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Summary

Dartmouth Harbour was an important port from the 13th to the 19th century

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX85SE/35
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX85SE52

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HARBOUR (Early Medieval to XXI - 1066 AD to 2009 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, SX85SE52 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV341085.

Dartmouth was an important Medieval port and in 1147 was the rendezvous for the European fleet which set out on the Second Crusade. Later it was a leading port for the Bordeaux wine trade. At the siege of Calais in 1346 it contributed 31 ships; bettered only by Fowey and Yarmouth. By the Tudor period the growth of the cloth trade was bringing many vessels to the harbour and the pilchard fishery was important. Dartmouth played a major role in the Newfoundland cod fisheries in the 16th-18th centuries although trade declined after the Dutch wars and the port lost its importance. The New Quay of 1584 still remains but much of the harbour was altered when the north and south embankments were built in 1882. Phillip's shipyard on the east side of the river was in operation from 1891 to 1974.

Loomie, A. J., 1963, An Armada Pilot's Survey of the English Coastline, October 1597, 288-300 (Article in Serial). SDV23874.

Described in 1597 survey as a good harbour for 300 ships.

Saunders, A. D., 1965, Dartmouth Castle, 5-7 (Pamphlet). SDV173182.

Minchinton, W. E., 1973, Industrial Archaeology in Devon, 11 (Monograph). SDV7016.

Dartmouth Harbour. Important as a port in the 13th and 14th centuries, Dartmouth played a major role in the Newfoundland fisheries in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The New Quay of 1584 still remains but much else was altered when the north and south embankments were built in 1882. The Butterwalk and the group of waterfront houses at Bayards Cove were built in the 17th century.

Martin, M., 1980, Changes in the waterfront of Dartmouth 1000 to 1970, 129-36 (Article in Serial). SDV337580.

Waterhouse, R., Unknown, Dartmouth Conservation Area: Archaeology, 7-8 (Un-published). SDV355585.

After the construction of the Foss, by 1243, quays began to be built along its outer edge and the Pool of Dartmouth developed, with with quays projecting from Clarence Street into the creek mouth and into the river to the south-east of St Saviour’s Church. One of the earliest references to a quay on the Foss is from 1344, when John Hawley 1 built a warehouse and quay just south of the millrace. This was still called Hawley’s Hall in 1619 but disappeared as a result of reclamation in the late 17th century.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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