Editing Dartmouth, Devon (section)

==History==
In 1086, the [[Domesday Book]] listed ''Dunestal'' as the only settlement in the area which now makes up the parish of Dartmouth. It was held by [[Walter of Douai]]. It paid tax on half a hide, and had two plough teams, two slaves, five villagers and four smallholders. There were six cattle, 40 sheep and 15 goats. At this time Townstal (as the name became) was apparently a purely agricultural settlement, centred around the church. Walter of Douai rebelled against William II, and his lands were confiscated and added to the [[Marshwood Castle|Honour of Marshwood]] (Dorset), which sublet Townstal and Dartmouth to the FitzStephens.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Freeman|first1=Ray|title=Dartmouth and its Neighbours 1st Ed|date=1990|publisher=Phillimore|location=Chichester|isbn=0-85033-697-X|pages=17–18}}</ref> It was probably during the early part of their proprietorship that Dartmouth began to grow as a port, as it was of strategic importance as a deep-water port for sailing vessels. The port was used as the sailing point for the [[Crusades]] of 1147 and 1190, and [[Warfleet Creek]], close to [[Dartmouth Castle]] is supposed by some to be named for the vast fleets which assembled there.<ref>{{cite web|title=What's in A Name – Warfleet Creek|date=2 June 2016|url=http://www.bythedart.co.uk/things-to-do-in-dartmouth/what%27s-in-a-name---july-2011/|publisher=By The Dart|access-date=10 July 2016|archive-date=18 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118113233/https://www.bythedart.co.uk/things-to-do-in-dartmouth/what%27s-in-a-name---july-2011/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Dartmouth was a home of the [[Royal Navy]] from the reign of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]] and was twice surprised and sacked during the [[Hundred Years' War]], after which the mouth of the estuary was closed every night with a great chain. The narrow mouth of the Dart is protected by two fortified castles, Dartmouth Castle and [[Kingswear Castle]]. Originally Dartmouth's only [[wharf]] was Bayard's Cove, a relatively small area protected by a fort at the southern end of the town.

In 1373 [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] visited and among the pilgrims in his [[The Canterbury Tales|''Canterbury Tales'']],
{{poem quote|
A [[The Shipman's Tale|schipman]] was ther, wonyng fer by weste;
For ought I wost, he was of Dertemouthe.}}

Notwithstanding Dartmouth's connections with the crown and respectable society, it was a major base for [[privateer]]ing in [[medieval]] times. [[John Hawley (died 1408)|John Hawley]] or Hauley, a licensed privateer and sometime mayor of Dartmouth is reputed to be a model for Chaucer's "schipman".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.devonperspectives.co.uk/johnhawley.html |title=John Hawley of Dartmouth |publisher=Devonperspectives.co.uk |date=11 February 2012 |access-date=25 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dartmouth-history.org.uk/content_images/upload/Town_Mayors.htm |title=Roll of Mayoralty |publisher=Dartmouth-history.org.uk |access-date=25 October 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229093014/http://www.dartmouth-history.org.uk/content_images/upload/Town_Mayors.htm |archive-date=29 February 2012 }}</ref>

The earliest street in Dartmouth to be recorded by name (in the 13th century) is Smith Street. Several of the houses on the street are originally late 16th century or early 17th century and probably rebuilt on the site of earlier medieval dwellings. The street name undoubtedly derives from the smiths and shipwrights who built and repaired ships here when the tidal waters reached as far as this point. Smith Street was also the site of the town [[pillory]] in medieval times.

The first church in the parish was St Clement's, Townstal, which may have existed in some form before the 1190s. It was granted by the FitzStephens to [[Torre Abbey]] in about 1198, the Abbey having been founded in 1196, and the present stone-built church was probably started shortly after this.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Freeman|first1=Ray|title=Dartmouth and its Neighbours|date=1990|publisher=Phillimore|location=Chichester|isbn=0-85033-697-X|pages=19–21|edition=1st}}</ref>
[[File:St Saviour, Dartmouth, Devon - Door - geograph.org.uk - 1727469.jpg|thumb|225px|right|Medieval church door of St Saviour's, with armorial leopards]]

