Timeline of Plymouth

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Plymouth, Devon, England.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

Prior to 17th century

• 1086 - The Domesday Book records Plymouth as Sudtone (Sutton) and records only 7 households and a total annual revenue of £1. The lord of the manor before 1066 had been Edward the Confessor.
• 1254 – Town status recognised.
• 1276 - Plymouth first recorded as a borough.
• 1291 – St. Andrew church built.
• 1371 – Royal Chapel of St Katherine-upon-the-Hoe licensed.
• 1403 – Town burned by Bretons.
• 1404 – Town wall constructed.
• 1431 – Dominican monastery built.
• 1439
  • Town granted charter by Parliament.
  • Market and fair active.
• 1542 - Antiquary John Leland visits and records "The towne of Plymmouth is very large."
• 1572 – Grammar school founded.
• 1579 – Plague.
• 1580 – 26 September: Drake's Golden Hind ship arrives.
• 1581 – Plague.
• 1588 - 19 July: Fifty-five English ships sail from Plymouth under the command of Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake to fight the Spanish Armada.

17th–18th centuries

• 1620 – 6 September: Mayflower ship departs for New England.
• 1644 - The Siege of Plymouth by Royalist forces under Sir Richard Grenville in the English Civil War.
• 1652 – 26 August: Battle of Plymouth occurs offshore in the First Anglo-Dutch War.
• 1657 – Charles Church built.
• 1658 – Post house established.
• 1670 – Citadel built on the Hoe.
• 1671 – Royal Chapel of St Katherine-upon-the-Hoe rebuilt (approximate date).
• 1690 – Royal Dockyard built near town.
• 1696 - Work starts on Henry Winstanley's first Eddystone Lighthouse, 12 miles (19 km) off Plymouth Sound.
• 1718 – Plymouth Weekly Journal in publication.
• 1758
  • Theatre built.
  • Plymouth and Portsmouth Fortifications Act passed by Parliament.
• 1759 – Smeaton's Tower (lighthouse) built.
• 1762 – Plymouth Synagogue built.
• 1768 – Cookworthy's porcelain factory established.
• 1770 – Plymouth Improvement Act passed by Parliament.
• 1773 – Stonehouse Bridge constructed.
• 1781 – Poor Relief, etc. Act passed by Parliament.
• 1790 – New Pier constructed at Sutton Pool.
• 1798 – 3 April: HMS Pallas wrecked offshore.

19th century

• 1800 – Guildhall built.
• 1808 – Plymouth Gazette begins publication.
• 1810 – Plymouth Proprietary Library founded.
• 1811 – Theatre/Hotel building constructed.
• 1812
  • Plymouth Institution (now The Plymouth Athenaeum) founded.
  • Plymouth Breakwater construction begins.
• 1813
  • Port of Plymouth Chamber of Commerce established.
  • Exchange building constructed.
• 1815 - 26 July: Napoleon Bonaparte enters Plymouth Sound aboard HMS Bellerophon, awaiting transportation to exile in Saint Helena.
• 1819 – The Plymouth Athenaeum building designed by John Foulston opens.
• 1820 – Plymouth Herald and Plymouth Journal newspapers begin publication.
• 1825 – Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway in operation.
• 1826 – Plymouth Mechanics' Institute founded.
• 1828
  • Royal Union Baths built.
  • Plymouth, Devonport, and Cornwall Races begin.
• 1829
  • Museum of the Plymouth Institution built.
  • Blue Friars (club) founded.
• 1831 – Plymouth and Devonport Spring Races begin.
• 1832 – Plymouth Times newspaper begins publication.
• 1844 – Lighthouse commissioned on Plymouth Breakwater.
• 1849 – South Devon Railway begins operating.
• 1851 – Plymouth Institution (now The Plymouth Athenaeum) merges with Devon and Cornwall Natural History Society.
• 1854 – Royal Albert Bridge constructed to Saltash.
• 1856 – Plymouth Drawing School founded.
• 1858 – Plymouth Cathedral building constructed.
• 1860 - Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom recommends a huge programme of fortifications for Plymouth, with a projected cost of £3,020,000.
• 1862 – Plymouth Lifeboat Station in operation.
• 1863 – St. Boniface Boys' Catholic School active.
• 1865
  • Plymouth Breakwater Fort built.
  • Duke of Cornwall Hotel in business.
• 1871 – Agaton Fort built.
• 1874 – Guildhall built.
• 1877 – Plymouth College founded.
• 1889 – Grand Theatre opens.
• 1895 – Western Evening Herald newspaper begins publication.
• 1898 – New Palace Theatre opens.
• 1899 – Plymouth Institution (now The Plymouth Athenaeum) merges with Plymouth Mechanics' Institute.

20th century

• 1914 – Plymouth, Devonport, and East Stonehouse merge to form the County Borough of Plymouth.
• 1928 – Plymouth attains city status.
• 1929 – Old Plymouth Society founded.
• 1933 – Western Fascist newspaper begins publication.
• 1934 – Mayflower Steps monument erected.
• 1935
  • Tinside Pool (swimming pool) opens.
  • Lord Mayor appointed.
• 1940 – 6 July: Aerial bombing by German forces begins.
• 1941 – 20 March: Aerial bombing by German forces.
• 1944 – May: aerial bombing by German forces ends: about 1,000 people were killed, 5,000 injured, 10,000 houses destroyed, and 70,000 more damaged.
• 1958 – Drake Cinema opens.
• 1961
  • Westward Television begins broadcasting.
  • The Plymouth Athenaeum reopens after destruction of original building in Blitz.
• 1967
  • 28 May: Sir Francis Chichester arrives back in Plymouth on his yacht, Gypsy Moth IV, after completing his single-handed voyage around the world.
  • Plympton and Plymstock become part of city.
• 1971 – Mayflower Centre (sport facility) built.
• 1975 – Plymouth Sound (radio) begins broadcasting.
• 1982
  • Television South West begins broadcasting.
  • St Boniface Arena opens.
• 1986 – Plymouth Citybus begins operating.
• 1991 – Plymouth Pavilions (sport facility) opens.
• 1992 – University of Plymouth chartered.
• 1998 – National Marine Aquarium opens.
• 1999 – Vue cinema opens.

21st century

• 2006 – Drake Circus Shopping Centre in business.
• 2009 – The Plymouth Athenaeum's theatre closes.
• 2010 – Radio Plymouth begins broadcasting.
• 2012 – The Plymouth Athenaeum celebrates bicentenary.

See also

• History of Plymouth

Further reading

Published in the 20th century

• Bracken C.W., 1931, A History of Plymouth and her Neighbours, Underhill (Plymouth) Ltd.
• (describes Plymouth)

External links

• . Includes digitised directories of Plymouth area, various dates
• Digital Public Library of America. Works related to Plymouth, various dates