Editing Plymouth (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Plymouth}}
{{For timeline}}

=== Early history ===

[[Upper Palaeolithic]] deposits, including bones of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' have been found in local caves,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Andrew T. Chamberlain |title=A Catalogue of Quaternary Fossil-bearing Cave Sites in the Plymouth Area |last2=Keith W. Ray |last3=Charlotte Henderson |last4=Richard Welton Fisher |publisher=Plymouth City Archaeology |year=1994 |isbn=1-85522-345-7}}</ref> and artefacts dating from the [[Bronze Age]] to the Middle [[Iron Age]] have been found at [[Mount Batten]],<ref>{{NHLE|num=1017598 |desc=Mount Batten|access-date=30 March 2019}}</ref> showing that it was one of few principal trading ports of pre-Roman [[Britannia (Roman province)|Britannia]] dominating continental trade with [[Armorica]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SYMFtWb-DYQC |title=A Companion to Roman Britain |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |year=2004 |isbn=0-631-21823-8 |editor-last=Malcolm Todd |page=3 |chapter=Britain and the Continent:Networks of Interaction |access-date=23 June 2008 |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723222308/https://books.google.com/books?id=SYMFtWb-DYQC |url-status=live }}</ref> An unidentified settlement named ''TAMARI OSTIA'' (mouth/estuaries of the Tamar) is listed in Ptolemy's [[Geography (Ptolemy)|''Geographia'']] and is presumed to be located in the area of the modern city.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Denis Larionov |last2=Alexander Zhulin |title=Read the ebook Geographia classica, or, The application of antient geography to the classics by Samuel Butler |url=http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/samuel-butler/geographia-classica-or-the-application-of-antient-geography-to-the-classics-hci/page-4-geographia-classica-or-the-application-of-antient-geography-to-the-classics-hci.shtml |access-date=17 September 2012 |publisher=Ebooksread.com |name-list-style=amp |archive-date=21 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521200551/http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/samuel-butler/geographia-classica-or-the-application-of-antient-geography-to-the-classics-hci/page-4-geographia-classica-or-the-application-of-antient-geography-to-the-classics-hci.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref> An ancient [[promontory fort]] was located at [[Rame Head]] at the mouth of [[Plymouth Sound]]{{CN|date=February 2025}} with ancient [[hillforts]] located at [[Lyneham, Yealmpton|Lyneham]] Warren to the east, [[Boringdon Camp]]{{CN|date=February 2025}} and [[Maristow]] Camp to the north.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/ |title=Atlas of hillforts of Great Britain and Ireland |publisher=Hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk |accessdate=2022-07-19}}</ref>

The settlement of [[Plympton]], further up the [[River Plym]] than the current Plymouth, was also an early trading port. (See [[Plympton]] for the derivation of the name ''Plym''.) As the river silted up in the early 11th century, mariners and merchants were forced to settle downriver, at the current day [[Barbican, Plymouth|Barbican]] near the river mouth.<ref name="early history">{{cite web |title=The early history of Plymouth |url=http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/localhistory |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609032535/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/localhistory |archive-date=9 June 2008 |access-date=19 July 2008 |publisher=Plymouth City Council}}</ref> At the time this village was called Sutton, meaning ''south town'' in [[Old English]].<ref name="early history" /> The name ''Plym Mouth'', meaning "mouth of the River Plym" was first mentioned in a [[Pipe Rolls|Pipe Roll]] of 1211.<ref>{{cite book
|last1=Gill
|first1=Crispin
|title=Plymouth, A New History
|url=https://archive.org/details/plymouthnewhisto0000gill
|url-access=registration
|date=1979|publisher=David and Charles
|location=Newton Abbot
|isbn=978-0-7153-7617-1}} (Quoted in {{cite web |last=Moseley |first=Brian |date=2 January 2011 |title=Plymouth – a History |url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/A%20History.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024011834/http://www.plymouthdata.info/A%20History.htm |archive-date=24 October 2013 |access-date=13 February 2015 |website=The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |publisher=Plymouth Data}})</ref> [[Plympton Priory]] owned land at Sutton and secured a charter from [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] in 1254 granting the priory the right to hold a weekly market and annual fair at Sutton, making it a [[market town]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mitchell |first1=Neill |title=The day Plymouth opened for business 27th January 1254 |url=https://oldplymouthsociety.net/the-day-plymouth-opened-for-business-27th-january-1254/ |website=Old Plymouth Society |access-date=13 August 2023 |date=March 2012}}</ref>

