OLD DEVONPORT . UK
www.olddevonport.uk
 

©  Brian Moseley, Plymouth
Webpage created: November 14, 2017.
Webpage updated: November 14, 2017

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ROADS AND STREETS IN OLD DEVONPORT

RICHMOND WALK

Richmond Walk originally ran only from Mutton Cove and the bottom of James Street eastwards to The Lines, after which, in 1842, it was Baker's Place.  The remainder to Stonehouse Bridge was only an unnamed footpath.  By 1914 the  whole of the roadway from Stonehouse Bridge through to James Street was known as Richmond Walk and Baker's Place was just a part of it.

The name owes its origins to Charles Lennox (1735-1806), the 3rd the Duke of Richmond (1750-1806), who, in 1787, incurred the wrath of the local inhabitants of Plymouth-Dock by commencing the construction of what became known as the King's Inner Boundary Wall, separating the Barracks and fortifications from the civilian population in the Town.  In doing so he removed the right of the inhabitants to enjoy the waterside and so he built this public walkway to appease them.  The landing stairs were added in 1820 at the joint expense of the Admiralty and the Board of Ordnance.

It was on this new ground that Messrs W C and S Hancock used to set up their fairground equipment.  In October 1912 they were licensed to show films at the site subject to the completion of suitable accommodation.  The license was rescinded in January 1913 but re-issued in April of that year.  Unfortunately the entire fairground was destroyed in a massive fire in the early hours of Monday December 15th 1913

This is one case where the entire list of occupants in 1914 is of interest.  They were given at the time, in order from the Baker's Place end, as: Messrs Fox, Elliott  and Company Limited, timber merchants; Mr James Crockerell, contractor; Saint Luke's Mission Church; Messrs Cole Brothers, timber merchants; Mr George Flemming, boat owner; Mr William Richard Blagden, boat owner, at Rose Cottage; Messrs Clarke and Clarke, coal merchants; Mrs James Robb, sausage skin manufacturer; Mr Richard Graves- Smith, Royal Clarence Baths, wherein also resided the Moravian Minister, the Reverend Arthur Gilbert Phillips; the Anglo-Continental Guano Works, chemical manure manufacturers; the British Petroleum Company Limited, at New Quays; Mr Tom Williams, the pier master; and Messrs Vivian and Sons, coal merchants, also at the Devonport New Quays.

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