Cattedown

Last updated

Cattedown Cattedown - geograph.org.uk - 293048.jpg
Cattedown
Cattedown from Mount Batten Cattedown from Mount Batten - geograph.org.uk - 1169232.jpg
Cattedown from Mount Batten

Cattedown is an inner city suburb of Plymouth, Devon. Its position beside the River Plym estuary just short of the mouth led to its early settlement.

History

Catherine of Aragon - the first wife of Henry VIII - travelled from Loredo in Spain to a harbour in Plymouth, England to be married. She arrived in Plymouth on 2nd October 1501 where, 'she could not have been received with greater rejoicings'. The area that she disembarked or 'set down' was named in her honour as Cattedown. [ citation needed ]

In 1886, two archaeologists discovered human bones while mining in a quarry.

They included the remains of many strange creatures – hyenas, bison, woolly rhinoceros and cave lions. Among the partial skeletons of 15 early humans was the famous ‘Cattedown Man’ – believed to be the city’s earliest known inhabitant and dating back 140,000 years. Archaeologists say he could potentially be the oldest human found in Britain. - [1]

Today, the caves – listed as a national monument by Historic England – remain fenced off and kept out of sight. Plans to turn the area into a tourist and visitor attraction have not yet progressed; more than a decade after they were first mooted.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

Millbridge is a small neighbourhood of Plymouth, on the boundary of what used to be the towns of Plymouth and Devonport, in the English county of Devon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbican, Plymouth</span> Maritime district in Plymouth, England

The Barbican is the name given to the western and northern sides of Sutton Harbour, the original harbour of Plymouth in Devon, England. It was one of the few parts of the city to escape most of the destruction of The Blitz during the Second World War and the preceding era of slum clearance following the Public Health Act 1848. Two or three streets still retain some of the architecture of a historic fishing port. The Barbican has the largest concentration of cobbled streets in Britain and contains 100 listed buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cattewater</span>

The city of Plymouth, Devon, England is bounded by Dartmoor to the north, the Hamoaze to the west, the open expanse of water called Plymouth Sound to the south and the river Plym to the east.

Arts University Plymouth

Arts University Plymouth is an independent university-sector Higher Education (HE) provider located in Plymouth in South West England. The former Plymouth College of Art was officially granted university status in 2022. In April 2019 the specialist college was awarded taught degree awarding powers (TDAP) by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), granting the institution the authority to award and accredit its own BA (Hons) degrees and Masters awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pyramid of the Sun</span> Pyramid structure in Mexico

The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest building in Teotihuacan, and one of the largest in Mesoamerica. It is believed to have been constructed about 200 CE. Found along the Avenue of the Dead, in between the Pyramid of the Moon and the Ciudadela, and in the shadow of the mountain Cerro Gordo, the pyramid is part of a large complex in the heart of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lenggong</span> Town in Perak, Malaysia

Lenggong is a town, a mukim and a parliamentary constituency in Hulu Perak District, Perak, Malaysia.

HMS <i>Courageous</i> (S50) 1971 Churchill-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine of the Royal Navy

HMS Courageous (S50) is a decommissioned Churchill-class nuclear fleet submarine in service with the Royal Navy from 1971. She is now a museum ship managed by the Devonport Naval Heritage Centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City College Plymouth</span> Further education college in Plymouth, England

City College Plymouth is a tertiary institution and further education college in South West England offering a range of technical, professional and vocational qualifications, Apprenticeships, Access to Higher Education and Foundation Degree courses, plus professional and bespoke training to local employers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eartham Pit, Boxgrove</span>

Eartham Pit is an internationally important archaeological site north-east of Boxgrove in West Sussex with findings that date to the Lower Palaeolithic. The oldest human remains in Britain have been discovered on the site, fossils of Homo heidelbergensis dating to 500,000 years ago. Boxgrove is also one of the oldest sites in Europe with direct evidence of hunting and butchering by early humans. Only part of the site is protected through designation, one area being a 9.8-hectare (24-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, as well as a Geological Conservation Review site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Park, Plymouth</span> Park in Millbridge, Plymouth, England

Victoria Park is a park in Millbridge, Plymouth, England. It extends at the eastern end from the bowling green beneath what was once a railway viaduct to what is now the merging of Molesworth Road and Eldad Hill, and which once was a toll bridge, and an important thoroughfare between Devonport and Plymouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prehistoric Thailand</span>

Prehistoric Thailand may be traced back as far as 1,000,000 years ago from the fossils and stone tools found in northern and western Thailand. At an archaeological site in Lampang, northern Thailand Homo erectus fossils, Lampang Man, dating back 1,000,000 – 500,000 years, have been discovered. Stone tools have been widely found in Kanchanaburi, Ubon Ratchathani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and Lopburi. Prehistoric cave paintings have also been found in these regions, dating back 10,000 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Spirit Grotto</span> Grotto in Morazán Department, El Salvador