=== Early defence and Renaissance ===
[[File:Prysten House, Plymouth.jpg|left|thumb|[[Prysten House]] (1498) on Finewell Street is the oldest surviving house in Plymouth, built from local Plymouth limestone and [[Dartmoor]] granite.]]
During the [[Hundred Years' War]] a French attack in 1340 burned a manor house and took some prisoners, but failed to get into the town.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sumption |first=Jonathan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V6vghfDY7loC |title=The Hundred Years War: Trial by Battle |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |year=1999 |isbn=0-8122-1655-5 |page=347 |chapter=Sluys and Tournai: The War of the Alberts |access-date=29 June 2008 |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723222309/https://books.google.com/books?id=V6vghfDY7loC |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1403 the town was burned by [[Breton people|Breton raiders]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Devon timeline |url=http://www.devon.gov.uk/localstudies/100323/1.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505082701/http://www.devon.gov.uk/localstudies/100323/1.html |archive-date=5 May 2008 |access-date=29 June 2008 |publisher=[[Devon]] County Council}}</ref> On 12 November 1439 the market town of Sutton was incorporated as a [[borough status in the United Kingdom|borough]] and formally renamed Plymouth, with a subsequent charter the following year formalising its boundaries. It was the first time a borough charter had been issued by [[Parliament of England|parliament]] rather than directly from the monarch.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hawkyard |first1=A. D. K. |title=Plymouth Borough |url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/constituencies/plymouth |website=The History of Parliament |access-date=13 August 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Moseley |first=Brian |date=24 June 2013 |title=Place Names |url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/Place-Names.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927031814/http://www.plymouthdata.info/Place-Names.htm |archive-date=27 September 2013 |access-date=13 February 2015 |website=The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |publisher=Plymouth Data}}</ref>

