Editing Mutley Plain

{{Short description|Street and area in Plymouth, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = England
| coordinates = {{coord|50.382222|-4.133889|display=inline,title}}
| static_image_name = MutleyPlain.jpg
| static_image_caption = View of Mutley Plain looking north from the junction with North Hill
| official_name = Mutley Plain
| map_type = Devon
| shire_district = [[Plymouth]]
| region = South West England
| shire_county = [[Devon]]
| constituency_westminster = [[Plymouth Sutton and Devonport]]
| post_town = [[Plymouth|PLYMOUTH]]
| postcode_district = PL4 6XX
| postcode_area = PL
| dial_code = 01752
| os_grid_reference = 
}}

'''Mutley Plain''' is a street in [[Plymouth]], [[Devon]], England. Although Mutley Plain is the main street of the dense suburb called Mutley, the term is often applied to the whole area. The road is now a busy dual-carriageway, the B3250, with eight sets of traffic lights/pelican crossings. It was built as a smart tree-lined avenue in late Victorian times and improved over the next half century as a local shopping place for its neighbourhood and the affluent area to the north.

==History==
Mutley Plain lies on the route of an ancient road linking Bilburgh, a [[Bronze Age]] settlement on the coast at Sutton Pool which later formed the nucleus of the city of Plymouth, to the north. Mutley was originally the name of two parishes to the west of this road in the valley of the Houndiscombe Brook, the land to the east being part of the parish of Lipson.<ref>Gill, Crispin (1993). Plymouth: A New History. Devon Books</ref>

Before the [[Norman Conquest|Norman invasion]] in 1066, the parish of Higher Mutley was owned by a man named Alwin of Tamerton, and Lower Mutley by another man called Goodwin, but at the time of the [[Domesday Book]] (1086) both were owned by Odo, whose feudal overlord was [[Juhel of Totnes]]. In the [[Domesday Book]] the two [[parish]]es were said to be worth five [[shilling]]s each. Lower Mutley had two farms while Higher Mutley consisted of ten sheep, one farm and two [[smallholding]]s.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021}}

===Railway===
A tunnel was driven beneath Mutley Plain by the [[South Devon Railway Company]] and was opened to traffic on 2 April 1849.  Formerly this was the site of [[Disused railway stations (Exeter to Plymouth Line)#Mutley|Mutley Station]], opened 1 August 1871 and known as the 'Station of the [[Gentry]]'.<ref>{{cite web
| website = The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History
| publisher = Plymouth Data
| last = Moseley
| first = Brian
| title = Mutley Station (SDR)
| date = September 2005
| url = http://www.plymouthdata.info/Railways-Mutley%20Station.htm
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080829040710/http://www.plymouthdata.info/Railways-Mutley%20Station.htm
| archive-date = 29 August 2008
| access-date = 13 February 2015}}</ref> It was closed 2 March 1939. The Plymouth-bound platform can still be just made out to the south of Apsley Road. The cutting to the east of the station has been covered over by a car park. Plymouth Railway Station is on the boundary between Mutley Plain and Plymouth City Centre.

==Present day==
Owing to its proximity to the expanding [[Plymouth University]] and the city centre, large numbers of students  now live in the area.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wood |first1=Chris |title=Student Homes on Lisson Grove Plymouth |url=https://studentrentplymouth.org/lisson.html#student_population |website=studentrentplymouth.org |access-date=26 July 2022}}</ref> There are many pubs, bars, restaurants, takeaways and cafes as well as three small supermarkets. There are also more than a dozen barbers and beauty salons along with a good few estate agents.{{How many|date=August 2021}} There are secondary schools very close by at Ford Park and at the brow of North Hill.

[[Mutley Baptist Church]] is a notable architectural feature. The area is mostly built up except for a small park on Moor View Terrace however [[Central Park, Plymouth|Central Park]] and [[Ford Park Cemetery]] are nearby.

==References==
<references />
*Davies,Sian (2013-05-23) [http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Fifth-supermarket-planned-Mutley/story-19064862-detail/story.html Supermarket planned for Mutley]
{{City of Plymouth}}
[[Category:Streets in Plymouth, Devon]]