Mount Batten is a 24-metre (80-ft) tall outcrop of rock on a 600-metre (2000-ft)

peninsula A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...

in Plymouth Sound, Devon, England, named after Sir

William Batten Sir William Batten (1601 to 5 October 1667) was an English naval officer and administrator from Somerset, who began his career as a merchant seaman, served as second-in-command of the Parliamentarian navy during the First English Civil War, th ...

(c.1600-1667), MP and

Surveyor of the Navy The Surveyor of the Navy also known as Department of the Surveyor of the Navy and originally known as Surveyor and Rigger of the Navy was a former principal commissioner and member of both the Navy Board from the inauguration of that body in 15 ...

; it was previously known as How Stert. After some redevelopment which started with the area coming under the control of the

Plymouth Development Corporation The Plymouth Development Corporation (or PDC) was an urban development corporation established in Plymouth, Devon, England by the UK Government on 1 April 1993 to "secure the physical, environmental, economic and social regeneration" of surplus p ...

for five years from 1993, the peninsula now has a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...

and centre for sea sport. The Mount Batten Breakwater (also referred to as Cattewater Breakwater and, incorrectly, Mount Batten Pier) to the west doubles as a breakwater for the

Cattewater The city of Plymouth, Devon, England is bounded by Dartmoor to the north, the Hamoaze to the west, the open expanse of water called Plymouth Sound to the south and the river Plym to the east. The Cattewater is that stretch of water where the mo ...

and

Sutton Harbour Sutton Harbour, formerly known as Sutton Pool, is the original port of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is still a busy fishing port and marina and is bounded on one side by the historic Barbican district. It is famous as the last departure poi ...

. It was built in 1881 by the Cattewater Commissioners and subsequently refurbished by the Plymouth Development Corporation opening formally in 1995.

History

Early history

According to excavations reported by

Barry Cunliffe Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe, (born 10 December 1939), known as Barry Cunliffe, is a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007. Since 2007, he has been an Emeri ...

in 1988, Mount Batten was the site of the earliest trade with Europe yet discovered in

Bronze Age Britain Bronze Age Britain is an era of British history that spanned from until . Lasting for approximately 1,700 years, it was preceded by the era of Neolithic Britain and was in turn followed by the period of Iron Age Britain. Being categorised as ...

, operating from the late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

, peaking in the late

Iron Age Britain The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric I ...

and continuing in operation throughout the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

period. It appears to have been the primary route of entry to

for large quantities of continental commodities such as wine, and is therefore a speculative candidate for the trading centre of ' Ictis' reported by

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...

and for the 'Tamaris' of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

Geographia The ''Geography'' ( grc-gre, Γεωγραφικὴ Ὑφήγησις, ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis'', "Geographical Guidance"), also known by its Latin names as the ' and the ', is a gazetteer, an atlas, and a treatise on cartography, com ...

. Three fine British-made

bronze mirror Bronze mirrors preceded the glass mirrors of today. This type of mirror, sometimes termed a copper mirror, has been found by archaeologists among elite assemblages from various cultures, from Etruscan Italy to Japan. Typically they are round an ...

s were excavated on the peninsula, among many other ancient finds, but were lost in the

Plymouth Blitz The Plymouth Blitz was a series of bombing raids carried out by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' on the English city of Plymouth in the Second World War. The bombings launched on numerous British cities were known as the Blitz. The royal d ...

Coastal erosion

Before the Plymouth Breakwater was completed in 1841 and the Mount Batten Breakwater in 1881, the Mount Batten peninsula was subject to significant

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of waves, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts of storms. The landwar ...

. In the 17th century, maintenance of the Cattewater required annual removal of silt and rubble which was dumped on the south side of Mount Batten. However, in 1633 and 1634 the Mount Batten

isthmus An isthmus (; ; ) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea counterpart of an isthmus ...

was breached. A sea wall was built to resolve the problem but it wasn't until the breakwaters were built that the problem was finally solved.

