Stonehouse, Plymouth
Encyclopedia
East Stonehouse is one of three towns that were amalgamated into modern-day Plymouth
. West Stonehouse
was a village that is within the current Mount Edgcumbe Country Park
in Cornwall
. It was destroyed by the French
in 1350.
The terminology used in this article refers to the settlement of East Stonehouse which is on the Devon side of the mouth of the Tamar estuary, and will be referred to as Stonehouse.
Settlement in the area goes back to Roman
times and a house made of stone was believed to have stood near to Stonehouse Creek
. However other stories relate to land owned in the 13th century by Robert the Bastard
. This land subsequently passed to the Durnford family through marriage to the Edgecombe family in the 14th and 15th centuries.
During the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries the areas of Emma Place and Caroline Place were home to many of the west country's top-ranking admirals, doctors and clergy. Those streets together with Millbay Road are the heart of Plymouth's residual red light district
. Union Street
, originally built across marshland, was for almost a century the centre of the city's night life with about a hundred pubs, a music hall and many other attractions. Much of it was destroyed by bombing in World War II. After the war the area between Union Street and the dock has been used by small factories, storage, car dealers and repairers. Since 2002 many of those buildings and yards have been cleared and are being replaced by high density residential building.
, the Royal Naval Hospital, Stonehouse, and the Royal Marine Barracks. Of these three defence complexes only the Barracks remains in Naval possession, the other two were sold and are now converted to predominantly residential use.
During the reign of Henry VII
defences at the mouth of the Tamar
were strengthened by the building of cannon-bearing towers. One of these, the Artillery Tower at the sea end of Durnford Street, has been preserved as a restaurant.
Two of the surviving buildings close to the dock at Millbay are the red brick Portland stone-faced Georgian assembly room that is still called the Long Room, and the exquisite late Georgian or early Victorian Globe Theatre 300 metres north within the barracks. These were built largely for the pleasures of the officer class and their gentry friends.
On the higher ground towards North Road are two major churches. Firstly the Anglican St Peter's with its tall spire in the centre of Georgian
style Wyndham Square. A few hundred metres east is the mid Victorian Roman Catholic cathedral
of St Mary and St Boniface (1858). Both buildings have recently been restored with reordered interiors to meet modern liturgical preferences.
During 1882, Arthur Conan Doyle
worked as a newly qualified physician at 1 Durnford Street, East Stonehouse. Plaques bearing passages from his works featuring Sherlock Holmes
have since been set into the pavement in Durnford Street.
) was designated as one of the three areas of the city under control of Plymouth Development Corporation
. Gradually affluent residents are moving back into the district which has been comparatively poor since the Great War. Durnford Street is being regentrified. The walled enclosures of the Royal William Yard and the old Naval Hospital (known as the Millfields) are gated communities with security guards. The government's pressure to develop mixed quality high density dwellings on brownfield sites in inner cities has led to new residential blocks having been built throughout the area. Planned post war as a primarily commercial/industrial area it is now perceptibly changing its character. What was a dozen or so years ago viewed as one of the poorest and most deprived areas in north west Europe is fast losing that image.
On Stonehouse Creek
, a branch of the Tamar
, off the estuary known as the Hamoaze
are the modern shipbuilding sheds occupied by the luxury motor-yacht firm Princess Yachts
who employ hundreds of local tradesmen to construct and fit out expensive vessels. The creek now ends at Stonehouse Bridge (for many years a toll bridge
) and to the north east the wide river bed which led up past Millbridge to Pennycomequick and beyond to the bottom of Ford Park Cemetery
, has been reclaimed and infilled to provide the playing fields of Victoria Park, rugby pitches for Devonport High School for Boys
, and nearest the bridge a large hardstanding used several days a week for Plymouth's biggest car boot sales. To the north is the main campus of what was Plymouth College of Further Education, now called City College.
Stonehouse is the site of Plymouth's international ferry port at Millbay Docks
with at least daily sailings to Roscoff
in Brittany and frequent ferries to Santander
in northern Spain. Until the 1950s, transatlantic liners would disembark passengers who wished to catch a fast train to London rather than spend another day on board going up the Channel.
There is a regular passenger ferry from the tidal landing Admiral's Hard to Cremyll
in Cornwall
which is used for visitors to the Mount Edgcumbe Country Park
, and commuters to Plymouth.
Sunday Section Division 2, during the 2008/09 season. They won that division and were promoted to Division 1 for the 2009/10 season. The team had a successful season, finishing 3rd, in a tough league. The club decided to change league and recently switched to the Plymouth and West Devon Combination Division 3
, for the 2010/11 season. The team is managed by Peter 'Pidge' Trevaskus and Lee 'Bear' Hubber is the captain.
