Millbay
Encyclopedia
Millbay, also known as Millbay Docks, is an area of dockland in Plymouth
, Devon
, England. It lies south of Union Street
, between West Hoe
in the east and Stonehouse
in the west.
. It was originally far more extensive than the current docks because it included the "Sourepool" which was a tidal salt-marsh that lay roughly along the line of today's Union Street
. The Sourepool was separated from the bay by a narrow neck across which tidal mills
were built, probably in the 12th century. These mills were operated by the Priors of Plympton who collected the income from grinding corn. By the mid 15th century, the mills were owned and let by the Corporation of Plymouth; the lease was sold to Francis Drake
in 1573. In 1591-2 Drake built six new mills along Drake's Leat
that had recently been completed. Around this time the old tidal mills closed and the Sourepool was drained ("made drie for a meadow") in 1592.
During the English Civil War
, Plymouth declared for Parliament and was the subject of a prolonged Royalist siege between 1642 and 1646. At this time Millbay was the only harbour of Plymouth that was out of reach of the Royalist artillery so it became the sole source of resupply for the town. From the end of the Civil War Millbay reverted to a quiet anchorage with no jetties or port facilities, but in 1756 John Smeaton
built a jetty and workyard in the south west corner of the harbour for unloading and working the stone for the third Eddystone Lighthouse
. A ten-ton ship, named the Eddystone Boat, was based here and took the worked stones out to the reef.
Smeaton's lighthouse was completed in 1759 and around this time the Long Room (an assembly room), bath house, bowling green and other amenities were built nearby. Of these, only the Long Room survives, built in red brick with Portland stone facings. To its north the Royal Marine Barracks, Stonehouse
were built, 1779 – 85. Until Victorian speculators constructed new docks and warehousing, this had a watergate into Millbay from which the navy's soldiers embarked for service at sea.
berthed here during her maiden voyage to New York and was visited by 15,000 sightseers.
In 1846 another Act of Parliament established the Great Western Dock Company to provide full facilities for shipping at Millbay. Gill sold his Millbay Pier to this company and became a director. Isambard Kingdom Brunel
was engaged to design new docks; both he and Gill were involved in the South Devon Railway
, so it is no surprise that the first railway station in Plymouth
was opened nearby in 1849. The next year a railway extension was built to the new docks, customs facilities were granted and the docks were recognised as a Government mail packet station.
Brunel next built another pier, an iron floating pontoon 300 ft (91.4 m) long by 40 ft (12.2 m) wide (91 m × 12 m) for the Irish Steamship Company whose vessels were regularly using the harbour. Then he constructed the inner basin, with limestone and granite walls. It had dock gates and a drydock at the western side and was 1250 by in size. It opened in 1857. Part of the earth dam that had been built across the harbour to facilitate the creation of the inner basin was retained for the later construction of Trinity Pier. From then on a few modifications were made, but no major changes took place until the construction of the ferry terminal in the 1970s.
Millbay was a busy commercial dock because it could accommodate larger ships than Sutton Pool, off the Cattewater
. A wide range of freight was handled, with grain always being an important import. It was also one of the major coaling stations in the English Channel. A significant amount of shipbuilding took place here: Willoughby Bros Ltd., for example, was in business from 1857 until 1969 and built vessels for the Royal Mail Steamship Company, Customs and Excise and others, as well as chain ferries for Torpoint, Saltash, Littlehampton and Felixstowe.
From the 1870s until the Second World War Millbay was a busy landing point for rich travellers from the USA who preferred to disembark the transatlantic liners in Plymouth Sound
, come ashore in tenders and catch fast trains from Millbay station
to London Paddington, thereby substantially reducing travel time by avoiding the sea passage to Southampton or Tilbury. It was known as "the route which cuts the corners off". An idea of the scale of this business can be seen from the fact that during the 20th century over six million passengers landed or were embarked from Millbay and as many as 800 passengers would come ashore from one liner. The peak year for liner traffic was 1930, when 788 liner calls were made to Plymouth. Millions of mailbags were handled too.
The railway company quickly became aware of the benefits of this traffic and took the initiative in ordering the first of a series of steamers, the Sir Francis Drake (173 tons), delivered in 1873. It was quickly followed by the smaller Sir Walter Raleigh and in 1883 by the Palmerston and the Smeaton. Many others followed, culminating in the Sir John Hawkins which replaced the ageing Smeaton in 1929. The Sir John Hawkins was 939 tons and was capable of about 14 knots (27.4 km/h).
