Timeline of Plymouth

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Plymouth, Devon, England.

Prior to 17th century[]

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• 1086 – The Domesday Book records Plymouth as Sudtone (Sutton) and records only 7 households and a total annual revenue of £1. The lord of the manor before 1066 had been Edward the Confessor.^[1]
• 1254 – Town status recognised.^[2]
• 1276 – Plymouth first recorded as a borough.^[3]
• 1291 – St. Andrew church built.^[4]
• 1371 – Royal Chapel of St Katherine-upon-the-Hoe licensed.
• 1403 – Town burned by Bretons.^[5]
• 1404 – Town wall constructed.^[6]
• 1431 – Dominican monastery built.^{[citation needed]}
• 1439
  • Town granted charter by Parliament.^[2]
  • Market and fair active.^[7]
• 1542 – Antiquary John Leland visits and records "The towne of Plymmouth is very large."^[8]
• 1572 – Grammar school founded.^[9]
• 1579 – Plague.^[9]
• 1580 – 26 September: Francis Drake's ship Golden Hind returns to Plymouth at the conclusion of his circumnavigation which began in 1577.^[10]
• 1581 – Plague.^[9]
• 1588 – 19 July: Fifty-five English ships sail from Plymouth under the command of Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake to fight the Spanish Armada. The fleets first engage on 21 July off the Eddystone Rocks.
• 1591 – 24 April: Drake's Leat first brings fresh water to Plymouth from Dartmoor.^[11]

17th–18th centuries[]

• 1620 – 6 September: Mayflower ship departs for New England,^[5] arriving in November.
• 1644 – The Siege of Plymouth by Royalist forces under Sir Richard Grenville in the English Civil War.
• 1652 – 26 August: Battle of Plymouth occurs offshore in the First Anglo-Dutch War.
• 1657 – Charles Church built.
• 1658 – Post house established.^[12]
• 1670 – Citadel built on the Hoe.^[2]
• 1671 – Royal Chapel of St Katherine-upon-the-Hoe rebuilt (approximate date).
• 1690 – 30 December: Work starts on construction of the Royal Dockyard at Devonport.^[2][13]
• 1694 – 3 April: First new ships launched from the Royal Dockyard: advice boats Postboy and Messenger; the first warship is launched in 1696, fifth-rate HMS Looe.^[14]
• 1696 – Work starts on Henry Winstanley's first Eddystone Lighthouse, 12 miles (19 km) off Plymouth Sound.
• 1718 – Plymouth Weekly Journal in publication.^[15]
• 1758
  • Theatre built.
  • Plymouth and Portsmouth Fortifications Act passed by Parliament.
• 1759 – Smeaton's Tower completed as the third Eddystone Lighthouse.
• 1762 – Plymouth Synagogue built.
• 1768 – Cookworthy's porcelain factory established.^[16]
• 1770 – Plymouth Improvement Act passed by Parliament.
• 1773 – Stonehouse Bridge constructed.^[12]
• 1781 – Poor Relief, etc. Act passed by Parliament.
• 1790 – New Pier constructed at Sutton Pool.^[17]
• 1793 – Plymouth Gin first produced at the Plymouth Gin Distillery.^[18]
• 1798 – 3 April: HMS Pallas wrecked offshore.^[19]
• 1800 – Guildhall built.^[20]

19th century[]

• 1808 – Plymouth Gazette begins publication.^[21]
• 1810 – Plymouth Proprietary Library founded.^[22]
• 1811 – Theatre/Hotel building constructed.^[20]
• 1812
  • Plymouth Institution (now The Plymouth Athenaeum) founded.^[23][24]
  • Plymouth Breakwater construction begins.^[25]
• 1813
  • Port of Plymouth Chamber of Commerce established.^[12]
  • Exchange building constructed.^[20]
• 1815 – 26 July: Napoleon Bonaparte enters Plymouth Sound aboard HMS Bellerophon, awaiting transportation to exile in Saint Helena.
• 1819 – The Plymouth Athenaeum building designed by John Foulston opens.^[26]
• 1820 – Plymouth Herald and Plymouth Journal newspapers begin publication.^[27]
• 1823 – 26 September: Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway (horse-worked) opened for granite traffic to Sutton Pool.
• 1826 – Plymouth Mechanics' Institute founded.^[20]
• 1828
  • Royal Union Baths built.^[20]
  • begin.^[20]
• 1829
  • Museum of the Plymouth Institution built.^[23]
  • Blue Friars (club) founded.^[28]
• 1831
  • begin.^[20]
  • December: First meeting in England at Plymouth of the evangelical Christian movement which becomes known as the Plymouth Brethren.^[29]
• 1832 – Plymouth Times newspaper begins publication.^[27]
• 1844 – Lighthouse commissioned on Plymouth Breakwater.
• 1848 – 5 May: South Devon Railway opens to Plymouth.^[5]
• 1851
  • 25 July: First Roman Catholic Bishop of Plymouth consecrated.
  • Plymouth Institution (later The Plymouth Athenaeum) merges with Devon and Cornwall Natural History Society.^[30]
• 1856 – Plymouth Drawing School founded.
• 1858 – 25 March: Plymouth Cathedral (Roman Catholic) opened.^[31]
• 1859 – 3 May: Royal Albert Bridge opens linking Plymouth by rail to Saltash.
• 1860 – Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom recommends a huge programme of fortifications for Plymouth, with a projected cost of £3,020,000.^[32]
• 1862 – Plymouth Lifeboat Station in operation.^[33]
• 1863 – St. Boniface Boys' Catholic School active.
• 1865
  • Plymouth Breakwater Fort built.
  • Duke of Cornwall Hotel in business.
• 1871 – Agaton Fort built.
• 1874 – Guildhall built.^[31]
• 1877 – Plymouth College founded as a boys' school.
• 1882 – Smeaton's Tower is dismantled at the Eddystone for re-erection on Plymouth Hoe as a memorial.
• 1886 – 16 October: Argyle F.C. play their first match.
• 1889 – Grand Theatre opens.^[34]
• 1895 – 22 April: Western Evening Herald newspaper begins publication.^[35]
• 1898
  • 5 September: New Palace Theatre of Varieties opens.^[34]
  • 21 September: Burrator Reservoir opens to supply fresh water to Plymouth from Dartmoor.^[36]
• 1899 – Plymouth Institution (later The Plymouth Athenaeum) merges with Plymouth Mechanics' Institute.^[30]