In the late fifteenth century, [[Plymouth Castle]], a "castle quadrate", was constructed close to the area now known as The Barbican; it included four round towers, one at each corner, as featured on the city coat of arms.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plymouth City Council: coat of arms |url=http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/councilanddemocracy/aboutus/lordmayoralty/coatofarms.htm |access-date=20 February 2015 |archive-date=16 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316011429/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/councilanddemocracy/aboutus/lordmayoralty/coatofarms.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Plymouth 1540.png|left|thumb|Charter map of Sutton harbour and Plymouth in 1540]]
The castle served to protect [[Sutton Harbour|Sutton Pool]], which is where the fleet was based in Plymouth prior to the establishment of [[HMNB Devonport|Plymouth Dockyard]]. In 1512, an Act of Parliament was passed to further fortify Plymouth. The work included defensive walls at the entrance to Sutton Pool (across which a chain was extended in times of danger).<ref>{{cite web |title=Magna Britannia: Volume 6, Devonshire – Parishes: Pancras Week – Plymouth : British History Online |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/magna-britannia/vol6/pp381-408#h3-0011 |access-date=20 February 2015 |archive-date=20 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220214203/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/magna-britannia/vol6/pp381-408#h3-0011 |url-status=live }}</ref> Defences on [[St Nicholas Island]] also date from this time, and a string of six artillery [[blockhouse]]s were built, including one on Fishers Nose at the south-eastern corner of the Hoe.<ref>See [http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/a/zoomify82820.html 1591 Spry Map of Plimmouth and surrounding areas, British Library] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519121154/http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/unvbrit/a/zoomify82820.html |date=19 May 2017 }}</ref> This location was further strengthened by the building of a fort (later known as Drake's Fort) in 1596; it was the site of the [[Royal Citadel, Plymouth|Citadel]], established in the 1660s (see below).<ref>{{cite web |title=Drake's Fort and the Royal Citadel |url=http://www.castlesfortsbattles.co.uk/royal_citadel.html |access-date=6 November 2019 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304041732/http://www.castlesfortsbattles.co.uk/royal_citadel.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Plymouth siege map 1643.gif|left|thumb|[[Siege of Plymouth]], 1643]]
During the 16th century, locally produced wool was the major export commodity.<ref name="slaves">{{cite web |title=Slave Ships in Plymouth |url=http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/leisureandtourism/libraries/whatsinyourlibrary/lns/slaveryandabolition/slavetradetriangle/plymouthslaveships.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609015200/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/leisureandtourism/libraries/whatsinyourlibrary/lns/slaveryandabolition/slavetradetriangle/plymouthslaveships.htm |archive-date=9 June 2008 |access-date=26 July 2008 |publisher=Plymouth City Council}}</ref> Plymouth was the home port for successful maritime traders, among them [[Sir John Hawkins]], who led England's first foray into the [[Atlantic slave trade]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Adventurers and Slavers |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/early_times/adventurers.htm |access-date=13 October 2007 |publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |archive-date=26 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235727/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/blackhistory/early_times/adventurers.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> as well as Sir [[Francis Drake]], Mayor of Plymouth in 1581–2. Crews for the first English failed settlement attempt at [[Roanoke Colony]] in North America departed in 1587 under Sir [[Walter Raleigh]]'s and Drake's leadership; returning bearing maize, tobacco and [[potatoes]].
In 1588, according to legend, Drake insisted on completing his game of bowls on the [[Plymouth Hoe|Hoe]] before engaging the [[Spanish Armada]].<ref name="drake">{{cite web |title=Sir Francis Drake |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/discovering/famous/francis_drake.shtml |access-date=24 July 2008 |publisher=The [[BBC]] |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723222312/https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/4ce2251c28db82aa892a105b718dba4d6a74c327.gif |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1620 the [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|Pilgrims]] set sail for the [[New World]] from Plymouth, establishing [[Plymouth Colony]] – the second English colony in what is now the United States.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kellogg |first=William O. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mKhRlkY278QC |title=American History the Easy Way: The Easy Way |publisher=Barron's |year=2003 |isbn=0-7641-1973-7 |edition=3rd |series=Barron's Educational Series |location=Hauppauge, N.Y. |page=20 |access-date=14 November 2008 |archive-date=20 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120002039/https://books.google.com/books?id=mKhRlkY278QC |url-status=live }}</ref>  In 1625, the town Mayor estimated that African slavers captured that summer about 1,000 villagers from the area, to be sold in Africa.<ref name=WG>{{cite book |author1=Giles Milton |author1-link=Giles Milton |title=White Gold • The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and North Africa's One Million European Slaves |date=2005 |publisher=Isis Publishing Ltd |location=Oxford |isbn=0-7531-5647-4 |language=en |chapter=A New and Deadly Foe |quote=By the end of the dreadful summer of 1625, the mayor of Plymouth reckoned that 1,000 skiffs had been destroyed, and a similar number of villagers carried off into slavery.  These miserable captives were taken to Salé, on Morocco |edition=Large Print |page=14 |orig-date=2004 }}</ref>
[[File:English Ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588 RMG BHC0262.jpg|left|thumb|The 'invincible' [[Spanish Armada]], 1588]]
During the [[English Civil War]] Plymouth sided with the [[Roundhead|Parliamentarians]] and was [[Siege of Plymouth|besieged]] for almost four years by the [[Cavalier|Royalists]].<ref name="civilwar">{{cite web |date=6 January 2003 |title=Siege |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/southwest/series2/siege_civil_war_plymouth.shtml |access-date=6 July 2008 |publisher=The [[BBC]] |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723222314/https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/2843332958e858bbee113ba55d5d94b7efdb56fa.css |url-status=live }}</ref> The last major attack by the Royalists was by Sir [[Sir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet|Richard Grenville]] leading thousands of soldiers towards Plymouth, but they were defeated by the Plymothians at Freedom Fields Park.<ref name="civilwar" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Jenny Mashford |title=Plymouth City Council – Freedom Fields Park |url=http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/freedomfieldspark |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728080413/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/freedomfieldspark |archive-date=28 July 2014}}</ref> The civil war ended as a Parliamentary win, but monarchy was restored by [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] in 1660, who imprisoned many of the Parliamentary heroes on [[Drake's Island]].<ref name="civilwar" /> Construction of the [[Royal Citadel, Plymouth|Royal Citadel]] began in 1665, after [[Stuart Restoration|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 Crown]].<ref name="citadel">{{cite web |date=25 January 2008 |title=Coast Walks: Point 3 – The Citadel |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2005/06/07/coast05walks_stage3_feature.shtml |access-date=5 July 2008 |publisher=The [[BBC]] |archive-date=23 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723222350/https://www.bbc.co.uk/staticarchive/2843332958e858bbee113ba55d5d94b7efdb56fa.css |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Mount Batten]] tower also dates from around this time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jewitt |first=Llewellynn Frederick |title=A history of Plymouth |publisher=Oxford University |year=1873 |page=648}}</ref>

