PLYMOUTH, a town at the western extremity of die county of Devon, on the southern shore of England. It is a place which has grown to its present importance from the natural advantages of maritime access, and the capability of defence arising from local circumstances, which have been extended by liberal expenditure under die direction of men of the most scientific attainments.

The entrance to the harbour, or more properly harbours, of Plymouth, is not without its dangers, consisting of rocks and shoals. Of the former are the Mewstone, the Shagstone, and the Renny ; and of the latter the Tinker, the Shovel, the Knap, and the Panther ; but their position is so well known, and so accurately pointed out by buoys, that in all but the most tempestuous and foggy weather they are easily avoided, and fewer accidents to ships occur here than in almost any other harbour. The first object deserving notice in the water-access to Plymouth is that part called the Sound, a most capacious anchoring place, capable of affording shelter and protection to fifty sail of the line. The Sound has been rendered secure by that prodigious display of human labour known by the name of the Breakwater. As a full and scientific description of that work has been given in a former volume (see vol. v. page 219), we refer to it; only adding, that since the trial of the storms of 1816 and 1817, the strength as well as the utility of the work has been proved by a storm which took place on the 23d of November 1824, when the whole southern coast of England was bestrewed with wreck and desolation. The tide then rose to the frightful height of twenty-six feet two inches, whilst the mean rise of its height at spring-tides is usually only eighteen feet. The greater part of the surface of the Breakwater was on that occasion completely overturned, and huge stones of from two to five tons each were carried from the outer and deposited on the inner slope. The centre and western ends suffered most, and the landing-place was destroyed. It is, however, considered that the advantage gained to the work by the shock, causing the blocks to settle down more firmly, will amply compensate for the derangement of the surface. On the whole, therefore, this occurrence may be considered as a most satisfactory proof of the utility and durability of this national barrier. It need scarcely be remarked, that those liabilities to injury to which such a work as the Breakwater is subject whilst in progress, will not exist in an equal degree when the work is completed. Thus, in a hurricane of January 1828 not a single stone of the finished part of the work was removed from its position. The fears entertained by some persons that the erection might ultimately prove detrimental to the Sound and to the harbour within, by causing an increased deposit of mud and silt, are satisfactorily proved to be groundless; no perceptible alteration having taken place in the depth of water in any of those places, or any change in the strength or the set of the tides.

Within the Breakwater there are many indentations, the mouths of which terminate in the Sound, and form excellent harbours, some of them adapted for the largest class of ships. The easternmost of these inlets is at first called Catwater, and extends to the Lake of Saltram, being crossed by the Lary Bridge, an elegant work, erected between the years 1824 and 1827, about 500 feet in length. The small river Plym, which gives its name to the town, empties its water into the Lake of Saltram. It is a stream of short course, rising from the Dartmoor Mountains. The next to Catwater is a capacious harbour, called Sutton Pool, which is capable of receiving a thousand sail. It is used chiefly by the largest class of merchant-ships, and by the steam-packets; and it has several yards for repairing or building merchant-vessels. The next harbour is called Mill Bay; it is chiefly used for commercial purposes, and has some good quays, some ship-building yards, and good moorings for steam-boats. Beyond that, at the extreme west, which it separates from Cornwall, is that indentation which is of the most importance to the British navy. It is the harbour of Hamoaze, one of the finest in the world. It is open to the full force of the tide, but receives the stores of fresh water which fall into it from the rivers Tavy, Tamar, Lynher, and St Germains. It is the place where the men of war in ordinary are moored; and on its border are [7:18:65]the extensive dock-yard, the gun-wharf, and the powder-magazine, which, with other objects, will hereafter be noticed. In Hamoaze, the admiral commanding the port has the flag displayed on his ship; and when surrounded, as he commonly is, by a hundred sail of vessels, a most impressive spectacle is presented to view afloat, whilst the picturesque objects on the shore tend to increase the effect.

