PLYMOUTH, DEVONPORT, and STONEHOUSE, are commonly called "The Three Towns," though they adjoin each other, and form one of the largest sea ports and principal naval and military stations in England, situated at the south west corner of Devon. They extend about three miles from east to west, and comprise, with their northern suburbs of Morice Town and Stoke. Plymouth is on the east, Stonehouse in the centre, and Devonport on the west; and their eastern, southern, and western sides, are skirted and deeply indented by the broad, deep, and extensive creeks and harbours in the estuaries of the Tamar and Plym, which meet in Plymouth Sound, and take the names of Catwater, Sutton Pool, Mill Bay, Stonehouse Pool, and Hamoaze; to the latter of which the great naval arsenal of Devonport Dock Yard presents its massive sea wall and numerous docks, slips, &c, in a semicircular range of more than half a mile, exclusive of the Gun Wharf, and the large Government Steam Yard on the north, opposite Torpoint, to which there is a steam ferry across the estuary of the Tamar.
Eggbuckland was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 at the head of Plym creek. Judhel had an estate called Bocheland held by Heche at the time of Edward the Confessor. The church was located in the same spot in Saxon times and the patronage was controlled by Plympton Priory from 1248 and was originally the third largest estate in Plymouth and the patronage of the Church (Heckebokel) was in the gift of the Prior of Plympton.. The first Lord of Barnstaple, Judhael of Totnes who found also the Priory of St. Mary Magdalen outside of the town wall there from the market and fair near Hemerdon.
Stonehouse was a roman villa on the peninsula land when to Plympton, old ships could probably stow upriver. During the Middle Ages Plymouth continued to grow as a port and the town was fortified with a wall in 1404 and shortly afterwards a castle was built. In the mid 1800's a string of fortifications were built through Plymouth. These 'Palmerston Follies' were to prevent the feared invasion of the French. Five of the forts are within our parish, these being Crownhill Fort, Bowden Battery (currently the Plymouth Garden Centre), Eggbuckland Keep, Austin Fort and Efford Fort.
Plymouth Citadel and Mill Bay front that broad arm of the English Channel called the Sound, in which the force of the Atlantic surges is considerably broken by a stupendous breakwater, while the harbours and creeks on either side are shut in from the violence of ocean storms, on the west by that bold peninsular range of hills, extending from Cornwall to Mount Edgcumbe, and that long projection of Stonehouse terminating at the Devil's Point, opposite Mount Edgcumbe; and on the east by the bold promontory of Mount Batten, at the entrance to Catwater, the Mouth of the river Plym, from which Plymouth has its name. The site of Devonport is more elevated, but its face has a gradual southern inclination, and on three sides it falls abruptly to the water. The northern suburbs at Higher Stoke rise much higher, and command delightful views of the towns, harbours, headlands, and the castellated mansion and sylvan grounds of Mount Edgcumbe. Devonport, Morice Town, Stoke, and Higher Stoke, form the parish of Stoke Damerel. This parish forms the Municipal Borough of Devonport; but the Parliamentary Borough includes also the parish of East Stonehouse.
The CITADEL at Plymouth is a large fortification on the south side of the town, occupying that bold headland which extends from the western side of Sutton Pool into the Sound, at the confluence of the Catwater. It was erected on the site of an old fort, by order of Charles II., who inspected it personally in the yeare 1670. It is built chiefly of limestone and granite, and consists of three regular and two irregular bastions; and the curtains of the former are strengthened by ravelins and hornworks. Two gateways with drawbridges form the entrance from the town; and the second gateway, which opens immediately into the Citadel, displays a sculpture of the royal arms, and other devices. In the centre of the spacious esplanade, where the troops are exercised, (and round which stand the officers houses, chapel, armory, and barrack,) is a bronze colossal statue of George II., in the costume of a Roman warrior, wreathed with laurel. The HOE is a commanding eminence, bounded on the east by the Citadel, on the south by the Sound, and on the west by Millbay. It is justly styled "the lungs of Plymouth," for here the inhabitants of all grades resort for air and exercise. Great improvements have been made of late years by the formation of carriage drives and public walks, with seats at intervals. The facilities of access from the town to this extensive and delightful promenade have recently been increased by several new avenues. The soldiers stationed in the Citadel frequently exercise on the Hoe; and occasionally may be witnessed a sham fight. The band often enlivens the promenade; and in the central part is an interesting Camera Obscura, and an obelisk which serves as a mark for vessels entering the harbour. The views from this elevated promenade are extensive; embracing seaward, the Sound, Drake's Island, the Breakwater, the Mew Stone, and in clear weather, Eddystone Lighthouse, fourteen miles distant in the English Channel. On the right, the Cornish coast is seen from Penlee Point to the shores of Cawsand, - and from thence over the nearer and well defined groves and lawns of Mount Edgecumbe; and still more westerly, the town of Devonport, with its column and steeples, and the elevated suburbs of Stoke. On the left is seen the line of the coast from Staddon Point to Mount Batten, guarding the entrance to Catwater; and thence, looking inland over the town, may be seen the extensive woods of Saltram, and the more distant hills of Dartmoor. There is a landing place under the Hoe, whence a boat can be procured for a trip to Drake's Island and the Breakwater.