| Dartmouth | |
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  Dartmouth shown within Devon |
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| Population | 5,512 (Parish) |
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| OS grid reference | |
| Parish | Dartmouth |
| District | South Hams |
| Shire county | Devon |
| Region | South West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | DARTMOUTH |
| Postcode district | TQ6 |
| Dialling code | 01803 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| European Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Totnes |
| List of places: UK • England • Devon | |
Dartmouth is a town in Devon in the south-west of England. The River Dart is a River in Devon, England which rises high on Dartmoor, and releases to the sea at Dartmouth. Devon is a large county in the South West of England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using Latitude and Longitude A civil parish in the United Kingdom is a unit of local government. The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government History In the Anglo-Saxon era the South Hams was a feudal estate consisting of all of the land between the River Plym and River Dart and south of Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of Subdivisions of England used for the purposes of Local government outside Greater London Devon is a large county in the South West of England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name The region, also known as the government office region, is currently the highest tier of local government sub-national entity of England, with only one South West England is one of the Regions of England. It is the largest such region in terms of area and extends from Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to Constituent country is a phrase used often by official institutions in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity or grouping England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland This list of sovereign states, alphabetically arranged gives an overview of States around the world with information on the extent of their Sovereignty. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A post town is a required part of all postal addresses in the United Kingdom, and a basic unit of the postal delivery system UK Postal codes are known as postcodes. UK postcodes are Alphanumeric. The, also known as the Torquay postcode area, is a group of postal districts around Brixham, Buckfastleigh, Dartmouth, Kingsbridge The UK Telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Telephone Numbering Plan, is the system used for assigning Telephone numbers in the United There are a number of law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom. Devon and Cornwall Constabulary is the Home Office Police force responsible for policing the counties of Devon and Cornwall in The fire service in the United Kingdom operates under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service or FRS, covering the counties of Devon and Somerset; it Divisions & Stations The trust is split into 2 divisions West - Devon and Cornwall including West Divisional HQ 999 and PTS Control at South West England is a Constituency of the European Parliament. This is a list of the 646 constituencies currently represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, as at the 2005 general election Totnes is a County constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. A Gazetteer of place names in the United Kingdom showing each place's County, Unitary authority or council area and its geographical coordinates List of places --> List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places This is a list of settlements and places of interest in Devon, England. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. Devon is a large county in the South West of England. The county is also referred to as Devonshire, but that is an entirely unofficial name England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland It is a tourist destination set on the banks of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. A tourist destination is a city town or other area that is dependent to a significant extent on the revenues accruing from Tourism. The River Dart is a River in Devon, England which rises high on Dartmoor, and releases to the sea at Dartmouth. A ria is a Landform, often referred to as a drowned river valley. Totnes (ˈtɒtnɨs or /tɒtˈnɛs/ is a market town at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England within the South Devon Area It lies within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB covers 337 square Kilometres including much of the South Hams area of Devon and the rugged coastline from Jennycliff
Contents |
History
Dartmouth was of strategic importance as a deep-water port for sailing vessels. The port was used as the sailing point for the crusades of 1147 and 1190, and a creek close to Dartmouth Castle is supposed by some to be named for the vast fleets which assembled there (Warfleet Creek). Dartmouth Castle is one of a pair of forts the other being Kingswear Castle, that guard the mouth of the Dart Estuary in Devon, England Warfleet Creek is a small triangular tidal inlet in the west side of the River Dart Estuary in England. It was a home of the English navy since the reign of Edward III and was twice surprised and sacked during the Hundred Years' War, after which the mouth of the estuary was closed every night with a great chain. Edward III (13 November 1312 &ndash 21 June 1377 was one of the most successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages. The Hundred Years' War (Guerre de Cent Ans was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne vacant with the extinction of the senior The narrow mouth of the Dart is protected by two fortified castles, Dartmouth Castle and Kingswear Castle. Dartmouth Castle is one of a pair of forts the other being Kingswear Castle, that guard the mouth of the Dart Estuary in Devon, England Kingswear Castle was built between 1491 - 1502, as a Coastal artillery tower for use with heavy cannon
In 1373 Geoffrey Chaucer visited and among the pilgrims in his Canterbury Tales
- A schipman was ther, wonyng fer by weste;
- For ought I wost, he was of Dertemouthe. Geoffrey Chaucer (c 1343 – 25 October 1400? was an English author poet Philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and Diplomat. The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century (two of them in Prose, the rest in verse)
Notwithstanding Dartmouth's connections with the crown and respectable society, it was a major base for privateering (state sanctioned or licenced piracy) in medieval times. A privateer was a private Warship authorized by a country's Government by Letters of marque to attack foreign shipping
The town is dominated by the Royal Navy Officer Training college (Britannia Royal Naval College) and all officers of the Royal Navy, as well as many foreign navies, are trained there. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC is the initial officer training establishment of the Royal Navy, located on a hill overlooking Dartmouth, Devon
The Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta takes place annually over three days at the end of August. The Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta is a Regatta in the English county of Devon.