Within the Breakwater is an island, sometimes called Drake’s, sometimes St Nicholas’. It is surrounded with rocks, has a strong castle and other fortifications, and is provided with furnaces for heating balls, and with other means of defence; and it is of great importance, as commanding the entrance into Hamoaze, Catwater, and the other harbours.

Little is known of Plymouth prior to the time of the Norman conquest, when it was called South Town or Sutton. In the reign of Edward I. it was called Sutton Prior and Sutton Vaíletort, the northern parts being situated on the lands of the prior of Plympton, and the southern parts on the estates of the Valletorts. At that period it was chiefly inhabited by fishermen. Under the fostering care of the priors the place made considerable advances, and the more appropriate name of Plym-mouth was given to it. The growing prosperity of the town excited the jealousy of France; and in 1389 a force from thence landed and attempted to burn it. They succeeded in burning a portion, but were ultimately repulsed, with the loss of 500 men, by Hugh Courtenay. Similar attempts were subsequently-made at various times, but with no great result; and after each, the fortifications were extended and strengthened. During the civil war between Charles I. and the parliament, Plymouth was held by the troops of the latter party, who, though besieged, and almost reduced by famine, resisted for three years every effort of the royalists. After the restoration, the citadel was erected; and in the reign of William III. the dock-yard and the naval arsenal were established towards the west, upon the eastern shore of Hamoaze. Since that time it has gone on increasing; but the greatest progress has been made during the present century, in which it has assumed a new character, in the intelligence and wealth of the inhabitants, as well as in the architectural style of its buildings both public and private. The buildings collectively called Plymouth are comprehended in three divisions, now known, the first by that name, the second by that of Stonehouse, and the third by that of Devonport. The name of the latter was till August 1824 Plymouth-Dock, when, on an application from the inhabitants, the present name was given by royal authority, on which occasion a column of 125 feet in height was erected to commemorate the introduction of the new name.

The population of the three ports, at the respective decennial enumerations, has been as follows:
[table]

Presuming, as we fairly may, that the increase between 1831 and the present time (1838) has been at the same rate as in the preceding periods, the actual population will be upwards of 85,000, or nearly double of what it was thirty-six years ago.

Plymouth was incorporated as a borough in the year 1439, and by that charter, and subsequent alterations of a trifling nature, was governed till 1835, when, by the law made to reform municipal corporations, it was divided into six wards, each choosing six councillors, who elect twelve aldermen, out of which one is appointed mavor; and, besides the mayor, it has six justices of the peace, who are nominated by the king. Two members for this borou<rh are returned to the House of Commons. The town is in the hundred of Roborough, and consists of two parishes, which are within the deanery of Plympton and the archdeaconry of Totness, in the diocese of Exeter. The church of the parish of St Andrews is interesting to the admirers of ancient architecture. It formerly belonged to a monasterv; and many alterations having been made since its erection in 1440, various styles are exhibited in the building, which thus as a whole appears incongruous; and, though handsome in parts, it wants, as regards the body of the church, that altitude which is the most essential ingredient of Gothic architecture. The windows are of the pointed style. The tower, containing a fine peal of eight bells, must be admitted to be of good general proportions, and it is crowned by a pinnacled compartment of remarkable beauty.

The other church, of the parish of Charles, was built in the reign of the first king of that name. The tower and spire have an agreeable outline, but otherwise the exterior of the building can only be described as in the debased Gothic style of a degenerate period. Each of these churches has a chapel attached to it, under the respective clergymen, which together contain sittings for 2700 persons. There are two other episcopal chapels, one in the citadel and the other on the Hoe, which afford sittings for about 3000 persons. The several sects of Methodists, Baptists, Independents, Quakers, Roman Catholics, and Unitarians, have their respective places of religious worship; but the first mentioned have by far the most numerous body of adherents. The Hoe or Howe at Plymouth is an eminence on the south side of the town. It is a healthful and pleasing promenade, stretching from Catwater to Mill Bay, on the eastern extremity of which is built the principal defence of this most important place, called the Citadel. The entrance to this work, on the side of the town, is through two gateways of a bad specimen of architecture. The buildings consist of houses for the governor and other officers, of barracks, an hospital, a magazine, an armoury, and a chapel. The fortification consists of three regular and two irregular bastions; the curtains of the regular bastions being strengthened by two ravelins and horn-works; on the east, north, and west sides are a deep ditch, counterscarp, and covered way, palisadoed, and the parapets are pierced for 120 cannon. The lower fort is connected with the Citadel, and is chiefly intended to defend the Sound.