=== Plymouth Dock, naval power and Foulston ===
[[File:John Foulston's Town Hall, Column and Library in Devonport.jpg|thumb|right|[[John Foulston]]'s Town Hall, Column and Library in [[Devonport, Devon|Devonport]]]]
[[File:Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll of Plymouth taking leave of their lovers who are going to Botany Bay.jpeg|thumb|right|Black-eyed Sue and Sweet Poll of Plymouth mourning their lovers, who are soon to be transported to [[Botany Bay]], 1792]]
[[File:Unloading mail by hand from the Sir Francis Drake, March 1926.png|thumb|right|Unloading mail by hand from the ''Sir Francis Drake'' at [[Millbay Docks]], March 1926]]
Throughout the 17th century, Plymouth had gradually lost its pre-eminence as a trading port. By the mid-17th century, commodities manufactured elsewhere in England cost too much to transport to Plymouth, and the city had no means of processing sugar or tobacco imports, major products from the colonies. Local sailors turning to piracy such as [[Henry Every]] became infamous, celebrated in the London play [[The Successful Pyrate]]. It played a part in the [[Atlantic slave trade]] during the early 18th century, although it was relatively small.<ref name="slaves" />

In the nearby parish of [[Stoke Damerel]] the first dockyard, [[HMNB Devonport]], opened in 1690 on the eastern bank of the [[River Tamar]]. Further docks were built here in 1727, 1762 and 1793.<ref name="brief history">{{cite web |title=Brief history of Plymouth |url=http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/creativityandculture/heritageandhistory/lns/plymouthhistory.htm |access-date=20 July 2008 |publisher=Plymouth City Council |archive-date=26 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726140047/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/homepage/creativityandculture/heritageandhistory/lns/plymouthhistory.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The settlement that developed here was called "Dock" or "Plymouth Dock" at the time,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carrington |first=Henry Edmund |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ve4GAAAAQAAJ |title=The Plymouth and Devonport guide |publisher=Oxford University |year=1828 |page=1 |access-date=5 July 2008 |archive-date=1 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801223244/https://books.google.com/books?id=vE4GAAAAQAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> and a new town, separate from Plymouth, grew up. In 1712 there were 318 men employed and by 1733 the population had grown to 3,000 people.<ref name="early history" />