Originally Dartmouth's only wharf was Bayard's Cove, a relatively small but picturesque area protected by a fort at the southern end of the town. Bayards Cove has been used in several television productions, because of its 18th century buildings; photographs are on show in the Dartmouth Arms public house.
The made up embankment which today extends the whole length of the town's river front is the result of nineteenth century land reclamation, started in earnest when the town played host to a large number of prisoners of war from the Napoleonic wars which formed a captive workforce. Prior to this, what is now the town centre was almost entirely tidal mud flats.
Henry Hudson put into Dartmouth on his return from America, and was arrested for sailing under a foreign flag. Henry Hudson' (1570 &ndash 1611 was an English Sea explorer and Navigator in the early 17th century Flag State refers to the Authority under which a country exercises Regulatory control over the Commercial vessel which is registered under its flag The Pilgrim Fathers put into Dartmouth's Bayard's Cove, en-route from Southampton to America. Pilgrims, or Pilgrim Fathers (or Pilgrim Mothers) is a name commonly applied to the early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth Southampton ( IPA /ˌsaʊθˈhæmptən/ is the largest city in the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England They rested a while before setting off on their journey in the Mayflower and the Speedwell on the 20 August 1620. The Mayflower was the famous Ship that transported the English Separatists better known as the Pilgrims, from Southampton, England The Speedwell was a 60-ton Ship, the smaller of the two ships (along with Mayflower) intended to carry the Pilgrim Fathers to Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine About 300 miles west of Land's End, they realised that the Speedwell was unseaworthy and returned to Plymouth. Land's End ( Cornish name Penn an Wlas) is a headland on the Penwith Peninsula, located near Penzance in Cornwall Plymouth ( is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England about south west of London. The Mayflower departed alone to complete the crossing to Cape Cod. Cape Cod (or simply the Cape to most New Englanders is a Peninsula nearly coextensive with Barnstable County Massachusetts and forming the easternmost
The town contains historic buildings, the most obvious of which is the Butterwalk, built 1635 - 1640. Its intricately carved wooden fascia is supported on granite columns. Charles II held court in the Butterwalk whilst sheltering from storms in 1671 in a room which now forms part of Dartmouth Museum. Charles II may refer to Charles the Bald (823 &ndash 877 king of the West Franks and Holy Roman Emperor Charles II of Naples (1248 Much of the interior survives from that time, as does at least one ghost. The Royal Castle Hotel was built in 1639 on the then new Quay. The building was refronted in the nineteenth century, and as the new frontage is itself listed, it is not possible to see the original which lies beneath. A claimant for the oldest building is a former merchants house in Higher Street, now a Good Beer Guide listed public house called The Cherub, built circa 1380. The Good Beer Guide is a book published annually by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA listing Pubs in the United Kingdom that serve Cask ales Agincourt House (next to the Lower Ferry) is also 14th century.
The remains of a fort at Gallants Bower just outside the town are some of the best preserved remains of a civil war defensive structure. The fort was built by Royalist occupation forces in c1643 to the south east of the town, with a similar fort at Mount Ridley on the opposite slopes of what is now Kingswear. Kingswear is a Village and Civil parish in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon. The parliamentarian General Fairfax attacked from the North in 1646, taking the town and forcing the Royalists to surrender, after which Gallants Bower was demolished. Thomas Fairfax 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (17 January 1612 &ndash 12 November 1671 was a general and parliamentary commander-in-chief during the English Civil War.
In the latter part of World War II the town was a base for American forces, and one of the departure points for Utah Beach in the D Day landings. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Utah Beach was the codename for one of the Allied landing beaches during the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, as part of Operation Overlord on 6 June Much of the surrounding countryside was closed to the public while it was used by US troops for practise landings and manoeuvres.