Mount Batten Tower

In the later

Medieval period In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, Mount Batten became an important defensive point for the developing settlement at Plymouth Harbour, providing a field of fire from across the other side of the

, the channel connecting the old town to the sea. In 1652, Mount Batten Tower, a 30-foot high circular artillery fort was built here; it is a

Scheduled Ancient Monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

Maritime incidents

In 1973, a short distance from Mount Batten, the

Cattewater Wreck Cattewater Wreck is a wooden three-masted, skeleton-built vessel, one of many ships that have wrecked in Cattewater, Plymouth Sound, England. This wreck is close to the entrance of Sutton Harbour, its name is still unknown but it is believed to b ...

was discovered during dredging. Subsequent survey and excavation work indicated that the wreck was of a 200–300 ton merchantmen believed to have been lost in the early 16th Century. It has the distinction of being the first wreck to be protected under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973. On 16 February 1811, the

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed an ...

wrecked on the ground near Cony Cliff Rocks, Mount Batten. Eight seamen lost their lives.

Quarrying at Mount Batten

Extensive quarrying took place at Mount Batten between 1839 and the mid-1860s. Stones from the quarry were used for building steam yards at

HMNB Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the R ...

. The quarrying substantially changed the local landscape and threatened the Mount Batten Tower. Following a petition from 53 leading citizens to the Admiralty, Lord Morley, the landowner, imposed restrictions on quarrying thereby saving the tower.

Mount Batten Breakwater

Mount Batter Breakwater during storm on 3 Jan 2012

Work on the Mount Batten Breakwater (also referred to as Mount Batten Pier and Cattewater Breakwater) started in 1878 and was completed in 1881 at a total cost of £20,000. It is 915 feet (279 metres) in length and the foundations are 20 feet (6 metres) below the low tide mark. The breakwater was promoted by the Cattewater Commissioners who were responsible for shipping in the area. During the air-station years the breakwater was closed to the public and used, for a period, to store flying boats. In 1995 the breakwater was refurbished and re-opened to the public. The breakwater is a popular site for local anglers and for those watching ships using the Plymouth Sound. Boats in the Fastnet and Americas Cup, can also be viewed. In August each year, the breakwater is used for the

British Firework Championships The British Firework Championships or National Firework Championships is an annual competition held in Plymouth, Devon, England, every August where judges review fireworks displays from professional fireworks companies and select the best examp ...

Early tourism

The coastal walk to Jennycliff and local inns, originally built to service those working on the quarries, helped make Mount Batten an increasingly popular destination for Plymothians. During one bank holiday in 1906, some 10,000 visitors took the ferry to the area. This fledgling tourist industry came to an abrupt end when the area was closed to the public.

The air-station years (1913–1986)

Seaplane trials first took place around Mount Batten as early as 1913 and an air-station was subsequently developed. A local commemorative display poster cites the following names and years for the air station: * 1913–1918 as RNAS Cattewater * 1918–1928 as RAF Cattewater * 1928–1986 as

RAF Mount Batten RAF Mount Batten was a Royal Air Force station and flying boat base at Mount Batten, a peninsula in Plymouth Sound, Devon, England. Originally a seaplane station opened in 1917 as a Royal Navy Air Service Station Cattewater it became RAF Catte ...

Between 1917 and 1945, with some gaps, it was a

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fuselag ...

base for both the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

. The RAF operated

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

launches from the base. T. E. Lawrence was stationed there under the moniker Aircraftsman Shaw. Shorts Sunderland flying boats of the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

operated from RAF Mount Batten during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, taking part in the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allies of World War II, ...

. The RAF finally left in 1986.

Recent history

The former RAF Mount Batten site was transferred to the Plymouth Development Corporation in 1992. In 1999, the Mount Batten Sailing and Watersports Centre opened on the site of the former sergeants' mess. The

is also home to a small residential community with 22 houses, Spinnaker Quay, dating from 2001.

References

{{Coord, 50, 21, 34, N, 4, 07, 47, W, display=title, type:landmark_region:GB Geography of Plymouth, Devon Former populated places in Devon