• Amongst the public buildings of Plymouth, the most imposing is a noble pile, which comprehends the royal hotel, the assembly-rooms, and the theatre. The foundation was laid in September 1811; and the expense of the erection, amounting to L.60,000, was defrayed partly by the corporation and partly by the institution of a tontine.

The theatre is constructed with not less regard to the safety than to the accommodation of the audience. The roof and entire frame-work of the boxes are of iron, and the auditorium is of a magnitude frilly equal to the purpose of the legitimate drama.

The Athenaeum is a fine building erected by the Philosophical Institution, and completed in the year 1819. The porticoexhibits four columns appropriate to the character of a building devoted to literature and art. In connection with the institution a public library has been established, the building of which exhibits great taste and judgment.

The custom-house, a recent building, is worthy of the town, and convenient for its commerce. It exhibits a front of granite, suitable, solid, and well proportioned. The interior is well arranged for business. On the ground floor are the offices of the principal surveyor, the tide-surveyor, the landing waiter, the searchers, and others. A granite staircase[7:18:66] leads to the long room, which is fifty-four feet in length, twenty-six in width, and twenty-two in height. This building was completed in 1820, at an expense of L.8000.

The royal baths is a pile of building between Plymouth and Stonehouse, the appearance of which excites much admiration. It is most appropriately furnished with hot and cold baths of fresh or of sea water, of hot air, of sulphur, and of vapour. The front is in the Doric style of architecture. It has within it a pump-room, where a medicinal water is supplied from a spring, which is chiefly composed of chloride of sodium, muriate of magnesia, and muriate of lime, combined with small proportions of sulphate and carbonate of lime, and a very minute portion of carbonate of iron. It is perhaps the best arranged institution of the kind in England; and the luxuries it provides are administered at very low rates. It belongs to a joint-stock company, incorporated by charter in 1828.

A new public edifice, begun in 1835, for the benevolent purpose of establishing a hospital and dispensary for South Devon and East Cornwall, is approaching to its completion. At present the central part only is erecting; but in the plan it is contemplated to erect two wings, as soon as sufficient funds flow in for the purpose. These would double the capacity of the building as to beds, and supply other conveniences. There are in the centre part a theatre for operations and lectures, and wards for forty beds, with appropriate rooms for nurses and other attendants. Few towns have advanced so much within the last twenty years, in respect to its public buildings, as Plymouth. That advance Is still progressive, and new erections are now constructing, one intended as a guild-hall, instead of the old building, another as a new prison, and also one by a society for horticultural and other exhibitions. With all the improvements here noticed, it must be observed, that the principal thoroughfares are irregular in their disposition, and that the most bustling street is the narrowest of the town; and though there are excellent shops of every description, some of them exhibiting fronts of chaste architectural character, yet near them are houses of very antique date and style. The northern part of the town consists of small but neat houses; but the best masses of buildings are at the west end, and they are chiefly occupied by legal, medical, and other professional persons.

Plymouth is, upon the whole, a healthy place. The climate is mild but rainy: whilst frosts are gentle, and snow rarely remains on the ground. It is well supplied with fresh water, which is brought by pipes from a stream on Dartmoor, at twenty-four miles distance, and from a reservoir distributed in the several streets; the annual charge for the supply of water is sixteen shillings for each house. Provisions are uncommonly cheap, and of the best quality. The market for fish is very remarkable, both for the variety, the excellence, and the cheapness of that description of food. The market-days are Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, and the market-place is spacious, comprehending nearly three acres.