The Onedin Line, a popular BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980, was filmed here
Governance
The town was an ancient borough, incorporated by Edward III, known formally as Clifton-Dartmouth-Hardness, and consisting of the three parishes of St Petrox, St Saviour and Townstall, and incorporating the hamlets of Ford, Old Mill and Norton. The Onedin Line was a popular BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. A borough is an Administrative division of various countries In principle the term borough designates a self-governing Township although in practice Edward III (13 November 1312 &ndash 21 June 1377 was one of the most successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages. [1] It was reformed under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Wm IV c76 - sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act - required members of town councils ( Municipal corporations The town returned two members of parliament from the thirteenth century until 1835, after which one MP was elected until the town was disenfranchised in 1868. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. It remained a municipal borough until 1974, when it was merged into the South Hams district, and became a successor parish of Dartmouth with a town council. Municipal boroughs were a type of Local government which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974 in Northern Ireland from 1840 to History In the Anglo-Saxon era the South Hams was a feudal estate consisting of all of the land between the River Plym and River Dart and south of Successor parishes are Civil parishes created by the Local Government Act 1972 with the same boundaries as an Urban district or Municipal borough [2] [3]
Dartmouth Town Council is the lowest of three tiers of local government. It consists of 16 councillors representing the two wards of Clifton and Townstal. In Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, a ward is an Electoral district At the second tier, Dartmouth forms part of the Dartmouth and Kingswear ward of South Hams District Council, which returns one councillor. [4] At the upper tier of local government Dartmouth and Kingswear Electoral Division elects one member to Devon County Council. [5]
Transport
No railway has ever run to Dartmouth, but the town does have a railway station, although it is now a restaurant. The original plans for the Dartmouth and Torbay Railway line took the line across a bridge and into the town. The Dartmouth and Torbay Railway was a Broad gauge railway linking the South Devon Railway branch at Torquay with Kingswear in Devon Opposition from local seamen and merchants saw the route diverted to Kingswear on the opposite side of the river, but this occurred after the station had been built at Dartmouth. Kingswear is a Village and Civil parish in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon. The railway terminated at a station called "Kingswear for Dartmouth" (now on the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway) and a ferry took passengers across the river to the station at Dartmouth railway station, which had a dedicated pontoon. Kingswear railway station is the terminus of the Paignton and Dartmouth Steam Railway, a Heritage railway in Devon, England. The Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway is a Heritage railway on the former Kingswear branch line between Paignton and Kingswear in Torbay Dartmouth railway station was a railway station that served Dartmouth in the English county of Devon but was never served by trains &ndash It is believed to be the only place in the world with a purpose built railway station which has never seen a train.
Schools
Dartmouth has one secondary school (Dartmouth college) and two primary schools (Dartmouth Primary school and St John the Baptist R. C. Primary School). Dartmouth Community College, And Dartmouth Primary school are part of the Dartmouth Learning Campus, As from September 2007, Dartmouth Community College is part of a federation with Dartmouth Primary School and Nursery meaning that the two schools share one governing body for pupils aged 0 -19.
 Dartmouth primary school |
Notable former and present residents
Thomas Newcomen, the inventor of the steam pumping engine was born in Dartmouth in 1663. Thomas Newcomen (born shortly before 24 February 1664; died 5 August 1729) was an Ironmonger by trade and a Baptist The atmospheric engine invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712 today referred to as a Newcomen steam engine (or simply Newcomen engine was the first practical The location of his house in Lower Street is marked with a plaque, although the building itself was demolished (and reconstructed on Ridge Hill) in the nineteenth century to make way for a new road which was named after Newcomen. An eighteenth century working Newcomen engine is on display in the town. The atmospheric engine invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712 today referred to as a Newcomen steam engine (or simply Newcomen engine was the first practical
The town was home to the civil engineer and mathematical genius George Parker Bidder (1806 - 1878), who is notable for his work on railways over much of the world, as well as the docks of the East End of London. A civil engineer is a person who practices Civil engineering, one of the many engineering professions George Parker Bidder (June 14 1806 in Moretonhampstead – September 28 1878 was an English engineer and calculating prodigy London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Bidder served on the town council, and his expertise was instrumental in draining the area which is now the centre of the town, but was then part of the river Dart. The River Dart is a River in Devon, England which rises high on Dartmoor, and releases to the sea at Dartmouth. He also undertook pioneering work on steam trawling whilst living in the town. Bidder died at his home at Paradise Point near Warfleet Creek and is buried at nearby Stoke Fleming. Warfleet Creek is a small triangular tidal inlet in the west side of the River Dart Estuary in England.
References
- ^ Pigot & Co.'s Devonshire (1830) GenUKi
- ^ The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972 (S. I. 1972 No. 2039)
- ^ The Local Government (Successor Parishes) Order 1973 (S. I. 1973 No. 1110)
- ^ Dartmouth Town Councillors, Dartmouth Town Council, accessed March 21, 2008
- ^ Division 36: Dartmouth and Kingswear, Devon County Council, accessed March 21, 2008
External links
- Port of Dartmouth Royal Regatta
- Dartmouth Community College
- Dartmouth Primary School and Nursery
- Dartmouth (DMOZ.org)
- Charles Oman, "Dartmouth and Kingswear Castles: Twin Dart estuary defenders"
- Photographs of Dartmouth
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