Marjon"), which is primarily a teacher training college, although it also offers degree courses in a wide range of subjects. Marjon is affiliated to the University of Exeter.

Plymouth College, one of England's public schools, is situated in Ford Park, to the north of the city centre.

Arts

The city is home to the Theatre Royal Plymouth and the Plymouth arts centre.

Painting

Famous painters associated with Plymouth include Beryl Cook and Robert Lenkiewicz.

Writers

Writers who are associated with Plymouth include the noted Dartmoor antiquarian William Crossing, and Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould.

Sport

Association football

The city is home to Plymouth Argyle Football Club which plays in the English Football League's Championship. The club is based at Home Park. Plymothian Michael Foot, the Labour MP and former leader of the Labour Party, is now a director of Plymouth Argyle.

Basketball

Plymouth Raiders basketball team which plays in the British Basketball League.

Rugby

Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club, which plays in National League Division One.

History

Plymouth in the Second World War

During World War II, Plymouth was one of Britain's principal naval dockyards, and this naval tradition continues to the present day. Plymouth was extensively blitzed during WWII, to the extent that approximately twice the amount of housing stock that existed prior to the war was destroyed during it (as a consequence of rebuilt houses being successively hit). Although the dockyards were the principal targets, civilian casualties were inevitably very high.

The first bomb fell on the city on Saturday July 6th 1940 at Swilly, killing 3 people. The last attack came on April 30th 1944. Altogether 1,172 people were killed and 3,269 people were injured - these figures do not include the many service casualties. At one point the population fell from 220,000, at the start of the conflict, to 127,000.

The two main shopping centres and nearly every civic building were destroyed, along with 20 schools and 40 churches. 3,754 houses were destroyed with a further 18,398 seriously damaged.

In the midst of that devastation a famous sign was anonymously posted over the door of St Andrew's Church saying simply Resurgam (we will recover) indicating the wartime spirit. To this day the entrance of the church has been referred to as Resurgam door.

Plymouth was one of the principal staging posts for the Normandy landings in June 1944.

Eddystone Lighthouse/Smeaton's Tower

The notorious Eddystone Rocks, 14 miles southwest of Plymouth, were the scene of many shipwrecks. Construction of the first Eddystone Lighthouse started in 1696. The 3rd lighthouse, known as Smeaton's Tower, was constructed by John Smeaton using innovative techniques, and was eventually removed when the Rocks themselves started to crack. This lighthouse is now located on Plymouth Hoe and visitors can climb it.

Plymouth in the Civil War

Plymouth sided with the Parliamentarians against Charles I in the English Civil War. The town held out for almost 4 years until the defeat of the Royalists. There are a number of Forts and Keeps from that era, the remains of which can still be seen.

Places in Plymouth

Devonport Dockyard

Palmerston's Follies

Several of the forts surrounding Plymouth were built as a result of a decision in Lord Palmerston's premiership to deter the French from attacking naval bases in the south of the country.

Examples of the forts are Agaton Fort, Bowden Fort, Crownhill Fort, Egg Buckland Keep, Ernesettle Fort, Fort Austin, Fort Bovisand, Fort Efford, Mount Edgcumbe Garden Battery, Picklecombe Fort, Polhawn Fort, Fort Scraesdon,Staddon Fort, Fort Tregantle, Whitesand Bay Battery and Woodlands Fort

Other notable places

Places to visit

External links

Plymouth

Category:Cities in England

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