Maritime Plymouth
The city of Plymouth is the 15th most populated city in the UK and is home to the country’s 11th largest university. Located at the mouth of the River Plym, Plymouth’s history dates right back to the Bronze Age and it is probably the earliest recording trading centre in Britain.
Records in the Domesday Book which refer to the present day Barbican area of the city represent Plymouth’s first recorded settlement, where about 100 listed buildings still stand along with the largest concentration of cobbled streets in Britain.
Unsurprisingly, seafaring has always been associated with Plymouth, as it is perfectly located as a Channel port. During the 16th Century, the city’s major export was locally produced wool. Plymouth was also the home port of Sir John Hawkins and Sir Frances Drake. In 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers finally left Plymouth for the New World, having unsuccessfully attempted to leave from both Southampton and Dartmouth, thwarted by the need for repairs.
The Industrial Revolution saw Plymouth develop as a major shipping port, receiving imports of fertilizers, grains and sugar cane as well as passengers from the Americas and France. The city’s naval links resulted in it being almost totally destroyed by enemy bombing during World War II, when about 4,000 homes were destroyed in the air raids.
With a population of over 250,000, Plymouth’s economy is still largely dominated by the shipbuilding industry. The city also has the largest naval base in Western Europe.
There is plenty to keep today’s visitors to Plymouth busy, including excellent shopping facilities at Drake’s Circus, a diverse range of pubs, clubs and restaurants as well as a multiplex cinema complex and anything else you would expect from a vibrant city. Visitors of all ages will be impressed at the National Marine Aquarium, which includes the country’s biggest tank and where over 400 species, from seahorses to sharks are housed in realistic marine environments.
A visit to Plymouth Hoe, where the Royal Citadel is located, is a must. Smeaton’s Tower, a distinctive red and white hooped lighthouse that once communicated with mariners from Eddystone Rocks, was rebuilt there as a monument to its designer, John Smeaton, in 1877. It is now a popular tourist attraction.
Evocative views of Plymouth Sound can be enjoyed from Saltram House, a spectacular but elegant Georgian mansion, where Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility was filmed in the 1990s.