Manorial transactions are first recorded in 1220, when the manor house was at Norton, about half a mile west of Townstal. Names of occupations also started to appear, including taverner, tailor, coggar, korker, goldsmith, glover, skinner and baker. The "Fosse", now Foss Street, a dam across the creek known later as The Mill Pool, was first mentioned in 1243. The flow of water out of the pool through the Mill Gullet powered a tidal mill. The dam was used as an unofficial footpath linking Clifton, to the south, with Hardness, to the north. Before this it was necessary to go westwards to the head of the creek at Ford to travel between the two settlements. The lord of the manor was given the rights to hold a weekly market and an annual fair in 1231. In 1281, a legal case proved that the Lord of Totnes had the right to charge tolls on ships using the river, and this right was bought by Nicholas of Tewkesbury in 1306, who conveyed the town, river and port to the king in 1327, so making Dartmouth a Royal Borough. The king gave the river to the Duchy of Cornwall in 1333, who still own the "fundus" or bed of the river.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Freeman|first1=Ray|title=Dartmouth and its Neighbours|date=1990|publisher=Phillimore|location=Chichester|isbn=0-85033-697-X|pages=23–24|edition=1}}</ref> In 1335 Edward III granted Dartmouth to Joan of Carew, whose husband was Lord of Stoke Fleming, and almost immediately she obediently passed the lordship to Guy de Bryan, one of the king's leading ministers. In 1341, the town was granted a Royal Charter, which allowed for the election of a mayor. The borough was required to provide two ships for forty days per year. After 1390, no more is heard of lordship rights, and the borough became effectively independent of any lord.

St Saviour's Church was constructed in 1335 and consecrated in 1372. It contains a pre-Reformation oak [[rood screen]] built in 1480 and several monuments including the tomb of John Hawley (died 1408) and his two wives, covered with a large brass plate effigy of all three. A large medieval ironwork door is decorated with two leopards of the [[Plantagenet]]s and is possibly the original portal. Although it is dated "1631", this is thought to be the date of a subsequent refurbishment coincidental with major renovations of the church in the 17th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roughwood.net/ChurchAlbum/Devon/Dartmouth/Dartmouth-St-Saviour.htm |title=St Saviour, Dartmouth, Devon – Church |publisher=Roughwood.net |date=27 February 2009 |access-date=25 October 2012}}</ref> The gallery of the church is decorated with the heraldic crests of prominent local families and is reputed to be constructed of timbers from ships captured during the defeat of the [[Spanish Armada]],<ref>{{cite book|last1=Andrews|first1=Robert|title=The Rough Guide to Devon & Cornwall|date=2013|publisher=Rough Guides UK|isbn=9781409364863|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Biwnm1Zm1JsC&q=St+Saviour%27s+Church+Dartmouth+spanish+Armada+timber&pg=PT147}}</ref> although this has not been categorically substantiated. An engraving of a painting by [[Thomas Allom]] of the interior of the church, showing the rood screen, provided the inspiration for [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]]'s poetical illustration ''Dartmouth Church'' in Fisher's Drawing Room scrap Book, 1833.<ref>{{cite book|last=Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833|url=https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/annuals/id/9631|section=picture|year=1832|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}{{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833|url=https://digital.tcl.sc.edu/digital/collection/annuals/id/9632|section=poetical illustration|page=31|year=1832|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}</ref>
{{wikisource|Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1833/Dartmouth Church|'Dartmouth Church',<br />a poetical illustration<br /> by L. E. L.}}

In medieval times, land access from the Totnes direction passed the manor at Norton and the parish church at Townstal before falling steeply along what are now Church Road, Mount Boone and Ridge Hill to the river at Hardness. There were steeper routes via Townstal Hill and Clarence Street and also via Brown's Hill. These were all too steep for vehicles, so the only land access was by packhorse. In 1671 there is the first mention of the building of the "New Ground". A previously existing sandbank was built up using ships' ballast, and a quay wall was built around it to provide more mooring space. The area proved too unstable to be built on, and is now the Royal Avenue Gardens. It was originally linked to the corner of the Quay by a bridge, opposite Duke Street. At the other end of The Quay, Spithead extended into the river for a few yards. 
[[File:Great Carrack 'Madre de Dios'.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|left|The arrival of the Great Carrack ''[[Madre de Deus]]'' at Dartmouth Harbour, 18 September 1592]]

Dartmouth sent numerous ships to join the English fleet that attacked the Spanish Armada, including the Roebuck, Crescent and Hart.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.dartmouth-history.org.uk/content_images/upload/Russells_Dartmouth.pdf |title=Ancient Dartmouth |last=Russell |first=Percy |date=September 1946 |access-date=2 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229093022/http://www.dartmouth-history.org.uk/content_images/upload/Russells_Dartmouth.pdf |archive-date=29 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The ''[[Spanish ship Nuestra Señora del Rosario (1587)|Nuestra Señora del Rosario]]'', the Spanish Armada's "payship" commanded by Admiral Pedro de Valdés, was captured along with all its crew by [[Sir Francis Drake]]. It was reportedly anchored in the River Dart for more than a year and the crew were used as labourers on the nearby [[Greenway Estate]] which was the home of [[Sir Humphrey Gilbert]] and his half-brother [[Sir Walter Raleigh]]. Greenway was later the home of [[Dame Agatha Christie]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historic-uk.com/DestinationsUK/Dartmouth.htm |title=Dartmouth, Devon – Destinations UK |publisher=Historic-uk.com |date=4 June 1944 |access-date=25 October 2012}}</ref>

