Plymouth is located where the rivers Plym and Tamar meet the sea, on the south coast of England. The current character of this area was formed at the end of the last ice age, when the valleys of the River Tamar and Plym were flooded by rising seas. The coastline reaches far inland and has resulted in deep-water harbours being able to be built in this area.
In late Saxon times, Plympton was more important than Plymouth. Plympton is located further up the river and provided a convenient crossing point that was still able to receive sea going ships. The advantages at Plympton's location were not to last however and Plymptons fate was sealed when the river Plym began to silt up, meaning ships could no longer make their way upstream. It was because of this that mariners and merchants turned their attention down river, to the mouth of the River Plym, to the small settlement of Sutton and the Sutton Pool. As more and more people began to settle here the town that developed became known as Plymouth.
Plymouth continued to grow during the Middle Ages and a wall was built around the town in 1404, followed not long later by a castle. Additional defences continued to be added over the coming 200 years. That said, Plymouth continued to primarily remain a commercial port during this period.
The first dockyard at Plymouth was built on the banks of the lower reaches of the River Tamar in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. As there were no people living in this area, workers for the dockyard came from neighbouring towns and villages. However, houses were eventually built to accommodate men working at the dockyard and by 1733 Plymouth Dock had a population of 3000 people, nearly half as many people as the old town of Plymouth. The dockyard was expanded in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as a result of the war with France.
Plymouth's importance as a naval base was confirmed in 1812 when construction began on the breakwater in Plymouth Sound, providing a safe haven for ships sheltering from violent storms. Throughout this period the major source of wealth and the main employer in the region was the dockyard. Plymouth Dock was continuing to expand and new villages were also developing on the outskirts of town as Plymouth grew.
The towns of Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehousehad all expanded through the growth of the of the dockyard and now formed one contiguous urban area and in 1914 were eventually merged to form the City of Plymouth.