Before the latter half of the 18th century, grain, timber and then coal were Plymouth's main imports.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cargo and Trade, Ocean Landing Pier |url=http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/millbay_docks_20-24.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611025507/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/millbay_docks_20-24.pdf |archive-date=11 June 2008 |access-date=26 July 2008 |publisher=Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery}}</ref> During this time the real source of wealth was from the neighbouring town of Plymouth Dock (renamed in 1824 to Devonport) and the major employer in the entire region was the dockyard.<ref name="early history" /> The ''[[Three Towns]]'' conurbation of Plymouth, [[Stonehouse, Plymouth|Stonehouse]] and [[Devonport, Devon|Devonport]] enjoyed some prosperity during the late 18th and early 19th century and were enriched by a series of [[neoclassical architecture|neo-classical]] urban developments designed by London architect [[John Foulston]].<ref name="pdfoul">{{cite web |last=Moseley |first=Brian |date=3 December 2011 |title=John Foulston (1772–1842) |url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/PP-Foulston.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515165809/http://www.plymouthdata.info/PP-Foulston.htm |archive-date=15 May 2012 |access-date=13 February 2015 |website=The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |publisher=Plymouth Data}}</ref> Foulston was important for both Devonport and Plymouth and was responsible for several grand public buildings, many now destroyed,<ref>{{cite web |title=Devonport, Devon |url=http://www.architecture.com/HowWeBuiltBritain/HistoricalPeriods/GeorgianWestAndIreland/GeorgianEclecticism/DevonportDevon.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518052806/http://www.architecture.com/HowWeBuiltBritain/HistoricalPeriods/GeorgianWestAndIreland/GeorgianEclecticism/DevonportDevon.aspx |archive-date=18 May 2013 |access-date=17 September 2012 |publisher=Architecture.com}}</ref> including the Athenaeum, the [[Theatre Royal, Plymouth|Theatre Royal]] and Royal Hotel, and much of [[Union Street, Plymouth|Union Street]].<ref name="pdfoul" />

Local chemist [[William Cookworthy]] established his short-lived [[Plymouth Porcelain]] venture in 1768 to exploit the deposits of [[china clay]] that he had discovered in Cornwall. He was acquainted with engineer [[John Smeaton]], the builder of the third [[Smeaton's Tower|Eddystone Lighthouse]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Information Sheet: Cookworthy's Plymouth Porcelain |url=http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/an_introduction_to_cookworthy_and_plymouth_porcelain.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304192832/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/an_introduction_to_cookworthy_and_plymouth_porcelain.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=23 April 2016 |publisher=Plymouth City Council }}</ref>
[[File:A. R. Quinton, Plymouth the Hoe.jpg|thumb|Plymouth the Hoe (postcard c. 1920) by [[A. R. Quinton|A.R. Quinton]] ]]
[[File:A. R. Quinton, Plymouth the Promenade Pier.jpg|thumb|Plymouth the Promenade Pier (postcard c. 1925) by [[A. R. Quinton]] ]]
The {{convert|1|mi|km|adj=mid|-long|0}} Breakwater in Plymouth Sound was designed by [[John Rennie the Elder|John Rennie]] to protect the fleet moving in and out of Devonport; work started in 1812. Numerous technical difficulties and repeated storm damage meant that it was not completed until 1841, twenty years after Rennie's death.<ref>{{cite web |last=Moseley |first=Brian |date=26 February 2013 |title=Breakwater |url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/Breakwater.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517174429/http://www.plymouthdata.info/Breakwater.htm |archive-date=17 May 2013 |access-date=13 February 2015 |website=The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |publisher=Plymouth Data}}</ref> In the 1860s, a ring of [[Palmerston forts]] was constructed around the outskirts of Devonport, to protect the dockyard from attack from any direction.<ref>{{cite web |last=Moseley |first=Brian |date=21 January 2011 |title=Palmerston's Forts and Batteries |url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/Palmerstons%20Forts.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517164335/http://www.plymouthdata.info/Palmerstons%20Forts.htm |archive-date=17 May 2013 |access-date=13 February 2015 |website=The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |publisher=Plymouth Data}}</ref>
[[File:Frith Plymouth.jpg|thumb|Plymouth (1860s–1880s) by [[Francis Frith]]]]
Some of the most significant imports to Plymouth from the Americas and Europe during the latter half of the 19th century included maize, wheat, barley, sugar cane, [[guano]], [[sodium nitrate]] and [[phosphate]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Moseley |first=Brian |date=25 August 2012 |title=Imports (Port of Plymouth) |url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/Imports.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928230526/http://www.plymouthdata.info/Imports.htm |archive-date=28 September 2013 |access-date=13 February 2015 |website=The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |publisher=Plymouth Data}}</ref> Aside from the dockyard in the town of Devonport, industries in Plymouth such as the gasworks, the railways and tramways, and a number of small chemical works had begun to develop in the 19th century, continuing into the 20th century.<ref name="legacy">{{cite web|url=http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/characteristicsplymouth|title=Characteristics of the City of Plymouth (Historical and industrial legacy)|publisher=Plymouth City Council|access-date=24 July 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609115821/http://www.plymouth.gov.uk/characteristicsplymouth <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=9 June 2008}}</ref>