The maritime commerce of Plymouth is extensive. A great trade in timber is carried on with the Baltic, with America, and the Mediterranean, and there is a direct intercourse with the West Indies and Mauritius, which secures a good supply of tropical commodities. It is a bonding port for many articles, and especially for tobacco. There are also large importations of timber, hemp, tallow, and other articles, for the use of the dock-yard. The coasting trade is carried pn principally with London, Newcastle, Newport in Monmouthshire, and Bristol. Great quantities of manganese are shipped to Scotland, lead to Bristol, and some wool to Hull. The amount of duties paid at the custom-house was, in the year ending 5th January 1836, L.93,462. 3s. lid., and at 5th January 1837, L.103,423. 7s. 4d. The ships and their tonnage that entered the port in the year ending January 1837, were, British two hundred and nineteen ships, 20,890 tons; and foreign thirty-seven ships, 4779 tons. The whole number of ships owned by Plymouth are three hundred and fifty, the tonnage of which amounts to 30,000 tons. Besides these, there are more than fifty decked boats, called trawlers, employed in the extensive fishery at sea, which take such quantities of fish as to enable the captors to send them to Exeter, Bath, and even London. The building and repairing of ships gives occupation to a great number of persons.

Plymouth was in 1834 constituted a stannary town. The neighbouring tin and other mines are numerous and productive. The vicinity also abounds in quarries of granite, slate, and marble; the latter being highly esteemed for its veining and susceptibility of polish. The export of granite and the other stone is much facilitated by the railroad, twenty-four miles in length, which extends from the interior of Dartmoor to the quays of Catwater and Sutton Pool harbours. By the same means coal, lime, and manure are conveyed from the port to the interior. This railroad was executed by a joint-stock company formed in the year 1818, and was completed in 1820. The Exchange for the merchants, erected in 1813, is near the custom-house; and, amongst other institutions, it has a chamber of commerce, a marine insurance office, a steam-packet office, the oil-gas company’s office, and an appropriate reading-room.

Plymouth abounds with benevolent institutions, both of ancient and modern foundation, which, from the great number of them, can only be but slightly noticed. The workhouse, a corporate establishment, founded by several acts of parliament, provides for a great number of paupers of both sexes and of all ages. Charles’s alms-houses, Joy’s alms-houses, the Household of Faith, the new alms-houses, the Mendicity Society, the Female Benevolent Society, and some others, are supported either by bequests, or by voluntary contributions, or by annual subscriptions. Most of the places of worship have schools attached to them; and there are a few endowed schools, and one grammar-school, from whose funds exhibitions are given to students at Oxford. Besides the hospital already noticed, there is a large public dispensary, and an infirmary for diseases of the eye. There is a medical society, with a professional library for the members of the healing art, embracing the entire field of medical literature. In 1815, a law library was established, the members of which consist exclusively of barristers and attorneys. The books are open to the reference of any subscriber to the general library, to whose collection they have been recently united. The amusements of Plymouth are the stage, music, balls, annual races, and, what is more appropriate to the situation, regatta or marine races, in which the assistance of the Naval Yacht Club is afforded.

Stonehouse, the centre town of the group, received the name from Joel de Stonehouse, the lord of this domain in the reign of Henry III. before which it was called Hippeston. It is now descended to the Earl of Mount Edgecumbe, who, by g¾nting leases on liberal terms, has assisted in that great increase of the town which the state of the population at four periods has manifested. These leases are granted on lives, renewable for ever at a fixed fine, and subject to an annual conventional rent. The town is joined with Plymouth by a thoroughfare street, and it occupies nearly the same level. The southern part is most on the increase, and is almost entirely occupied by genteel families, chiefly those of naval and military officers, and other persons holding situations under the government.

