| Crownhill | |
|---|---|
  Crownhill Location within Devon | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PLYMOUTH |
| Postcode district | PL5 3xx |
| Dialling code | 01752 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
Crownhill is an area of northern Plymouth, in the county of Devon, England. [1] [2]
It was originally known as Knackersknowle, meaning "the hill of the knacker's yard". In 1860 a fort was built on a high piece of land, just to the north west of the village, on the site of a building called Crown Hill, presumably because of its dominating position overlooking all the surrounding area. The village and surrounding area eventually adopted the same name. The fort was one of many Palmerston Forts built around Plymouth under the instruction of the then Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, as a defence for the dockyard at Devonport against the French. The construction of these forts was eventually found to be unnecessary and as such they have been called "Palmerston's Follies". Crownhill Fort has now been restored as a tourist attraction and its guns are fired more often now then they ever were in anger. For a long time Crownhill was predominantly a garrison area with Plumer Barracks and more recently Seaton Barracks, demolished finally in the late 1990s. [3]
This mostly 1930s suburb grew around the junction of the A386 Tavistock Road and the A374 road (later the A38 and now the B3413) from Plympton to Saltash Passage. Following realignment of the A386 in the 1970s the old Tavistock road has been isolated and renamed Morshead Road. There is a pub, a post office, a few convenience stores, many takeaways and an Indian restaurant. Crownhill is the home of the divisional police headquarters and a Catholic boys comprehensive school. There is also a large fire station and close by a big garden centre. The district is very popular because it is very close to the A38 Parkway/Devon Expressway and is near to the local general hospital at Derriford without being so far from the city centre four miles south that it is isolated and inaccessible as are so many of Plymouth's satellite suburbs.
Crownhill is mostly known for being the main place in the book Witchhill by Marcus Segdwick.
"Union Street (Last Post)", a track on the 2006 album Witness by contemporary West Country folk duo Show of Hands, features Crownhill as the home of one of the song's subjects. The song tells a tale of love and loss amongst the pubs and clubs of Union Street at the time of the Falklands Conflict.
The Tamar is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall. A part of the Tamar valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities.
Tavistock is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards had a population of 13,028. It traces its recorded history back to at least 961 when Tavistock Abbey, whose ruins lie in the centre of the town, was founded. Its most famous son is Sir Francis Drake.
Eggbuckland is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in the county of Devon, England. Before the Second World War Eggbuckland was a small village a few miles north of Plymouth. During the reconstruction of Plymouth many new suburbs were built and soon a new estate was built within one mile to the south east of Eggbuckland. During the 1970s the areas in between and surrounding the old village were all developed and the whole area is now referred to by the name Eggbuckland. The development of the A38 just south of Eggbuckland in the 1980s led to the area becoming very popular with commuters.
Crownhill Fort is a Royal Commission Fort built in the 1860s in Crownhill as part of Lord Palmerston's ring of land defences for Plymouth. Restored by the Landmark Trust, it is now home to several small businesses, museums, exhibitions and a holiday apartment sleeping up to eight people. The Fort is open to the public on the last Friday of each month and hosts tours for local schools and societies at other times.
The Erme is a river in south Devon, England. From its source on Dartmoor it flows in a generally southerly direction past some of the best-preserved archaeological remains on the moor. It leaves the moor at the town of Ivybridge and continues southward, passing the settlements of Ermington, Modbury and Holbeton. Near Holbeton it becomes a ria and empties into the English Channel in Bigbury Bay, between the rivers Yealm and Avon.
St Budeaux is an area and ward in the north west of Plymouth in the English county of Devon.
The A390 is a road in Cornwall and Devon, England. It runs from Tavistock to 5 miles (8.0 km) north west of the city of Truro. Starting in Tavistock, it heads south-westwards towards Liskeard, crossing over the River Tamar and into Cornwall, then through Gunnislake and Callington. Immediately before Liskeard, it merges with the A38 north of the town. It diverges from the A38 at Dobwalls, where it then runs in a south-westerly direction to Truro via Lostwithiel, St. Blazey, and St Austell. It then forms an upside down elongated square loop, and bypasses Truro City Centre. It then heads north west out of the city, where it forms the main corridor into Truro from the west. It passes the Royal Cornwall Hospital and skirts the village of Threemilestone, before linking up with the A30 road at Chiverton Cross, where the A390 terminates. Chiverton Cross is where the A390 trunk road from Truro and the B3277 to St Agnes meet the east–west A30 trunk road. Before the A390 was rerouted away from Chacewater it ended at its junction with the A30 at Scorrier.
Manadon is a suburb of Plymouth in the English county of Devon.
Gunnislake is a large village in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in the Tamar Valley approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Plymouth
Down Thomas is a village in Devon, England. The village is situated about 4 miles south of Plymouth. It is on the Wembury peninsula and is surrounded by farmland. The village is a part of the South Hams local government district.
Meldon is a hamlet in West Devon, on the edge of Dartmoor in Devon, England. It is 4 km south-west of Okehampton. Its main features are the Meldon Quarry and Meldon Reservoir and the nearby Meldon Viaduct.
Mannamead is a suburb of Plymouth in the county of Devon, England. It was an affluent Victorian and early Edwardian suburb with wide avenues such as Seymour Road, grand villas and Thorn Park. There are conservation areas but the area has been infilled and become more densely populated. There are very many care homes. The nearest secondary school is Plymouth College but the area has exceptionally frequent bus services passing many other schools.
Hartley is a suburb of Plymouth in the county of Devon, England.
Ernesettle is mentioned in the Domesday Book, which documented land in England and Wales, and describes as an ‘old Saxon manor’ there. By the 15th century, there were two farms, Great Ernesettle and Little Ernesettle, both named after William Ernstell, a freeholder of Budshead, who owned land here in 1428. By the 16th century, Ernesettle was a thriving hamlet, and Budshead Mill and a manor house were built on the bank of the river Their date of construction is uncertain, but in 1780 the owner was recorded as Sir Harry Trelawney and the tenant was Mr Robert Nicholls.
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.
The A386 is a primary route in Devon, England. It runs from Plymouth on the south coast to Appledore on the north coast.
Norris Green is a village in Cornwall, England, UK. It was enlarged from a farming hamlet so that it now adjoins the neighbouring village of Higher Metherell. Both settlements are within the civil parish of Calstock which borders the River Tamar, the county boundary with Devon in south-east Cornwall.
Woodland Fort is a Royal Commission Fort built in the 1860s as part of Lord Palmerston's ring of land defences for Plymouth, England. Currently owned by Plymouth City Council, the site is in use but largely derelict.
The fortifications of Plymouth in Devon are extensive due to its natural harbour, its commanding position on the Western Approaches and its role as the United Kingdom's second largest naval base after Portsmouth. The first medieval defences were built to defend Sutton Harbour on the eastern side of Plymouth Sound at the mouth of the River Plym, but by the 18th century, naval activity had begun to shift westward to Devonport at the mouth of the River Tamar. During the Victorian era, advances in military technology led to a huge programme of fortification encompassing the whole of Plymouth Sound together with the overland approaches. Many of these works remained in military use well into the 20th century.
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