The Holy Spirit Grotto, also known as Corinto Cave, in Corinto, Morazán, El Salvador, is a registered national monument of petroglyphs. The cave is largely associated with the Xibalba legend. The archaeologist Wolfgang Haberland performed studies in the late 1970s indicating the art belongs to the pre-Classic stage of Mesoamerican civilization. The cave likely got its name due to the Mesoamerican association of caves with the underworld, meaning that they are "considered an entrance to the underground world governed by spirits and deities of death, disease, water, and fertility." The cave is an important cultural and religious site for the Lenca nation, forming part of their traditions and legends of the place where ancestors of Balam Colop parted, according to their legends and traditions, is father of all Lenca people, given the association of caves with the underworld by Mesoamericans, the name of 'Holy Spirit Cave' is ironic and perhaps an attempt by early Spanish to "exorcise" the cave in El Salvador. The "holy" nature of this cave is further confirmed by a man named Don Argelio Alvarez, who happens to be one of its guardians. Roughly translated, he claims that the cave contains "something magical and inexplicable that inspires tranquility and peace." Many people from various religious groups also continue to visit the site and carry out ceremonies, such as what Don Argelio believed to have taken place in the cave many centuries ago. However, it is entirely possible that the cave was instead used for other means. A German scientist found some handcrafted arrows and knives made of obsidian within the cave, leading him to believe that it may have actually been a shelter for hunters instead.

Ham is a post-war suburb of Plymouth in the county of Devon, England. The population of the ward taken at the 2011 census was 13,294.

The culture of Plymouth is a social aspect of the unitary authority and city of Plymouth that is located in the south-west of England. Built in 1815, Union Street was at the heart of Plymouth's historical culture. It became known as the servicemen's playground, as it was where sailors from the Royal Navy would seek entertainment. During the 1930s, there were 30 pubs and it attracted such performers as Charlie Chaplin to the New Palace Theatre. It is now the late-night hub of Plymouth's entertainment strip, but has a reputation for trouble at closing hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plymouth Friary railway station</span> Former railway station in England

Plymouth Friary railway station was the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) terminus in Plymouth, Devon, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Plymouth</span> History of the city in Devon, England

The History of Plymouth in Devon, England, extends back to the Bronze Age, when the first settlement began at Mount Batten a peninsula in Plymouth Sound facing onto the English Channel. It continued as both a fishing and continental tin trading port through the late Iron Age into the Early Medieval period, until the more prosperous Saxon settlement of Sutton, later renamed Plymouth, surpassed it. With its natural harbour and open access to the Atlantic, the town found wealth and a national strategic importance during the establishment of British naval dominance in the colonisation of the New World. In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers departed from Plymouth to establish the second English colony in America. During the English Civil War the town was besieged between 1642 and 1646 by the Royalists, but after the Restoration a Dockyard was established in the nearby town of Devonport. Throughout the Industrial Revolution Plymouth grew as a major mercantile shipping industry, including imports and passengers from the US, whilst Devonport grew as a naval base and ship construction town, building battleships for the Royal Navy – which later led to its partial destruction during World War II in a series of air-raids known as the Plymouth Blitz. After the war was over, the city centre was completely rebuilt to a new plan.

<i>Mayflower</i> 17th-century ship of American colonists

Mayflower was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, Mayflower, with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reached what is today the United States, dropping anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on November 21 [O.S. November 11], 1620.

Hidden Cave is an archaeological cave site located in the Great Basin near Fallon, Nevada, United States. It got its name from Mark Harrington, who first excavated the cave and had a hard time finding the entrance, who said at the time, "This is one hidden cave!" It was excavated originally in the 1930s by Harrington and then excavated twice more before being returned to for the final time in 1978 by David Hurst Thomas for a more in depth excavation. The site dates back to the early Desert Archaic Culture from c. 4000 to 2000 years ago. Thousands of Archaic artifacts have been found here, and the site "provides important, if unusual clues about Desert Archaic lifeways". Hidden Cave was not lived in, but used as storage site for goods and tools for the 2000 years of its survival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plymouth Athenaeum</span> Library and institution in Devon, England

Plymouth Athenaeum, located in Plymouth, England, is a society dedicated to the promotion of learning in the fields of science, technology, literature and art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Exeter (1642)</span> Siege during the First English Civil War

The siege of Exeter (1642) or First Siege of Exeter took place during the First English Civil War from late December 1642 to early January 1643 when Royalists led by Sir Ralph Hopton attempted to capture the port of Exeter from the Parliamentarians.

References

  1. "Cattedown's unknown history in 16 fascinating pictures - Plymouth Live".

50°21′47″N4°07′12″W / 50.36306°N 4.12000°W / 50.36306; -4.12000

A panorama of the Cattedown docks area taken from Mount Batten Cattewater industrial dock area.jpg
A panorama of the Cattedown docks area taken from Mount Batten