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The
meaning of the name "Plymouth" varies
considerably over time. In the 15th and 16th centuries it applied to a
tiny fishing hamlet at the mouth of the River Plym.
By the end of the 17th century, Plymouth had grown somewhat although
its population was still small. Clustered around Sutton Pool were a number of small
streets - Looe Street, How Street, Finewell Street (where there was
then an Abbey), Whimple Street where there was an ancient Guildhall and
so on. |
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Plymouth
Guildhall in Whimple Street
Demolished
in 1800 |
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To the west, Catherine Street marked the boundary - from
here on there was marshy land all the way to the tiny hamlet of East
Stonehouse.
South of Notte Street, there were no buildings covering the
land stretching up to the Hoe. Southside Street ran along to
the Castle, built on the orders of the first Norman king after the
conquest of 1066 with the sea providing an eastern boundary.
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Old houses in Notte Street |
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The Mother Church of Plymouth is St. Andrew's which can
be accurately dated back to 1264 and was for four centuries the only
church in Plymouth. Its parish records date from 1581. In 1634,
the town petitioned King Charles for a new parish to be created on the
grounds that St. Andrew's was no longer large enough to accommodate the
religious needs of a growing population. The parish was to be named
"Charles" but even so, it took the King seven years to make up
his mind to agree to it being built.
Work stopped abruptly at roof level when the Civil War began and the
King was executed. It was not until 1665, after the restoration of the
Monarchy, that the building was completed, consecrated and dedicated to "Charles the Martyr".
The parish registers of Charles date from this time. |
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Old Plymouth 1832, the Spire of
Charles Church in the background |
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In Issue 13, in an article called
Men of Stone we
told of the devastation caused to the British Navy by the Dutch in 1667.
Everyone, from the king down, agreed that drastic action was
needed to ensure that such a fiasco never happened again and there was a
national review of naval resources. One of the first acts of King
William III when he came to the throne was to authorise the building of a
new dockyard on the banks of the Hamoaze. The place where it was
built was first named Plymouth Dock but, for over a century, was known
to the world as Dock.
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