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.
The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England.
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.
Yelverton is a large village on the south-western edge of Dartmoor, Devon, in England. It is in the civil parish of Buckland Monachorum.
Horrabridge is a village in West Devon, England with a population of 2,115 people in 2006, down from 2,204 in 1991. It is located approximately 12 miles (19 km) north of the city of Plymouth and 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Tavistock and is within the Dartmoor National Park. Horrabridge is a major part of Walkham electoral ward. The population at the 2011 census was 3,115.
Eggbuckland is a suburb of the city of Plymouth, in the ceremonial 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.
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 predominantly post-war suburb of Plymouth in the English county of Devon.
Woolwell is a suburb on the north-east fringe of the city of Plymouth, England, located just outside the city's boundaries in the district of the South Hams. It is situated along the A386, close to the boundary of Dartmoor National Park, with good views of the surrounding landscape. Housing development began in Woolwell in 1981 and there is now a population of slightly over 3000. For an area of its size, it has a large number of facilities, including its own primary school, a medical centre and several shops.
The Forgotten Corner of Cornwall is a geographical area of South East Cornwall, Great Britain. It includes the Rame Peninsula and the town of Torpoint, as well as villages like Antony, Downderry, Polbathic, Portwrinkle and Widegates.
Mannamead is a leafy suburb in the Compton ward of the city 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.
B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A roads. See the article Great Britain road numbering scheme for the rationale behind the numbers allocated.
The A386 is a primary route in Devon, England. It runs from Plymouth on the south coast to Appledore on the north coast.
The A374 is a main road in the United Kingdom, one of six A-roads making the border crossing between Devon and Cornwall. It is the most southerly of the A37x group of roads, starting and ending its journey with the A38 trunk road, from the outskirts of Plymouth in Devon to the Trerulefoot roundabout in Cornwall.
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.
Plumer Barracks was a military installation at Crownhill in Plymouth.