Stonehouse was constituted a township by the reform act, and exercises the elective franchise in connection with the borough of Devonport. It is divided into two wards, the east and the west, by the line of Brownlow Street. It is under the jurisdiction of a bench of magistrates, who sit [7:18:67]weekly at a town-hall. The poor are under the management of a governor, visitors, and guardians, in a workhouse, attached to which is a prison for vagrants and petty offenders, who are detained till they can be removed by the orders of the magistrates. The chief trade by water is in coals and timber; and the vessels discharge their cargoes on quays in the Pool, in which are accommodations for building ships.

There are two parochial chapels, St George’s and St Paul’s, besides one in the Royal Naval Hospital, which together provide sittings for 2500 persons, and maintain a large national school. The Roman Catholics, Independents, both kinds of Methodists, and the Baptists, have also places of worship; and most of them have schools for the instruction of those attending the public services of them.

An object that strikes every one in passing from Plymouth into Stonehouse is the establishment of the United Gas Company, at Mill Bay, by which the three towns in a direct line of nearly four miles are supplied with light.

The edifices belonging to the government are the most prominent objects in Stonehouse. One of these, the Marine Barracks, is on the western shore of Mill Bay, where there is a convenient landing-place. The buildings form an oblong square, in front of which are the apartments for the privates, whilst those of the officers are on the two sides. On the west side are the entrance gate and a newly erected guard-house. These barracks are handsomely and regularly built, have an hospital, and accommodate about 1000 men. The mess apartments are spacious and well furnished, and the officers have a very good library.

The Royal Naval Hospital is situated in the north-east part of Stonehouse. This important institution for the reception of sick and wounded marines and seamen was found ed in 1762. It occupies a rising ground, and the area of the whole is about twenty-four acres, of which thirteen are formed into a delightful place of exercise-ground for the convalescent patients. It consists of ten buildings, surrounding an extensive quadrangle, each containing six wards calculated to receive sixteen patients; but in cases of emergency the number can be extended to twenty. Thus as many as twelve hundred patients can be accommodated at one time. The vast importance of this establishment may be seen by an authentic account, which shows, that in ten years from 1805 to 1815 no less than 48,452 seamen and marines were received into the hospital, and a very great proportion of them returned again to the service as effective men. The superior officer is of the rank of post-captain in the navy, and has under him two lieutenants. The other officers arc a physician, a surgeon, a steward, a dispenser, four hospital-mates, several extra mates, and a chaplain.

The most remarkable object at Stonehouse is one only finished during the last reign, and hence bearing the name of the Royal William Victualling Yard. It is situated close to the shore, upon which a most extensive marine terrace has been constructed, fifty feet broad and nearly 1500 feet in length. It is entered from the land side by a magnificent gateway, under an arch surmounted by a statue of his majesty, and two lateral ways. The whole of the building is of beautiful granite; and the shafts of the columns forming the internal avenue are each of one stone thirty-six feet high. After passing the gateway on the left are the neat granite-fronted residences of the two principal resident officers. On the right is the baking-establishment, comprising a quadrangular range of buildings 250 by 200 feet, enclosing an architectural chimney-shaft of granite 150 feet in height. Further on is the Melville quadrangle, 240 feet square, with its rusticated granite archway (twenty-eight feet high), and the clock-chamber, of the same material, making together an elevation of ninety-five feet, and forming a magnificent centre-piece sixty-one feet in width. Opposite to this is the basin, 250 by 200 feet in extent, surrounded by quays of granite, save where an iron swing-bridge vaults over an opening of forty-five feet into Stonehouse Pool. Answering the great bake-house, on the opposite of the basin, is the brew-house, similar in dimensions and in external character to the former, and having a corresponding chimney-shaft. Passing onwards in a direct line from the entrance, the irregular quadrangle of the cooperage is on the left, and beyond that the Clarence stores, which run along thequay of that name 340 feet. Thereis also a reservoir for fresh water, elevated above most of the buildings, being fifty feet in height, neatly finished with granite and an iron railing, which contains 7000 tons. The Melville quadrangle includes the offices of the establishment, and, with the Clarence stores, are used as depots for wet and dry provisions, and for slops for the seamen. In the brew-house a steam-engine is used in the operation of grinding malt, in mashing, and pumping. A similar engine is employed in the bake-house, where there are twenty-five pair of millstones, affording the means of grinding a thousand bushels of meal in ten hours. In the same period flour is converted in the bake-house into ship-biscuit, to the extent of 2450 pounds weight. The entire premises of this establishment occupy an extent of about thirteen acres, of which one half have been recovered from the sea, and the remainder excavated from the rock, the stone taken from which has been made use of to build a strong wall to defend the whole against the sea.