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
. West Stonehouse
Cremyll
Cremyll is a coastal village in south-east Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately one mile west of Plymouth.Cremyll is on the Rame Peninsula facing Plymouth Sound. The Cremyll Ferry carries foot passengers and cyclists from Cremyll to Plymouth...
was a village that is within the current Mount Edgcumbe Country Park
Mount Edgcumbe Country Park
Mount Edgcumbe Country Park is one of four designated Country Parks in Cornwall. It is situated on the Rame Peninsula, overlooking Plymouth Sound and the River Tamar....
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
. It was destroyed by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1350.
The terminology used in this article refers to the settlement of East Stonehouse which is on the Devon side of the mouth of the Tamar estuary, and will be referred to as Stonehouse.
Settlement in the area goes back to Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
times and a house made of stone was believed to have stood near to Stonehouse Creek
Stonehouse Creek
Stonehouse Creek, in Plymouth , is also known as Stonehouse Lake and Tinkies by the local people. The upper reaches of Stonehouse Creek, now Victoria Park, were formerly known as the Deadlake and it is frequently marked as such on early maps of the locality...
. However other stories relate to land owned in the 13th century by Robert the Bastard
Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. He was called "Rufus" and occasionally "de Caen", he is also known as Robert "the Consul"...
. This land subsequently passed to the Durnford family through marriage to the Edgecombe family in the 14th and 15th centuries.
During the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries the areas of Emma Place and Caroline Place were home to many of the west country's top-ranking admirals, doctors and clergy. Those streets together with Millbay Road are the heart of Plymouth's residual red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
. Union Street
Union Street, Plymouth
Union Street in Plymouth, Devon, is a long straight street connecting the city centre to Devonport, the site of Plymouth's naval base and docks...
, originally built across marshland, was for almost a century the centre of the city's night life with about a hundred pubs, a music hall and many other attractions. Much of it was destroyed by bombing in World War II. After the war the area between Union Street and the dock has been used by small factories, storage, car dealers and repairers. Since 2002 many of those buildings and yards have been cleared and are being replaced by high density residential building.
Notable buildings
Significant buildings include the Royal William Victualling YardRoyal William Victualling Yard
The Royal William Victualling Yard, in Stonehouse, a suburb of Plymouth, England, was the major victualling depot of the Royal Navy and an important adjunct of Devonport Dockyard. It was designed by the architect Sir John Rennie and was named after King William IV...
, the Royal Naval Hospital, Stonehouse, and the Royal Marine Barracks. Of these three defence complexes only the Barracks remains in Naval possession, the other two were sold and are now converted to predominantly residential use.
During the reign of Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
defences at the mouth of the Tamar
River Tamar
The Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...
were strengthened by the building of cannon-bearing towers. One of these, the Artillery Tower at the sea end of Durnford Street, has been preserved as a restaurant.
Two of the surviving buildings close to the dock at Millbay are the red brick Portland stone-faced Georgian assembly room that is still called the Long Room, and the exquisite late Georgian or early Victorian Globe Theatre 300 metres north within the barracks. These were built largely for the pleasures of the officer class and their gentry friends.
On the higher ground towards North Road are two major churches. Firstly the Anglican St Peter's with its tall spire in the centre of Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
style Wyndham Square. A few hundred metres east is the mid Victorian Roman Catholic cathedral
Plymouth Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Boniface in Plymouth, England is the seat of the Bishop of Plymouth and mother church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth, which covers the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. The Diocese of Plymouth was created in 1850, but it has a...
of St Mary and St Boniface (1858). Both buildings have recently been restored with reordered interiors to meet modern liturgical preferences.
During 1882, Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
worked as a newly qualified physician at 1 Durnford Street, East Stonehouse. Plaques bearing passages from his works featuring Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
have since been set into the pavement in Durnford Street.
Regeneration
Between 1993 and 1998 the part of Stonehouse to the west of Durnford Street (including the Royal William Victualling YardRoyal William Victualling Yard
The Royal William Victualling Yard, in Stonehouse, a suburb of Plymouth, England, was the major victualling depot of the Royal Navy and an important adjunct of Devonport Dockyard. It was designed by the architect Sir John Rennie and was named after King William IV...
) was designated as one of the three areas of the city under control of Plymouth Development Corporation
Plymouth Development Corporation
The Plymouth Development Corporation was an urban development corporation established in Plymouth, Devon, England by the UK Government on 1 April 1993 to "secure the physical, environmental, economic and social regeneration" of surplus parts of the Ministry of Defence's estate and some adjoining...
. Gradually affluent residents are moving back into the district which has been comparatively poor since the Great War. Durnford Street is being regentrified. The walled enclosures of the Royal William Yard and the old Naval Hospital (known as the Millfields) are gated communities with security guards. The government's pressure to develop mixed quality high density dwellings on brownfield sites in inner cities has led to new residential blocks having been built throughout the area. Planned post war as a primarily commercial/industrial area it is now perceptibly changing its character. What was a dozen or so years ago viewed as one of the poorest and most deprived areas in north west Europe is fast losing that image.
On Stonehouse Creek
Stonehouse Creek
Stonehouse Creek, in Plymouth , is also known as Stonehouse Lake and Tinkies by the local people. The upper reaches of Stonehouse Creek, now Victoria Park, were formerly known as the Deadlake and it is frequently marked as such on early maps of the locality...