=== ''Plan for Plymouth'' 1943 ===
During the [[First World War]], Plymouth was the port of entry for many troops from around the [[British Empire|Empire]]. It was developed as a facility for the manufacture of [[munitions]].<ref name="PD-GreatWar">{{cite web |last=Moseley |first=Brian |date=21 February 2013 |title=The Great War, 1914–1918 |url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/Great%20War.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131128035820/http://www.plymouthdata.info/Great%20War.htm |archive-date=28 November 2013 |access-date=13 February 2015 |website=The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |publisher=Plymouth Data}}</ref> Although major units of the Royal Navy moved to the safety of [[Scapa Flow]], Devonport was an important base for escort vessels and repairs. Flying boats operated from Mount Batten.<ref name="PD-GreatWar" />

[[File:Gateway to Royal William Victualling Yard.jpg|thumb|left|[[Royal William Victualling Yard]], [[Stonehouse, Plymouth|Stonehouse]] by [[John Rennie the Younger|Sir John Rennie]], 1825–1833]]
[[File:Plymouth Drake's Island.jpg|thumb|Plymouth Drake's Island (1860s–1880s) by [[Francis Frith]]]]
During the Second World War, [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]] was the headquarters of [[Western Approaches Command]] until 1941, and [[Short Sunderland|Sunderland]] flying boats were operated by the [[Royal Australian Air Force]]. It was an important embarkation point for US troops for [[D-Day]].<ref>{{cite web |title=D-Day in Plymouth, Uk, And American Infantry |url=http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/waiting/day.htm |access-date=17 September 2012 |publisher=Cyber-heritage.co.uk |archive-date=4 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404010138/http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/waiting/day.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The city was heavily bombed by the [[Luftwaffe]], in a series of 59 raids known as the [[Plymouth Blitz]].<ref name="legacy" /> Although the [[HMNB Devonport|dockyards]] were the principal targets, much of the city centre and over 3,700 houses were completely destroyed and more than 1,000 civilians lost their lives. This was largely due to Plymouth's status as a major port.<ref name="gillww2">{{Cite book |last=Gill |first=Crispin |title=Plymouth. A New History |publisher=Devon Books |year=1993 |isbn=0-86114-882-7 |pages=259–262}}</ref> [[Charles Church, Plymouth|Charles Church]] was hit by [[Incendiary device|incendiary bombs]] and partially destroyed in 1941 during the Blitz, but has not been demolished. It has been designated as an official permanent monument to the bombing of Plymouth during World War II.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 November 2005 |title=Frosty response to church climb |publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4444690.stm |access-date=22 November 2008 |archive-date=15 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115042703/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4444690.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The redevelopment of the city was planned by [[Patrick Abercrombie|Sir Patrick Abercrombie]] in his 1943 ''Plan for Plymouth'' whilst simultaneously working on the reconstruction plan for London.<ref name="jeremy">{{Cite book |last=Gould |first=Jeremy |title=Architecture and the Plan for Plymouth: The Legacy of a British City |date=March 2007 |publisher=Architectural Review}}</ref> This initially included plans to expand the city into [[Caradon|south east Cornwall]], but these were abandoned after opposition from [[Cornwall County Council]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Philip Payton |author1-link=Philip Payton |title=Inconvenient Peripheries: Ethnic Identity and the "United Kingdom Estate" - the cases of "Protestant Ulster" and Cornwall |journal=Contemporary Political Studies |date=1996 |volume=1 |pages=395–408 |publisher=[[Political Studies Association]]}}</ref> Between 1951 and 1957 over 1000 homes were completed every year, mostly using innovative prefabricated systems of just three main types.<ref name="EHModern">{{Cite book |last=Gould |first=Jeremy |title=Plymouth; Vision of a Modern City |publisher=English Heritage |year=2010}}</ref>