Devonport, the third town of the group, is divided from Stonehouse by an arm of the sea, or inlet, over which there is now a bridge. It is the most populous of the three; but within the last thirty years there has not been so rapid an increase of the inhabitants of this division as of the other two. It is in the parish of Stoke Damerel; and the ground on which it stands is for the most part the property of the St Aubyn family, whose steward holds a court-leet and a court-baron annually at Michaelmas, when a jury is sworn in, to prevent nuisances, and to appoint and swear in constables. Having been constituted a borough by the reform act, it now retürns two members to parliament; but the right of voting for them is also extended to the householders of Stonehouse. The town has neither mayor nor aldermen, but is governed by a board of 150 commissioners, elected chiefly from the inhabitants, vacancies being filled once a year; amongst them are the lord and steward of the manor, the commissioner of the dock-yard, the port-admiral, and some other official men. The act of parliament by which this body is constituted has vested in it the management of the watching, lighting, and cleaning the streets, of the poor, and the power of granting licenses to porters and watermen. The mayor, aldermen, and recorder of the borough of Plymouth and Saltash are also qualified to act on the licensing commission. A bench of resident magistrates hold petty sessions at the town-hall on every Wednesday.

The town of Devonport is supplied with water by a company established by act of parliament 33 George III., which, by means of pipes, have brought a stream of water from the Dartmoor Hills, which winds amongst the hills for thirty-seven miles, when it reaches a reservoir on the higher part of the town, whence it is distributed to the several streets and houses. The streets of the town are clean, and the whole has an appearance of great neatness; and two or three of these streets are of very handsome architecture. Several of the public buildings, though upon a small scale, arc distinguished for the classical elegance of their architectural designs. The town-hall is distinguished by a Doric portico in which the depth of the pronaos, and the elevation of the entrancedoor upon a second internal landing, are features exciting great admiration. The columns are twenty-seven feet six inches in height, and the lower diameters five feet six inches. The hall is seventy-five feet in length, forty feet [7:18:68]in width, and thirty-one feet in height. Within the building are cells for prisoners, offices for parochial business, and apartments occupied by the Mechanics’ Institute. The library is an elegant erection, like the town-hall, of recent construction, having been executed in 1823. The celebrated Denon, on seeing the design for this façade, pronounced it the best attempt to appropriate Egyptian architecture to domestic purposes that had ever come under his notice. The institution is designated the Civil and Military Library. It has a news-room, committee-room, and spacious library already containing between 4000 and 5000 volumes, constantly augmenting; and, besides, it possesses a comprehensive and valuable collection of minerals, presented by Sir John St Aubyn.

When the name of Devonport was given to this town, a column was erected to commemorate the grant, which now forms one of its chief architectural ornaments. This noble monument is of granite, fluted, and of Doric proportions; not quite six diameters in height; measuring sixty-five feet four inches from the bottom of the shaft to the top of the capital; and making, with its inferior and crowning pedestals a total altitude of 101 feet. Its height above the street, including the rock on which it stands, is 124 feet. A staircase of 140 steps leads to the gallery, the prospect from which will well repay any one for the labour of ascending to it.