In 1592 the ''[[Madre de Deus]]'', a [[Portugal|Portuguese]] treasure ship [[Battle of Flores (1592)|captured by the English]] in the [[Azores]], docked at [[Dartmouth Harbour]]. It attracted all manner of traders, dealers, cutpurses and thieves and by the time Sir [[Walter Raleigh]] arrived to reclaim the Crown's share of the loot, a cargo estimated at half a million [[Pound sterling|pounds]] had been reduced to £140,000.<ref>{{cite book|last1=McDermott|first1=James|title=Martin Frobisher: Elizabethan Privateer|date=2001|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=9780300083804|pages=[https://archive.org/details/martinfrobishere0000mcde/page/397 397]–398|url=https://archive.org/details/martinfrobishere0000mcde|url-access=registration|quote=Dartmouth.}}</ref> Still, ten freighters were needed to carry the treasure to London.

[[Henry Hudson]] put into Dartmouth on his return from North America, and was arrested for sailing under a [[flag state|foreign flag]]. The [[Pilgrim Fathers]] put into Dartmouth's Bayard's Cove, en route from [[Southampton]] to America. They rested a while before setting off on their journey in the ''[[Mayflower]]'' and the ''[[Speedwell (1577 ship)|Speedwell]]'' on 20 August 1620. About 300 miles west of [[Land's End]], upon realising that the ''Speedwell'' was unseaworthy, it returned to [[Plymouth]]. The ''Mayflower'' departed alone to complete the crossing to [[Cape Cod]]. Dartmouth's sister city is [[Dartmouth, Massachusetts]].
[[File:Butterwalk hdr.jpg|thumb|[[Dartmouth Butterwalk|The Butterwalk]]]]

The town contains many medieval and [[Elizabethan era|Elizabethan]] streetscapes and is a patchwork of narrow lanes and stone stairways. A significant number of the historic buildings are listed.<ref>{{cite web|author=Good Stuff IT Services |url=http://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/devon/dartmouth |title=Listed Buildings in Dartmouth, Devon, England |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=25 October 2012}}</ref> One of the most obvious is the [[Dartmouth Butterwalk|Butterwalk]], built 1635 to 1640. Its intricately carved wooden fascia is supported on granite columns. [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] held court in the Butterwalk whilst sheltering from storms in 1671 in a room which now forms part of [[Dartmouth Museum]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The King's Room at Dartmouth Museum|url=http://dartmouthmuseum.org/collections/kings-room/index.html|publisher=Dartmouth Museum|access-date=29 July 2011|quote=It was in this magnificent room that King Charles II was entertained in July 1671, when storms forced him to seek shelter in Dartmouth.|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717143023/http://dartmouthmuseum.org/collections/kings-room/index.html|archive-date=17 July 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Much of the interior survives from that time.

The Royal Castle Hotel was built in 1639 on the then new quay. The building was re-fronted in the 19th century, and as the new frontage is itself listed, it is not possible to see the original which lies beneath. A claimant for the oldest building is a former merchant's house in Higher Street, now a [[Good Beer Guide]] listed public house called ''the Cherub'', built circa 1380. Agincourt House (next to the Lower Ferry) is also 14th century.

The remains of a fort at Gallants Bower just outside the town are some of the best preserved remains of a [[English Civil War|Civil War]] defensive structure.<ref>{{cite web|title=Gallants Bower|url=http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/little-dartmouth/features/gallants-bower|publisher=National Trust|access-date=10 July 2016}}</ref> The fort was built by [[Royalist]] occupation forces in c. 1643 to the south east of the town, with a similar fort at Mount Ridley on the opposite slopes of what is now [[Kingswear]]. The [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]] [[General Fairfax]] attacked from the north in 1646, taking the town and forcing the [[Cavalier|Royalists]] to surrender, after which Gallants Bower was demolished.

===19th century===
Before 1671, what is now the town centre was almost entirely tidal mud flats. The New Road (now Victoria Road) was constructed across the bed of the (silted up) Mill Pool and up the Ford valley after 1823. Spithead was extended in 1864 when the [[Dartmouth and Torbay Railway]] arrived in [[Kingswear]] and a pontoon was constructed, linked to Spithead by a bridge. The railway directors and others formed the Dartmouth Harbour Commissioners. 
At this time, all the roads in those parts of Dartmouth which were not land reclamations were very narrow. In 1864-7 Higher Street was widened into Southtown and linked to Lower Street, which was also widened, with the northern part renamed Fairfax Place. Some of the buildings were rebuilt further back with decorative frontages.
In 1881 the Harbour Commissioners produced a scheme for an embankment or esplanade from near the Lower Ferry to Hardness, across the remains of The Pool, to provide an attraction for tourists and further mooring space. It was completed in 1885 after much disagreement between the Borough, the Commissioners and the Railway (now the [[Great Western Railway]]). A new station was also built at this time.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Freeman|first1=Ray|title=Dartmouth and its Neighbours|date=1990|publisher=Phillimore|location=Chichester|isbn=0-85033-697-X|pages=166–168}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Potts|first1=C.R.|title=The Newton Abbot to Kingswear Railway|date=2014|publisher=Oakwood Press|location=Usk|isbn=978-0-85361-733-4|pages=92, 335–339|edition=2}}</ref> The building of the Embankment left a section of river isolated between Spithead and the New Ground, which is known as The Boatfloat, and is linked to the river by a bridge for small vessels under the road.

