| Plympton | |
Looking down on part of the town from the castle |
|
|
Plympton
Plympton shown within Devon |
|
| Population | 8,892 (2001 Census) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SX542561 |
| Shire county | Devon |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PLYMOUTH |
| Postcode district | PL7 |
| Dialling code | 01752 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | South West Devon |
| List of places: UK • England • Devon | |
Plympton, or Plympton Maurice or Plympton St Maurice or Plympton St Mary or Plympton Erle, in south-western Devon, England is an ancient stannary town: an important trading centre in the past for locally mined tin, and a former seaport (before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down the river to Plymouth). Today it is a populous, north-eastern suburb of the city of Plymouth of which it officially became part, along with Plymstock, in 1967.
Plympton still has its own town centre (called the Ridgeway), and is itself an amalgamation of several villages, including St Mary's, St Maurice, Colebrook, Woodford, Newnham, Langage and Chaddlewood.
Contents |
Near Plympton is the Iron Age hill fort of Boringdon Camp.
Although the name of the town appears to be derived from its location on the River Plym (compare, for instance, Otterton or Yealmpton), this is not considered to be the case. As J. Brooking Rowe pointed out in 1906, the town is not and never was sited on the river.[1] The earliest surviving documentary reference to the place is as Plymentun in Anglo-Saxon charter S380 dated to around 900AD,[2] and this name may be derived from the Old English adjective plymen, meaning "growing with plum-trees".[3] So Plympton has the meaning "Plum-tree farm", and the River Plym was named from a back-formation from this name and nearby Plymstock.[3] This later led to the naming of the fishing port created at the river's mouth (Plymouth, originally named Sutton) when the river estuary silted up too much for the monks to sail up river to Plympton any longer.
Plympton is mentioned in the Domesday book. In 1086 it said:
”The King holds Plympton. TRE[4] it paid geld for two and a half hides. There is land for 20 ploughs. In demesne are two ploughs and six slaves and 5 villans and 12 bordars with 12 ploughs. There are 6 acres (24,000 m2) of meadow and 20 acres (81,000 m2) of pasture, woodland one league long and a half broad. It renders £13 10s by weight. Beside this land the canons of the same manor hold 2 hides. There is land for 6 ploughs. There 12 v have 4 ploughs. It is worth 35 shillings.[5]
Plympton was the site of an important priory founded by William Warelwast in the early 12th century. The members were Augustinian canons and the priory soon became the second richest monastic house in Devon (after Tavistock). The gatehouse of the priory is still in existence. In 1872 it was recorded that the gatehouse, kitchen and refectory were still in good condition.[6]
The ancient Stannary town remains dominated by its now ruined Norman motte-and-bailey castle and it still retains a cohesive medieval street pattern. A number of historic buildings in the local vernacular style of green Devon slate, limestone and lime-washed walls, with Dartmoor granite detailing, attest to all periods of its history.
The town was one of the rotten boroughs, and sent two MPs to the unreformed House of Commons before the Reform Act 1832 stripped it of its representation.
The town was the birthplace and residence of the world renowned artist, Joshua Reynolds. Reynolds was Mayor of Plympton, as well as first president of the Royal Academy of Art. His father was headmaster of Plympton Grammar School which itself is an attractive historic building in the centre of the town. Former pupils were Benjamin Haydon and Sir Charles Lock Eastlake PRA, who were respectively first director of the National Gallery and first president of the Royal Photographic Society.
Railway facilities were originally provided at Plympton—for goods traffic only—by the horse-drawn Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway, but their branch was closed and sold to the South Devon Railway to allow them to build a line from Exeter to Plymouth. A station was opened in the town on 15 June 1848. From 1 June 1904 it was the eastern terminus for enhanced Plymouth area suburban services but it was closed from 3 March 1959.
The churches are St Maurice (or rather St Thomas at Plympton St Maurice)of Norman origin. The only remarkable feature is the tower which was rebuilt in the middle of the 15th century. St Mary's church was dedicate din 1311 and was originally a parish chapel attached to the priory and is a church of more importance. It has two aisles on each side of the nave, the outer aisles being shorter than the inner ones. The lofty tower is of granite ashlar and visible from afar. The south porch is ornamented with carving and has a lierne vault. The outer north aisle is the earliest part of the church and the rest mainly of the 15th century, the south aisle being the latest part.[6] There are interesting monuments to the family of Strode, including a tomb-chest for Richard Strode, d. 1464, the effigy being clad in armour; the monument of William Strode (d. 1637) and family shows husband, two wives and ten children. There are also a monument of W. Seymour (d. 1801) in Coade stone and of Viscount Boringdon (the 11-year old heir to the Earl of Morley who died in Paris in 1817), by F. N. Delaistre.[6]
In the last 20 years Plympton has seen considerable growth as the suburban population has doubled. To help manage this rapid growth more efficiently, Plympton has been separated into a series of separate districts: Yealmpstone, Plympton-St Maurice, Colebrook, Underwood, and Chaddlewood. Plympton is, together with its demographically similar neighbouring suburb of Plymstock, the most right-wing political area of the wider city, invariably returning a Conservative member of parliament. Plympton and Plymstock form a 'dispersal area' under an order taken by the City which enables the police to disperse groups of two or more young persons for periods of up to 24 hours if they consider them a threat to public order.
Plympton has two state secondary schools serving pupils from ages 11–18. Both Ridgeway School and Heles School attract students from the Plympton area and surrounding areas of Laira, Ivybridge and Dartmoor. Heles School is generally regarded as the better of the two, climbing the league tables. Ridgeway is noted for its special education departments and inclusiveness, taking in often disruptive, difficult and poorer pupils.
A new town to be called Sherford is proposed to be built adjacent to Plympton. This development is expected to consist of "at least 4,000 dwellings by 2016".[7]
Plympton has three main bus services; the 20,21, and the 22.
The Plym Valley Railway is a preserved railway based at the reconstructed Marsh Mills station on Coypool Road. This was formerly part of the GWR Plymouth to Launceston branch line. The volunteer-run PVR is actively rebuilding the line between Marsh Mills and Plymbridge. Steam and diesel heritage trains run on numerous Sundays throughout the year.