Sutton Harbour, formerly known as Sutton Pool, is the original port of

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is still a busy

fishing port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

and

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : "related to the sea") 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 cargo ...

and is bounded on one side by the historic Barbican district. It is famous as the last departure point in England of the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...

'', the ship that carried the

Pilgrim Fathers The Pilgrims, also known as the Pilgrim Fathers, were the English settlers who travelled to North America on the ship ''Mayflower'' and established the Plymouth Colony at what now is Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. John Smith had named ...

to the

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

History

Sutton is the original name for Plymouth, which was originally settled in about 700 AD and is recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as ''Sudtone'', meaning "south settlement" in the

Old English language Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo- ...

. In 1588, the harbour was the base for the English fleet that sailed to challenge the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

. Although the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

moved most of its operations to Devonport in the 18th century and larger commercial shipping moved to Millbay Docks, Sutton Harbour continued in use by the fishing fleet and

coastal trading vessel Coastal trading vessels, also known as coasters or skoots, are shallow-hulled merchant ships used for transporting cargo along a coastline. Their shallow hulls mean that they can get through reefs where deeper-hulled seagoing ships usually cannot ...

Lock gate A lock is a device used for raising and lowering boats, ships and other watercraft between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a chamber in a permanently fixed position i ...

s were added to the harbour entrance in 1993.

Landmarks

The Barbican

The Barbican is the historic district on the western and northern sides of Sutton Harbour and takes its name from a 15th century fortification which once guarded the harbour mouth. The Barbican claims to have the largest concentration of cobbled streets in England and has more than 100

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s, many dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries. The Prawn

The Mayflower Steps

''The Leviathan''

On the west pier of Sutton Harbour stands ''The Leviathan'', a large

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

of an imaginary sea creature, made up of the parts of various marine animals and birds. It is the work of

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak (borough), High Peak, Derbyshire, England, east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. Near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Mancheste ...

based sculptor Brian Fell; it is made from mild steel coated with copper paint and is 33 feet (10 metres) tall. It is known locally as "The Prawn".

Plymouth Fisheries

Admiral Grenville beam trawler - geograph

Originally, Plymouth's

fish market A fish market is a marketplace for selling Fish as food, fish and fish products. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between Fisherman, fishermen and fish merchants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish ma ...

was on the quayside at The Barbican; a purpose-built market building was opened there in 1892. In 1995, a new building was opened on the other side of Sutton Harbour. The turnover of the market has increased from £250,000 a year in 1995 to £19.4 million in 2015. The market now sells 6,000 tonnes of fish and

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

annually, and is the second largest fish market in England. Around 40

fishing boat A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals (e.g. shrimps/prawns, krills, coleoids, etc.) in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial, arti ...

s unload their catch at Sutton Harbour daily, but up to 70 per cent of fish sold in Plymouth arrives by road from other fishing ports in the South West of England.

The Marina

In 1972, the first 70 berths were opened for recreational

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

s; today Sutton Harbour has 420. The Marina is managed by Sutton Harbour Holdings PLC.

National Marine Aquarium

The National Marine Aquarium is the largest marine aquarium in the United Kingdom, with around 400 marine species, including a deep tank holding 2.5 million litres (550,000

Imperial gallon The gallon is a unit of measurement, unit of volume in British imperial units and United States customary units. The imperial gallon (imp gal) is defined as , and is or was used in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, including Ireland ...

s) of water. The aquarium opened in 1998, replacing one at the Plymouth Laboratory of the

Marine Biological Association The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (MBA) is a learned society with a scientific laboratory that undertakes research in marine biology. The organisation was founded in 1884 and has been based in Plymouth since the Citadel Hil ...

, adjacent to the Royal Citadel.

References

{{coord, 50.368, -4.133, type:waterbody_region:GB_dim:2000, display=title Tourist attractions in Plymouth, Devon Geography of Plymouth, Devon Ports and harbours of Devon Industrial archaeological sites in Devon