On Sunday, 28 April 1912 the majority of the surviving crew of the RMS Titanic disaster disembarked here in secrecy. They were then taken by train from Millbay station to Southampton.
, which has its UK headquarters here. Since 1973 the company has operated ferry
services from the dock to Roscoff
on the north coast of Brittany
, France
, and also to Santander
on the north coast of Spain
. Ferry services depart and arrive daily from March to late October, and less regularly during the winter months.
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The dock was expanded in 2003 to accommodate Brittany Ferries' new 40,000 ton flagship Pont-Aven
, and the terminal building was also renovated. The Pont-Aven shares the dock with the new Armorique
, the replacement for the Pont L'Abbe
. During the winter months, the Bretagne
, usually assigned to Portsmouth
, sometimes visits Millbay. During February 2008, the Brittany Ferries fastcraft Normandie Express
visited Millbay, the first time that a high speed craft had been used out of Millbay.
Millbay is the home of the Plymouth RNLI All-Weather and Inshore Lifeboats, as it has been since 1862. The landmark which most Plymothians remember as the easiest way of locating the entrance to this harbour, a huge boxlike grey concrete grain silo with a substantial tower was demolished in early 2008.
The area is being targeted as a key area for regeneration in Plymouth as a part of the multi-agency Plymouth redevelopment plan.
The large area inside the road linking the Duke of Cornwall Hotel
along the dock wall to the Royal Marine Barracks, and then North and back along Union Street has been Plymouth's busiest and notorious red light district
for more than a century.
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, England. It lies south of Union Street
Union Street, Plymouth
Union Street in Plymouth, Devon, is a long straight street connecting the city centre to Devonport, the site of Plymouth's naval base and docks...
, between West Hoe
West Hoe
West Hoe is an area of Plymouth in the English county of Devon.It is a Victorian housing development built into the site of a quarry from which much limestone was taken for the city centre development of Plymouth. It abuts Millbay harbour to the west and the Hoe promenade to the east. Much of the...
in the east and Stonehouse
Stonehouse, Plymouth
East Stonehouse is one of three towns that were amalgamated into modern-day Plymouth. West Stonehouse was a village that is within the current Mount Edgcumbe Country Park in Cornwall...
in the west.
Early history
Mill Bay was a natural inlet to the west of the HoePlymouth Hoe
Plymouth Hoe, referred to locally as the Hoe, is a large south facing open public space in the English coastal city of Plymouth. The Hoe is adjacent to and above the low limestone cliffs that form the seafront and it commands views of Plymouth Sound, Drake's Island, and across the Hamoaze to Mount...
. It was originally far more extensive than the current docks because it included the "Sourepool" which was a tidal salt-marsh that lay roughly along the line of today's Union Street
Union Street
Union Street is a major street in the London Borough of Southwark. It runs between Blackfriars Road to the west and Borough High Street to the east. Southwark Bridge Road crosses in the middle....
. The Sourepool was separated from the bay by a narrow neck across which tidal mills
Tide mill
A tide mill is a water mill driven by tidal rise and fall. A dam with a sluice is created across a suitable tidal inlet, or a section of river estuary is made into a reservoir. As the tide comes in, it enters the mill pond through a one way gate, and this gate closes automatically when the tide...
were built, probably in the 12th century. These mills were operated by the Priors of Plympton who collected the income from grinding corn. By the mid 15th century, the mills were owned and let by the Corporation of Plymouth; the lease was sold to Francis Drake
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
in 1573. In 1591-2 Drake built six new mills along Drake's Leat
Drake's Leat
Drake's Leat, also known as Plymouth Leat, was a watercourse constructed in the late 16th century to tap the River Meavy on Dartmoor, England in order to supply Plymouth with water. It was one of the first municipal water supplies in the country.-Plans:...
that had recently been completed. Around this time the old tidal mills closed and the Sourepool was drained ("made drie for a meadow") in 1592.
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, Plymouth declared for Parliament and was the subject of a prolonged Royalist siege between 1642 and 1646. At this time Millbay was the only harbour of Plymouth that was out of reach of the Royalist artillery so it became the sole source of resupply for the town. From the end of the Civil War Millbay reverted to a quiet anchorage with no jetties or port facilities, but in 1756 John Smeaton
John Smeaton
John Smeaton, FRS, was an English civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist...
built a jetty and workyard in the south west corner of the harbour for unloading and working the stone for the third Eddystone Lighthouse
Eddystone Lighthouse
Eddystone Lighthouse is on the treacherous Eddystone Rocks, south west of Rame Head, United Kingdom. While Rame Head is in Cornwall, the rocks are in Devon and composed of Precambrian Gneiss....
. A ten-ton ship, named the Eddystone Boat, was based here and took the worked stones out to the reef.
Smeaton's lighthouse was completed in 1759 and around this time the Long Room (an assembly room), bath house, bowling green and other amenities were built nearby. Of these, only the Long Room survives, built in red brick with Portland stone facings. To its north the Royal Marine Barracks, Stonehouse
Stonehouse, Plymouth
East Stonehouse is one of three towns that were amalgamated into modern-day Plymouth. West Stonehouse was a village that is within the current Mount Edgcumbe Country Park in Cornwall...
were built, 1779 – 85. Until Victorian speculators constructed new docks and warehousing, this had a watergate into Millbay from which the navy's soldiers embarked for service at sea.
19th century expansion
A map from the late 1830s shows a small "Union Dock" at Millbay, about which not much is known, but in 1840 an Act of Parliament granted Thomas Gill the authority to build a pier and other works at the mouth of Millbay as well as deepening the creek. Gill had a quarry at the east side of the harbour, and the pier he built, now known as Millbay Pier, was 500 feet (152.4 m) long and was completed in 1844. The following year the SS Great BritainSS Great Britain
SS Great Britain was an advanced passenger steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Steamship Company's transatlantic service between Bristol and New York. While other ships had previously been built of iron or equipped with a screw propeller, Great Britain was the first...
berthed here during her maiden voyage to New York and was visited by 15,000 sightseers.
In 1846 another Act of Parliament established the Great Western Dock Company to provide full facilities for shipping at Millbay. Gill sold his Millbay Pier to this company and became a director. Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
was engaged to design new docks; both he and Gill were involved in the South Devon Railway
South Devon Railway
South Devon Railway could mean:* South Devon Railway Company - the company that built the railway from Exeter to Plymouth* South Devon Railway Trust - the heritage railway from Totnes to BuckfastleighOther heritage railways in South Devon include:...
, so it is no surprise that the first railway station in Plymouth
Plymouth Millbay railway station
Plymouth Millbay railway station was the original railway terminus in Plymouth, Devon, England. It was used for passenger trains from 1849 to 1941.- History :...
was opened nearby in 1849. The next year a railway extension was built to the new docks, customs facilities were granted and the docks were recognised as a Government mail packet station.
Brunel next built another pier, an iron floating pontoon 300 ft (91.4 m) long by 40 ft (12.2 m) wide (91 m × 12 m) for the Irish Steamship Company whose vessels were regularly using the harbour. Then he constructed the inner basin, with limestone and granite walls. It had dock gates and a drydock at the western side and was 1250 by in size. It opened in 1857. Part of the earth dam that had been built across the harbour to facilitate the creation of the inner basin was retained for the later construction of Trinity Pier. From then on a few modifications were made, but no major changes took place until the construction of the ferry terminal in the 1970s.
Millbay was a busy commercial dock because it could accommodate larger ships than Sutton Pool, off the Cattewater
Cattewater
The city of Plymouth, Devon, England is bounded by Dartmoor to the north, the river Tamar to the west. The open expanse of water called Plymouth Sound to the south and the river Plym to the east....
. A wide range of freight was handled, with grain always being an important import. It was also one of the major coaling stations in the English Channel. A significant amount of shipbuilding took place here: Willoughby Bros Ltd., for example, was in business from 1857 until 1969 and built vessels for the Royal Mail Steamship Company, Customs and Excise and others, as well as chain ferries for Torpoint, Saltash, Littlehampton and Felixstowe.
Ocean liner traffic
Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a bay at Plymouth in England.Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point on Devon, a distance of about 3 nautical miles . Its northern limit is Plymouth Hoe giving a north-south distance of nearly 3 nautical miles...
