Plymouth and Devonport 1898

This plan of Plymouth & Devonport is from “The Royal Atlas of England and Wales” produced by J.G. Bartholomew for George Newnes Ltd in 1898. The descriptive text that follows is compiled from the “Gazetteer of the British Isles" published by Bartholomew in 1893. 

Plymouth – parliamentary and municipal borough, seaport, and naval station. Location: Devon, and on Plymouth Sound, between the estuaries of the Plym and Tamar, 53 miles SW. of Exeter by rail. Population of municipal borough is 73,794. 7 Banks, 4 newspapers. Market-days, Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Plymouth, in the larger sense, consists of the ‘Three Towns’ of Devonport, Stonehouse and Plymouth, the first two forming the borough of Devonport. Plymouth proper is built upon two eminences and the hollow between them. The southern eminence is called The Hoe, and is laid out as a promenade and recreation grounds. The market place covers almost 3 acres. The manufactures include sail-cloth, brushes, rope and twine, earthenware etc. There are shipbuilding yards, foundries, sugar refineries, starch works, breweries, flour mills, flax mills, and limestone quarries. The fisheries are very productive. Steamers sail regularly for North America, the Cape, Australia and New Zealand. As a naval station Plymouth is second only to Portsmouth, the spaciousness of the Sound affording anchorage to a large number of ships. Plymouth was called Tamarworth by the Saxons, and Sudtone (i.e. South Town) by the Normans, and was a mere fishing hamlet until after the reign of Henry II, when its natural advantages as a seaport and naval station were perceived, and the town rapidly grew in importance. In 1346 it sent 26 ships and 600 men to Calais, and its contribution to the fleet on the threatened invasion by the Spanish Armada was second only to that of London. The name of Plymouth was taken in 1439, when it received its charter from Henry IV.

Devonport – parliamentary and municipal borough, seaport, and market town. Location: S. Devon, 231 miles SW. of London by rail. Population of municipal borough is 48,939. 3 Banks, 2 newspapers. Market-days, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Stands on the Hamoaze, or estuary of the Tamar, contiguous to Plymouth, of which it is a sub-port, being one of the ‘Three Towns’, Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport. Until 1824 it was called Plymouth Dock. Devonport is the seat of one of the royal dockyards, and an important naval and military station. It is defended by a line of ramparts, and the sea entrance is protected by heavy batteries on Mount Wise. The royal dockyard, within the ramparts, covers 75 acres; the Keyham steam dockyard, beyond the ramparts, covers 100 acres. In connection with the dockyards and fortifications are the gun wharf, the naval and military barracks, and extensive storehouses, factories, and foundries.