This section is from the book "Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World", by David Patrick. Also available from Amazon: Chambers's Concise Gazetteer Of The World.
Plymouth (Plim'muth), one of the most famous of English seaports, an ancient parliamentary, municipal, and county borough, lies in the extreme SW. corner of Devonshire, 246 miles by rail (216 by road)WSW. of London, 128 SW. of Bristol, and 53 SW. of Exeter. It occupies the northern shore of Plymouth Sound, immediately at the mouth of the Plym. The remaining space between it and the Hamoaze, the estuary of the Tamar, is occupied by the sister but much smaller town of Stonehouse (q.v.), while still farther west, along the Hamoaze itself, stretches the third of the 'Three Towns,' Devonport (q.v.), now all united by continuous lines of houses. The chief government establishments are at Devonport - the dockyard, gun-wharf, steam-factory, and principal barracks; while Stonehouse has the victualling yard, marine barracks, and naval hospital. Plymouth is the chief seat of commerce, trade, and manufacture. The site is a very fine one. Between the two natural inlet harbours of Sutton Pool and Mill Bay stretches the bold rocky ridge of the Plymouth Hoe, its eastern end occupied by a citadel built by Charles II. Northward the ground rises in a series of long hills, along which the town stretches until it passes into a suburban hill of singular attractiveness. From the Hoe there are magnificent views both seaward and landward. Here, according to tradition, the captains of the fleet assembled to meet the Armada whiled away the time with a game of bowls, which was not interrupted by the news of the enemy's approach; and here stand a tercentenary memorial to the Armada heroes (1890), and a statue (1884) of Sir Francis Drake (one of Boehm's finest works). The upper portion of the lighthouse erected by Smeaton on the Eddystone (q.v.) was also rebuilt here in 1882-84. Old Plymouth is chiefly clustered round the shores of Sutton Pool - a dingy unattractive set of narrow streets; but of recent years miles of excellent thoroughfares and many handsome buildings have been erected, chief among them a noble Gothic guildhall, opened in 1874 by the Prince of Wales, Lord High Steward of the borough. The 15th-century church of St Andrew is a fine Perpendicular edifice; Charles Church (1646-58) is a singularly good example of post-Reformation Gothic; the Roman Catholic cathedral is an effective Early English edifice (1S58). The Cottonian collection of sketches by the leading continental masters is at the Proprietary Library; there is a good local museum at the AthenAeum; the South Devon Hospital was opened in 1884 at a cost of £40,000; and the Marine Biological Laboratory in 1888. In Mill Bay are the Great Western Docks, which are capable of taking the largest merchant-vessels. Sutton Pool, the ancient tidal harbour of Plymouth, in addition to a large general trade, is the seat of important fisheries. Manufactures, mainly chemical, are carried on - at Cattedown chiefly, but also at Mill Bay. There is a large foreign, and a very extensive coasting trade, and the port is used by many lines of great passenger-steamers. Though only a fishing-village at the Conquest, under the name of Sutton, Plymouth has for centuries played a leading part in the national life. It was the favourite port of the Black Prince; the chief Elizabethan rendezvous of Drake, Hawkins, Grenville, and Raleigh; the final port of departure of the Mayflower with the Pilgrim Fathers. In the civil wars it sided with the parliament, and it was the first town to declare for William of Orange. In the great French war it rivalled Portsmouth in naval activities. Among its natives are Sir John Hawkins, Sir Richard Hawkins, Joseph Glanvill, R. S. Hawker, Mortimer Collins, with North-cote, Haydon, S. Prout, Sir C. Eastlake, P.R.A., and S. Hart, the artists. Plymouth was first incorporated by Henry VI. in 1439, and has since always returned two members to parliament. Pop. (1801) 43,194; (1831) 76,080; (1901) 107,636.
 
Continue to: