Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection.

Plymouth, Royal Citadel Gate, 1924.

The Three Towns
Throughout the 19th century, the three towns that made up Plymouth increased in size. Plymouth Dock was renamed Devonport in 1824 due to it's enormous significance (and population - it was bigger than Exeter!) and the three towns of Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse, were amalgamated as the Borough of Plymouth in 1914, after much heated debate. Plymouth was granted City status in 1928, and the first Lord Mayor was appointed in 1935.

Second World War Destruction
As one of Britain’s principal naval dockyards, Plymouth was bombed to devastating effect during the Second World War, especially during the five nights of the Plymouth Blitz in 1941. The centres of Plymouth and Devonport were destroyed

The first bomb fell in 1940, landing on Swilly (now North Prospect) and killing 3 people. The last was in1944. The devastation wreaked on the civilian population was terrible: the total number of civilians killed was 1,172 and a further 3,269 were injured. Huge amounts of housing stock was destroyed, many rebuilt houses were hit again. Nearly every civic building was destroyed, as well as the two main shopping centres. The face of Plymouth was forever changed.

Reproduced courtesy of The Francis Frith Collection.

Plymouth Pier (as it was in 1889) was one of the casualties of the Plymouth Blitz.

A New Beginning – The Plan for Plymouth
In the 1950’s, Plymouth’s destroyed city centre was rebuilt amid a great spirit of optimism, to architect Patrick Abercrombie’s design. His concept for the new Plymouth layout was called the Plan for Plymouth. It is remarkable now to note that Plymouth became the first city in England to include pedestrianised shopping streets.

In 1967, the town of Plympton, and the villages of Plymstock and Tamerton Foliot, were absorbed into Plymouth.