The coming of steam ships led to Dartmouth being used as a [[bunkering]] port, with coal being brought in by ship or train. Coal lumpers were members of gangs, who competed to bunker the ships by racing to be first to a ship. This led to the men living as close as possible to the river, and their tenements became grossly overcrowded, with the families living in slum conditions, with up to 15 families in one house, one family to a room.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Freeman|first1=Ray|title=Dartmouth and its Neighbours|date=1990|publisher=Phillimore|location=Chichester|isbn=0-85033-697-X|pages=178–180}}</ref>

The [[Royal National Lifeboat Institution]] opened the [[Dart Lifeboat Station]] at the Sand Quay in 1878, but it was closed in 1896. In all this time only one effective rescue was made by the [[Lifeboat (rescue)|lifeboat]].<ref name=Lifeboats>{{cite book |last= Leach |first= Nicholas |title= Devon's Lifeboat Heritage |year= 2009 |publisher= Twelveheads Press |location= Chacewater |isbn= 978-0-906294-72-7 |pages= 19–20 }}</ref>

===20th century===
The area to the north of Ridge Hill was a shallow and muddy bay ("Coombe Mud") with a narrow road running along the shore linking with the Higher Ferry. The mud was a dumping ground for vessels, including a submarine. The reclamation was completed in 1937 by the extension of the Embankment and the reclamation of the mud behind it, which became Coronation Park. [[File:smithstreet.jpg|thumb|right|Smith Street circa 1930]]

In the 1920s, aided by government grants, the council made a start on clearing the slums. This was aided by the decline in the use of coal as a fuel for ships. The slums were demolished, and the inhabitants were rehoused in new houses in the Britannia Avenue area, to the west of the old village or hamlet of Townstal. The process was interrupted by the second world war, but was resumed with the construction of many [[Prefabricated home|prefab]]s, and later more houses. Community facilities were minimal at first, but a central area was reserved for a church, which was used by the [[Baptists]] and opened in 1954,<ref>{{cite web|title=Dartmouth Baptist Church|url=http://www.dartmouthbaptistchurch.co.uk/about-us/|access-date=24 January 2018|archive-date=8 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408010344/http://www.dartmouthbaptistchurch.co.uk/about-us/|url-status=dead}}</ref> together with a speedway track. The latter was later used for housing, but a new community centre was opened nearby,<ref>{{cite web|title=Townstal Community Hall|url=https://www.bythedart.co.uk/living-in-dartmouth/local-services/townstal-community-hall/|website=By the Dart|access-date=24 January 2018|archive-date=18 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118113248/https://www.bythedart.co.uk/living-in-dartmouth/local-services/townstal-community-hall/|url-status=dead}}</ref> together with a leisure centre, an outdoor swimming pool, and later an indoor pool,<ref>{{cite web|title=Dartmouth and District Indoor Pool|url=http://www.dartmouthpool.co.uk/|access-date=24 January 2018|archive-date=18 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221118113243/http://dartmouthpool.co.uk/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and supermarkets. There are also light industrial units.

In the latter part of the [[World War II|Second World War]] the town was a base for American forces and one of the departure points for [[Utah Beach]] in the [[Normandy landings|D Day landings]]. Slipways and harbour improvements were also constructed. Much of the surrounding countryside and notably Slapton Sands was closed to the public while it was used by US troops for practise landings and manoeuvres. 
Between 1985 and 1990 the Embankment was widened by 6 metres and raised to prevent flooding at spring tides. A tidal lock gate was provided at the Boatfloat bridge, which could be closed at such times.

===21st century===
[[Dart Lifeboat Station]] was reopened in 2007, the first time that a lifeboat had been stationed in the town since 1896. It has initially been kept in a temporary building in Coronation Park.<ref name=Lifeboats/>

In 2010, a fire seriously damaged numerous historical properties in Fairfax Place and Higher Street. Several were Tudor and Grade I or Grade II [[listed building]]s.<ref>{{cite news | url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/england/devon/10189310.stm | publisher= BBC News | title= Dartmouth's Tudor buildings destroyed by chip shop fire | date= 29 May 2010 | access-date=30 May 2010}}</ref>