The ''Plan for Plymouth'' was, on the one hand, a template for the rapid reassembly of a destroyed city centre, but Abercrombie also took the opportunity to lay out a whole hierarchy of settlements across the city of communities, neighbourhoods and districts. Central to this was a revision of transport infrastructure that prioritised the position of the railway as a gateway to the city centre and provided in the long-term for a dual carriageway road by-pass that only finally came into being in the 1980s (forty years after being planned). The plan is the subject of [[Jill Craigie]]'s documentary ''The Way We Live'' (1946).

By 1964 over 20,000 new homes had been built, transforming the dense overcrowded and unsanitary slums of the pre-war city into a low density, dispersed suburbia.<ref name="EHModern" /><ref name="gillredev">{{Cite book |last=Gill |first=Crispin |title=Plymouth. A New History |publisher=Devon Books |year=1993 |isbn=0-86114-882-7 |pages=262–267}}</ref> Most of the city centre shops had been destroyed and those that remained were cleared to enable a zoned reconstruction according to his plan.<ref name="EHModern" /><ref name="gillredev" /> In 1962 the [[modernist]] high rise of the [[Plymouth Civic Centre|Civic Centre]] was constructed, an architecturally significant example of mid-twentieth century civic slab-and-tower set piece. The [[Plymouth City Council]] allowed it to fall into disrepair but it was [[grade II listed]] in 2007 by [[English Heritage]] to prevent its demolition.<ref name="EHModern" /><ref>{{cite web |date=15 October 2010 |title=Sale of Plymouth Civic Centre |url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/sale-of-plymouth-civic-centre/ |access-date=17 September 2012 |publisher=English Heritage |archive-date=7 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120807142523/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about/news/sale-of-plymouth-civic-centre/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Post-war, Devonport Dockyard was kept busy refitting aircraft carriers such as the {{HMS|Ark Royal|R09|2}} and, later, [[nuclear submarines]]. New light industrial factories were constructed in the newly [[zoning|zoned]] industrial sector, attracting rapid growth of the urban population. The army had substantially left the city by 1971, after barracks were pulled down in the 1960s,<ref name="gillredev" /> but the city remains home to [[29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/news/plymouth-news/members-29-commandment-regiment-royal-7081759 |title=Members of the 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery make Plymouth 'proud' |last=Simpson |first=Zhara |date=14 May 2022 |website=www.plymouthherald.co.uk |publisher=Local World Holdings Ltd |access-date=27 June 2022}}</ref> and also [[42 Commando]] of the [[Royal Marines]].<ref name="gillredev" />