PLYMOUTH, an English sea-port and market t., and a parliamentary and municipal borough in the s.w. of Devonshire, 240 rn. w.s.w. of London. It stands in the bight of Plymouth sound (q.v.), between the estuaries of the Plym and Tamar. To the w. of it is Stonehouse (q.v.), a township and coast-guard station, and still further w. is Devon port (q.v.), the great naval and military station. The two former places, however, bay in" become united by continuous lines of houses, have lost their individuality, and are (with Devonport, which is walled, fortified, and surrounded by a moat) now generally considered as one great town. Of this great center of fashion, trade, and naval and military preparation, Plymouth proper, which covers an area of 1 sq.m., may be called the city,. and Devouport the west end; while Stonehonse is an intermediate district, contain ing chiefly factories, barracks, victualing yards, hospitals, and other institutions. Ply mouth proper extends from Mill bay on the w. to the mouth of the Plym on the east. Its site is somewhat rugged and uneven; an eminence forming the suburbs runs along its n. side, and another eminence, partly occupied by the citadel, fronts the sound. The chief buildings are the Royal hotel, comprising an immense inn, assembly-•ooms, a theater, and the athenaeum, all partially destroyed by fire in 1862, and rebuilt in 1863; public library; containing in its Colloidal' collection 300 sketches by the old Italian masters; St. Andrew's church, the tower of which dates from 1490; and Charles church (1646-58). dedicated with fervent loyalty, at the restoration, to "St. Charles the Martyr." There are also several important educational establishments, some of which are endowed, as well as many charitable institutions. Mill bay and Sutton pool are two small inlets of the sound, in which lie all the merchant-vessels bound for Plymouth proper. Between
these inlets, and running along the shore, is the eminence or high plateau of land called the Hoe. From this ridge, whence the approach of the Spanish Armada is said to have been first descried, magnificent shore and sea views may be obtained. Its eastern end is occupied by the citadel, a fortress mounting 150 guns, which commands the entrance of the Cutwater (the lower estuary of the Flynt), and of Sutton pool. Mill bay, on the w., is so deep that vessels of 3,000 tons can lie at the pier at low-water. Here are the important Great Western docks, covering an area of 14 acres, and a depth of 22 ft., constructed about the years 1855-58. Close to these docks, and connected with them by a tram-line, are the termini of the South Devon, Tavistock, and Cornwall railways. In 1877. 0,069 vessels, of 1,213,328 tons, entered and cleared the port. Commerce is carried on to a considerable extent with the cape of Good Hope, the West Indies, and the Mediterranean; the coasting trade is also important, and the fisheries are produc tive. Pop. '71, 70,091.
Plymouth, described by Leland as being, in the reign of Henry`H., "a mene thing, an inhabitation of was called by the Saxons Tameorworth (town on the Tamar); after the conquest it was called Sutton (south town); and it was not till the reign of Henry VI. that it received the ,name of Plymouth (mouth of the Plym). During the 14th and 15th c. it was frequently attacked and set on fire by the French, and in 1512 an act was passed for the strengthening of its defenses, which since then have greatly increased, mail now the whole shores of the sound are well defended by cannon, and a cordon of inland forts has been of late years constructed at immense cost, surrounding the three towns at a distance of from two to three miles.