, come ashore in tenders and catch fast trains from Millbay station
Plymouth Millbay railway station
Plymouth Millbay railway station was the original railway terminus in Plymouth, Devon, England. It was used for passenger trains from 1849 to 1941.- History :...
to London Paddington, thereby substantially reducing travel time by avoiding the sea passage to Southampton or Tilbury. It was known as "the route which cuts the corners off". An idea of the scale of this business can be seen from the fact that during the 20th century over six million passengers landed or were embarked from Millbay and as many as 800 passengers would come ashore from one liner. The peak year for liner traffic was 1930, when 788 liner calls were made to Plymouth. Millions of mailbags were handled too.
The railway company quickly became aware of the benefits of this traffic and took the initiative in ordering the first of a series of steamers, the Sir Francis Drake (173 tons), delivered in 1873. It was quickly followed by the smaller Sir Walter Raleigh and in 1883 by the Palmerston and the Smeaton. Many others followed, culminating in the Sir John Hawkins which replaced the ageing Smeaton in 1929. The Sir John Hawkins was 939 tons and was capable of about 14 knots (27.4 km/h).
On Sunday, 28 April 1912 the majority of the surviving crew of the RMS Titanic disaster disembarked here in secrecy. They were then taken by train from Millbay station to Southampton.
Today
There are currently two large deepwater docks, one of which is part-owned by Brittany FerriesBrittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries is a French ferry company that runs ships between France, the UK, Ireland and Spain.-1970s and 1980s:Following the provision of the deep-water port at Roscoff, the company commenced in January 1973 at the instigation of Alexis Gourvennec, when existing ferry companies showed...
, which has its UK headquarters here. Since 1973 the company has operated ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
services from the dock to Roscoff
Roscoff
Roscoff is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.The nearby Île de Batz, called Enez Vaz in Breton, is a small island that can be reached by launch from the harbour....
on the north coast of Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and also to Santander
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
on the north coast of Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Ferry services depart and arrive daily from March to late October, and less regularly during the winter months.
MV Pont-Aven
M/V Pont-Aven is a cruiseferry operated by Brittany Ferries. She was built at Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany and has been sailing for Brittany Ferries since March 2004. She is the current Brittany Ferries flagship...
, and the terminal building was also renovated. The Pont-Aven shares the dock with the new Armorique
MV Armorique
The MV Armorique is a passenger and freight ferry built for Brittany Ferries by STX Europe in Finland at a cost of £81 million . The vessel was delivered to Brittany Ferries on 26 January 2009, it was originally planned for her to be delivered in September 2008. Armorique is named after a national...
, the replacement for the Pont L'Abbe
MV Pont L'Abbé
The MV Pont L'Abbé was a ferry owned and operated by Brittany Ferries between 2006 and 2009. She was built at Aalborg Værft A/S in Denmark for DFDS Seaways as MV Dana Anglia and entered service with them in 1978...
. During the winter months, the Bretagne
MV Bretagne
MV Bretagne is a ferry operated by Brittany Ferries. She was built at Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France and has been sailing for Brittany Ferries since 1989...
, usually assigned to Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, sometimes visits Millbay. During February 2008, the Brittany Ferries fastcraft Normandie Express
HSC Normandie Express
The HSC Normandie Express is a fast catamaran ferry owned and operated by Brittany Ferries. Since being built in 2000, the vessel has borne the names Incat Tasmania and The Lynx.-History:...
visited Millbay, the first time that a high speed craft had been used out of Millbay.
Millbay is the home of the Plymouth RNLI All-Weather and Inshore Lifeboats, as it has been since 1862. The landmark which most Plymothians remember as the easiest way of locating the entrance to this harbour, a huge boxlike grey concrete grain silo with a substantial tower was demolished in early 2008.
The area is being targeted as a key area for regeneration in Plymouth as a part of the multi-agency Plymouth redevelopment plan.
The large area inside the road linking the Duke of Cornwall Hotel
Duke of Cornwall Hotel
The Duke of Cornwall Hotel is a hotel in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. Built in Victorian Gothic style, it opened in 1865 to cater for the increasing number of travellers who were coming to the region by rail and sea....
along the dock wall to the Royal Marine Barracks, and then North and back along Union Street has been Plymouth's busiest and notorious red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
for more than a century.