Commercial Wharf Archaeological Project

Figure 1: Looking down on the Commercial Wharf site prior to the fill behind the quay wall being lowered (Martin Read)

Introduction

In the early part of 2022, rescue archaeological work was carried out by volunteers from Plymouth Archaeology Society at Commercial Wharf, on the Plymouth waterfront. Part of the limestone quay wall was failing, leading to emergency conservation work to prevent the wall from collapsing into the sea (figs. 1 & 2). As part of this, the reclaimed ground behind the wall was being removed.

With the help of Plymouth City Council, volunteers from Plymouth Archaeology Society carried out rescue work on the site from mid-January to mid-March 2022, recovering as much archaeological information as was possible whilst not delaying the emergency work.

Figure 2: Commercial Wharf with bags to prevent quay wall collapse (Martin Read)

The site, at the northern end of the wharf, is located just outside the Medieval, Tudor & Stuart town, which extended as far south as the narrow entrance to Sutton Pool, approximately where the Barbican West Pier now is.

To the west of the site was a ridge on which the late medieval Castle Quadrate stood, guarding the narrow entrance to Sutton Pool. Immediately to the north was a defended quay and beyond that Southside Quay, reclaimed in 1572.

To the south was the steep Lambhay valley and then the promontory of Fishers Nose on which was a battery built in the 1590s as part of the improved Hoe defences, post Spanish Armada.

The earliest documented development along the waterfront from the Barbican defended quay to Fisher’s Nose was in 1654, when Captain Henry Hatsell, the Commonwealth Commissioner of the Navy and Victualling in Plymouth, leased land in the Lambhay from the Strode family (of Newnham, near Plympton) to build storehouses and an office at what became Phoenix Wharf - the start of the Lambhay Victualling Yard.

Figure 3: Fishers Nose to Phoenix Wharf, showing the quay walls of the early Victuallying Yard, with the 17th century Royal Citadel behind (Martin Read)

The first mention of development in the area of the site was a lease dating to Nov 1655 (Box ref 1/634) between the Plymouth merchant Timothy Alsop and the Plymouth Corporation of ‘waste ground’ extending south from the Barbican defended quay and east of the way leading from the Barbican to the Hoe defences. The lease mentions that Alsop (variously spelt Alsoppe, Allsop, etc) was due to construct houses, cellars and other such buildings.

By 1657 ‘new buildings’ had been built on this plot. An undated plan of land beneath the Castle (Box ref 72/1204/Ai), which must have been drawn between ca.1659-1665, shows a line of buildings on the waterfront with doors and windows facing east, apart from the northernmost building which faced onto the Barbican defended quay. The buildings seem to get bigger from north to south. However, no sea wall is shown along this stretch of the waterfront.

In the 1660s and 1670s several maps were made by the military engineer Sir Bernard de Gomme relating to the development of the nearby Royal Citadel. The first in this series is dated 1665 (BL Add. MSS. 16370 f.43) and shows a wharf running southwards from the defended quay. As our site lies within this wharf, reclamation must have taken place sometime between ca.1659-1665.

A visitor to Plymouth in March 1668 was Cosimo de' Medici, ‘Prince of Tuscany’, who produced a panorama (fig. 3) of the area showing a long warehouse, with dormer windows in the roof, running south along the waterfront from the castellated defended quay. This warehouse does not extend to the end of the quay – to the south a door in the sea wall can be seen with a building above.

Figure 3: 1668 panorama of Plymouth (British Library Add. 33,767)

Later history of the site

A map of 1725 (fig. 4) still shows the long warehouse extending south from the armed quay, with the line of buildings behind with some infilling of open areas.

Figure 4: Map of Plymouth Citadel and Town 1725 (British Library K.Top.11.82) Click for zoomable map

The original warehouse is found on maps until 1780. At some point, the building was replaced by a much larger three-storey warehouse covering the full width of the 1655 plot. This building seems to have needed more substantial walls for support, resulting in an outer skin being added to the sea wall using much larger limestone blocks (fig.*). The Barbican West Pier, built in the 1790s, butts up to this new warehouse and quay wall (fig.*), the redevelopment probably taking place during the 1780s.

At some point, the area was leased by Plymouth Corporation to the Lambhay Victualling Yard. This may be connected with the French Wars of the later 18thc and the need for greater storage capacity, stimulating the rebuilding of the warehouse.

When the Victualling Yard moved to the Royal William Yard in Stonehouse, the Lambhay site was sold for commercial use. The sale details, published in The Globe (a London newspaper) in July 1831, included the northern end leased from Plymouth Corporation. Lot 6 ‘consisting of Barbican cellars with granaries over, storehouses with lofts over, etc.’ and with a harbour frontage of 133 feet. The lot was ‘bought in but later sold to Mr Frean for £20’ and the buildings used as storage by the miller George Frean (who went on to co-found Peek Frean biscuits).

The warehouse survived until ca.1930 when it was demolished as part of a road widening scheme by Plymouth City Council.

Conclusions from Historical Research

Large parts of the waterfront from the Barbican armed quay to Fisher’s Nose were redeveloped in the 1650s, with reclamation of the site taking place sometime between ca.1659-1665. A 2-storey warehouse was built on the wharf frontage between 1665-7. This building was replaced by a 3-storey warehouse in the late 18thc.