, a branch of the Tamar
River Tamar
The Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...
, off the estuary known as the Hamoaze
Hamoaze
The Hamoaze is an estuarine stretch of the tidal River Tamar, between the River Lynher and Plymouth Sound, England.The Hamoaze flows past Devonport Dockyard, which belongs to the Royal Navy...
are the modern shipbuilding sheds occupied by the luxury motor-yacht firm Princess Yachts
Princess Yachts
Princess Yachts International is a motor yacht manufacturer, french majority owned and based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England.Founded in Plymouth in 1965 as Marine Projects Ltd, it was bought in 1981 by South African businessman Graham J...
who employ hundreds of local tradesmen to construct and fit out expensive vessels. The creek now ends at Stonehouse Bridge (for many years a toll bridge
Toll bridge
A toll bridge is a bridge over which traffic may pass upon payment of a toll, or fee.- History :The practice of collecting tolls on bridges probably harks back to the days of ferry crossings where people paid a fee to be ferried across stretches of water. As boats became impractical to carry large...
) and to the north east the wide river bed which led up past Millbridge to Pennycomequick and beyond to the bottom of Ford Park Cemetery
Ford Park Cemetery
Ford Park Cemetery is a cemetery in central Plymouth, England, established by the Plymouth, Stonehouse & Devonport Cemetery Company in 1846 and opened in 1848. At the time it was outside the boundary of the Three Towns and was created to alleviate the overcrowding in the churchyards of the local...
, has been reclaimed and infilled to provide the playing fields of Victoria Park, rugby pitches for Devonport High School for Boys
Devonport High School for Boys
Devonport High School for Boys is a Grammar School and Type 2 Academy, for boys aged 11 to 18, in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has around 1100 pupils. Its catchment area includes southwest Devon and southeast Cornwall as well as Plymouth...
, and nearest the bridge a large hardstanding used several days a week for Plymouth's biggest car boot sales. To the north is the main campus of what was Plymouth College of Further Education, now called City College.
Stonehouse is the site of Plymouth's international ferry port at Millbay Docks
Millbay
Millbay, also known as Millbay Docks, is an area of dockland in Plymouth, Devon, England. It lies south of Union Street, between West Hoe in the east and Stonehouse in the west.-Early history:Mill Bay was a natural inlet to the west of the Hoe...
with at least daily sailings to Roscoff
Roscoff
Roscoff is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.The nearby Île de Batz, called Enez Vaz in Breton, is a small island that can be reached by launch from the harbour....
in Brittany and frequent ferries to Santander
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
in northern Spain. Until the 1950s, transatlantic liners would disembark passengers who wished to catch a fast train to London rather than spend another day on board going up the Channel.
There is a regular passenger ferry from the tidal landing Admiral's Hard to Cremyll
Cremyll
Cremyll is a coastal village in south-east Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately one mile west of Plymouth.Cremyll is on the Rame Peninsula facing Plymouth Sound. The Cremyll Ferry carries foot passengers and cyclists from Cremyll to Plymouth...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
which is used for visitors to the Mount Edgcumbe Country Park
Mount Edgcumbe Country Park
Mount Edgcumbe Country Park is one of four designated Country Parks in Cornwall. It is situated on the Rame Peninsula, overlooking Plymouth Sound and the River Tamar....
, and commuters to Plymouth.
Sport
Stonehouse Glass FC is the area's minor football team and played in the Plymouth and West Devon CombinationPlymouth and West Devon Combination
The Plymouth and West Devon Combination is a football competition based in Devon, England. The league's top division, the Premier Division, sits at level 12 of the English football league system....
Sunday Section Division 2, during the 2008/09 season. They won that division and were promoted to Division 1 for the 2009/10 season. The team had a successful season, finishing 3rd, in a tough league. The club decided to change league and recently switched to the Plymouth and West Devon Combination Division 3
Plymouth and West Devon Combination
The Plymouth and West Devon Combination is a football competition based in Devon, England. The league's top division, the Premier Division, sits at level 12 of the English football league system....
, for the 2010/11 season. The team is managed by Peter 'Pidge' Trevaskus and Lee 'Bear' Hubber is the captain.
Notable people
- David McCallum - inventor of the GlobotypeGlobotypethumb|300px|right|The Globotype is a color display for telecommunications. It was invented and patented by David McCallum of Stonehouse, Devon, England. The device features very low cost and does not use consumable supplies. It is Royal Letters Patent No. 2924 issued December 29, 1855...
- John Eastman Palmer - photographer
- William Eastman Palmer - 19th century photographer
- Cora PearlCora PearlCora Pearl was a famous courtesan of the 19th century French demimonde, born Emma Elizabeth Crouch.- Early life :Her date and place of birth are disputed, as she was believed to have forged her birth certificate, giving the date as 23 February 1842, and the place as Caroline Place, East...
- courtesan