20th century[]

• 1914 – Plymouth, Devonport and East Stonehouse merge to form the County Borough of Plymouth.^[5]
• 1928 – Plymouth attains city status.^[2]
• 1929 – Old Plymouth Society founded.^[37]
• 1933 – Western Fascist newspaper begins publication.^[38]
• 1934 – Mayflower Steps monument erected.^[2]
• 1935
  • Tinside Pool (swimming pool) opens.
  • Lord Mayor appointed.^[2]
• 1940 – Plymouth Blitz:
  • 6 July: Aerial bombing by German forces begins.
  • 27 November: Bombing starts an oil storage depot fire at Turnchapel which burns for 5 days.
• 1941 – Plymouth Blitz:
  • 15 March: Bombing in which 336 people lose their lives.^[39]
  • 20 March: A royal visit is followed by a sustained period of bombing.^[5]
• 1944
  • May: Plymouth Blitz: Aerial bombing by German forces ends: about 1,000 people have been killed, 5,000 injured, 10,000 houses destroyed and 70,000 more damaged.^[3]
  • 4 June: United States forces embarked at Saltash Passage, Cattedown, Turnchapel and other Plymouth hards set sail for the Normandy landings.
• 1945 – 29 September: Last trams in Plymouth run.
• 1958 – 5 April: Drake Cinema opens.^[34]
• 1961
  • 29 April: Westward Television begins broadcasting.
  • The Plymouth Athenaeum reopens after destruction of original building in Blitz.^[40]
• 1967
  • 1 April: Plympton and Plymstock become part of city.^[2]
  • 28 May: Sir Francis Chichester arrives back in Plymouth on his yacht, Gypsy Moth IV, after completing his single-handed voyage around the world.^[41]
• 1968 – 8 August: Royal Navy Leander-class frigate HMS Scylla is launched at HMNB Devonport, the last ship to be built in a Royal Dockyard.
• 1971
  • Mayflower Centre (sport facility) built.
  • Plymouth College of Further Education, the future City College, building erected in Devonport.
• 1975 – 19 May: Plymouth Sound (radio) begins broadcasting.
• 1982
  • 1 January: Television South West begins broadcasting.
  • St Boniface Arena opens.
• 1986 – Plymouth Citybus begins operating under this identity.
• 1991 – Plymouth Pavilions (sport facility) opens.
• 1992 – University of Plymouth chartered.^[5]
• 1994 – Marsh Mills Retail Park opens, including stores such as Sainsbury's and Homebase.
• 1998 – National Marine Aquarium opens.
• 1999 – Vue cinema opens.^[34]

21st century[]

• 2006 – Drake Circus Shopping Centre in business.
• 2009 – The Plymouth Athenaeum's theatre closes.^[42]
• 2010 – Radio Plymouth begins broadcasting.
• 2012 – The Plymouth Athenaeum celebrates bicentenary.^[43]
• 2015 – Waste incinerator (combined heat and power facility) built on former Dockyard land.^[44]
• 2017 – Beckley Point is completed.
• 2021 – Mass shooting occurs in the Keyham area of the city, killing six, including the gunman, and injuring two others.^[45]

See also[]

• History of Plymouth
• Timelines of other cities in South West England: Bath, Bristol, Exeter

References[]

Further reading[]

Published in the 19th century[]

1800s–1840s[]