The church of Stoke Damerel, the mother church of this very populous parish, being small, several chapels of ease have been erected. Mount Zion chapel exhibits an ingenious adaptation of Mahommedan architecture to Christian purposes. Though it has a strange, it has also a picturesque appearance; and the interior is capacious and commodious. St Aubyn’s chapel is distinguished by its stone spire. It was built by subscription, under an act of parliament, in 1'771. St John’s chapel was built in the same way, eight years later, at a cost of L.7700. The arrangement of the interior is curiously am phi theatrical. The roof embraces a clear span of seventy feet, the length of the chapel being ninety feet. Besides these episcopal chapels, a large one was built in the dock-yard by government in 1821. It was chiefly intended for the accommodation of the officers, civil, naval, and military, together with the operatives and soldiers belonging to the yard; but it is also open to the public. Besides the established churches, the Calvinist and Arminian Methodists, and the Independents and Baptists, have their places of worship, as well as the smaller sects of the Moravians and the Unitarians or Socinians.

The government-house, on Mount Wise, near the grand parade, commands a southern view, of much beauty. It contains every accommodation for carrying on the military government, and for the family of the governor. The front extends 200 feet. A large brass cannon, at the principal entrance, was taken from the Turks in the engagement of the Dardanelles. The port-admiral’s house is near to it, on the north-west side, and comprises all the offices for the transaction of naval business, except that of courts-martial, which are always held on board the flag-ship in Hamoaze. At a short distance from it, on the top of the hill, is the semaphore, by which a constant communication is maintained between the office and the flag-ship, and which forms the first of a chain of telegraphs communicating with the Admiralty in London. To illustrate the perfection of the telegraphic system, it will be sufficient to state, that a message has been sent to, and an answer received ιrom London, in fifteen minutes. The parade with its martial pomp and music, and Mount Wise with its charming walks and prospects, form a great source of pleasure to the inhabitants. To these may be added Richmond Walk at the foot of Mount Wise, which leads to the public baths constructed at the joint expense of the navy and ordnance departments, and to the king’s stairs, erected for access to the shore in 1820.

The most important object in Plymouth and its vicinity is the dock-yard. In the eighth volume of this work, under the article Docks, is a general description of this establishment, to which the reader is referred. To what is there stated, we may add, that the whole dock-yard extends over seventy-five acres of land, of which about one sixth is the property of the crown, and the remainder of Sir John St Aubyn, under a lease for twenty-one years, renewable every seven years with a fine of L.534. 4s. 6d., and an annual ground-rent of thirty shillings per acre.

The operations carried on within the yard give employment to upwards of 4000 men in time of war, and 1500 in time of peace; and in the latter case the number of individuals depending on it for subsistence exceeds 7000. The chapel of the dock-yard is a fine building, the foundation of which was laid in 1814. The interior is elegantly fitted up. It is one hundred feet in length and seventy-five in breadth, and has a tower with a set of bells. The erection is said to have cost L.24,000. In the year 1834 a police force was established as a civil guard to the dock-yard, consisting of a director, three inspectors, three sergeants, and forty constables.

The gun-wharf is an important part of this naval arsenal, on the north side of the dock-yard. It covers five acres of land. It contains storehouses filled with the various instruments of destruction; vast quantities of muskets, pistols, and cutlasses are deposited in chests or arranged in racks, or on the walls in the form of stars, circles, and crescents. Near these storehouses is the blacksmith’s shop, and other buildings used as depositories for gun-carriages, and the implements of the field-train. The intervals between the different edifices are occupied by piles of ordnance belonging to the ships in the harbour, with their respective names painted on the cannon. There are also large quantities of shot arrayed in pyramidical heaps, marked with the number contained in each pile. The vast portion of stores seen here, together with the armoury, form a sight worthy of attention.

Access is granted to the national depositories, on an application to the presiding officer, with the name, residence, and profession of the applicant. (g.) Plymouth. See New England.