• John Britton; Edward Wedlake Brayley (1803), "Plymouth", Beauties of England and Wales, 4, London: Vernor & Hood
• Henry Woollcombe (1812). Picture of Plymouth. Plymouth: Rees & Curtis. OCLC 504893051.
• George Alexander Cooke (c. 1822). "Plymouth". Topographical and Statistical Description of the County of Devon (3rd ed.). London: Sherwood, Neeley and Jones.
• Jedidiah Morse; Richard C. Morse (1823), "Plymouth", A New Universal Gazetteer (4th ed.), New Haven, Connecticut: S. Converse
• David Brewster, ed. (1832). "Plymouth". Edinburgh Encyclopædia. 15. Philadelphia: Joseph and Edward Parker. hdl:2027/uc2.ark:/13960/t0gt5vw9n.
• George Wightwick (1836), Nettleton's Guide to Plymouth, Stonehouse, Devonport, Plymouth: Edward Nettleton
• "Plymouth", Leigh's New Pocket Road-Book of England and Wales (7th ed.), London: Leigh and Son, 1839
• J. Pigot & Co. (c. 1839), "Plymouth", Devonshire, Pigot and Co.'s Pocket Atlas, Topography and Gazetteer of England, London
• Stranger's Hand-Book, to the Western Metropolis; Containing a ... Description of Plymouth, Devonport, Stonehouse, and Neighborhood. Devonport: W. Wood & Son. 1841.
• Samuel Lewis (1848), "Plymouth", Topographical Dictionary of England (7th ed.), London: S. Lewis and Co.

1850s–1890s[]

• George Samuel Measom (1860), "Plymouth", Official Illustrated Guide to the Bristol and Exeter, North and South Devon, Cornwall, and South Wales Railways, London: Richard Griffin and Co., hdl:2027/wu.89097040505
• Llewellynn Jewitt (1873). History of Plymouth. Simpkin, Marshall and Company.
• "Plymouth", History, Gazetteer and Directory of the County of Devon including the City of Exeter (2nd ed.), Sheffield: William White, 1878
• John Parker Anderson (1881), "Devonshire: Plymouth", Book of British Topography: a Classified Catalogue of the Topographical Works in the Library of the British Museum Relating to Great Britain and Ireland, London: W. Satchell
• R.N. Worth (1883), "Plymouth", Tourist's Guide to South Devon (3rd ed.), London: Edward Stanford
• R.N. Worth (1883). "Antiquity and Antiquities of Plymouth". Journal of the British Archaeological Association. 339. hdl:2027/coo.31924065841102.
• Edward E. Meeres (1886). "Plymouth in the Eighteenth Century, from a Medical Point of View". Western Antiquary, or Notebook for Devon, Cornwall & Somerset. Plymouth. 6.
• Richard Nicholls Worth (1893), Calendar of the Plymouth Municipal Records, Plymouth, OL 7179704M
• "Plymouth", Handbook for Travellers in Devon (11th ed.), London: J. Murray, 1895, hdl:2027/nyp.33433075903538
• "Portsmouth", Great Britain (4th ed.), Leipsic: Karl Baedeker, 1897, OCLC 6430424
• Charles Gross (1897). "Plymouth". Bibliography of British Municipal History. New York: Longmans, Green, and Co.
• F.M. Williams (1898), Plymouth as a Tourist and Health Resort, Plymouth: J.H. Keys
• "Western Section: Plymouth". Book of Fair Devon. United Devon Association. 1900.
• Henry Francis Whitfeld (1900), Plymouth and Devonport: in times of war and peace, Plymouth: E. Chapple, OL 7050021M

Published in the 20th century[]

• Pictorial and Descriptive Guide to Plymouth, Stonehouse, Devonport, and South-West Devon. Half title:Plymouth and South-West Devon. London: Ward Lock & Co. c. 1901.
• Charles E. Eldred and W.H.K. Wright (1901). Streets of Old Plymouth. Printed by J. H. Keys.
• G.K. Fortescue, ed. (1902). "Plymouth, Devon". Subject Index of the Modern Works Added to the Library of the British Museum in the Years 1881–1900. London. hdl:2027/uc1.b5107013.
• A. R. Hope Moncrieff (1902), "Plymouth", Black's Guide to Devonshire (17th ed.), London: A. & C. Black
• J.G. Bartholomew (1904), "Plymouth", Survey Gazetteer of the British Isles, London: G. Newnes
• W.H.K. Wright (1909). Story of Plymouth for Young and Old. Exeter: A. Wheaton.
• Bracken C.W., 1931, A History of Plymouth and her Neighbours, Underhill (Plymouth) Ltd.
• A.H. Shorter and E.T. Woodley (1937). "Plymouth, Port and City". Geography. 22.
• "City That Refused to Die", National Geographic, Washington, D.C., 89, 1946 (describes Plymouth)

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Plymouth.

• "Plymouth Maritime History Timeline". Shipwrecks and History in Plymouth Sound. Plymouth, England: SHIPS Project.
• "Devon", Historical Directories, UK: University of Leicester. Includes digitised directories of Plymouth area, various dates
• Digital Public Library of America. Works related to Plymouth, various dates

Coordinates: 50°22′17″N 4°08′32″W / 50.371389°N 4.142222°W / 50.371389; -4.142222