Tothill - a potted history
Introduction:
One of the aims of the Fotp has been to find out as much as possible about the history of the park and the immediate area.
As well as being of interest it may also help with the application for various funding and grants.
The history of the park does not seem to have been very well documented, and what follows is all Roger (our vice chairman)
has been able to find out so far. If anyone has any additional information we would be very grateful to receive it. At some point in
the future it may be possible to publish a book or pamphlett on the park's history and development, the proceeds of which could go into
the park fund.
Tothill Bay:
If you travelled up the River Plym from the Cattewater by boat, just over two hundred years ago, you would have passed on your left
hand side three tidal inlets or creeks. The mouth of the first creek lay between two outcrops of rock. These were called "Little
Prince Rock" and "Greater Prince Rock". The area covered by the creek is occupied today by Prince Rock playing fields and the small
industrial estate in Embankment Lane. The next creek lay between Greater Prince Rock and Arnold's Point (then known as
"Leurie Point"). It covered the area occupied today by Tothill Park and the railway embankment leading to Friary, It extended as
far as Egerton Crescent and was known as Tothill Bay. The last creek lay between Arnold's Point and Crabtree village. It was the
biggest of the creeks and covered the area occupied by Lipson Community College, the playing fields and the main line railway.
It stretched as far as the bottom of Alexandra Road where St Augustine's Church was, and was known as Lipson Lake. The main road
into Plymouth from Plympton ran along the north side of this creek, around the end and up Lipson Hill, past what is today Freedom
Park, and down to Gasgoyn (now Gasking) Street.
If you travelled out from Plymouth, past Beaumont House and the grounds, you would come to a junction with Greenbank Lane (today's
Greenbank Avenue) and Tothill lane, (today the top of the hill in Beaumont Road). The first part of Tothill Lane is still there and runs down between
the back of the houses in Egerton Road and Beaumont Road top the junction of Seymour Avenue, South View Terrace and Lanhydrock
Road. The lane then ran along the northern edge of the creek to Arnold's Point. Comparing old maps of the area with modern ones,
it seems to have followed South View Terrace as far as Craven Avenue, then down the lane between the back of the houses in South
View Terrace and Lanhydrock Road, and along the northern edge of Lanhydrock Road.
Early maps show a number of springs, with streams running into the creek. One stream ran beside Tothill Lane emptying into a pond
near the bottom of Seymour Avenue, and then passing under the lane and into the creek. An eighteenth century map refers to this
area as the "Willow Plot", and the top end of the creek as the "Duke of Bolton's Marsh".
The origin of the name Tothill is still uncertain. One explanation found from an extract in the library states that the word
"Tothill" comes from the Saxon word "Totaern" meaning "lookout hill". This obviously refers to the high ground, not the bay, covered
by today's St Judes and Mount Gould. For the Saxon settlement of Sutton situated near St Andrew's Church, this would have been an
ideal spot to lookout for potential invaders coming in from the north or east, and for any ship borne invasion. Another possibility
quoted by Nicholas Casey of the Old Plymouth Society mentions a reference dated 1502-03 to a place called "Totwell" in the vicinity
Plymouth, although the earliest reference to Tothill would appear to be at the time of the civil war.
Tothill Park:
Plans to embank the creeks of the river and turn the drained areas into profitable land began in the eighteenth century. However it
wasn't until 1802 that Lord Boringdon and a group of local businessmen obtained an act of Parliament to embank Tothill Bay and
Lipson Lake. It would enclose 181 acres of land, which could then be sold. Work began immediately and by October 1802 the tide was
kept out of the Lipson Creek for the first time. The embankment was finally finished in 1809, A new route into Plymouth was now
available avoiding the steep Lipson hill.
1825 saw the Plymouth and Dartmoor (horse drawn) Railway run beside the embankment into Cattedown. This was followed by the Great
Western railway (GWR) to Sutton Pool in 1851. By 1878 the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) had built a line on another
embankment into Friary Station, (the site of the old Carmelite Friary), so defining the eventual southern boundary of Tothill Park.
An 1894 map shows fifteen houses built in Egerton Crescent, and the present park area divided up into seven fields. There is also
shown a tennis ground and a building close up against the railway embankment in the area of the junction of Knighton Road and
Egerton Crescent. A stream or culvert runs down the middle of the area and out into the river passing under the railway embankment.
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Maps dated 1907, 1912, 1914 and 1920 show the area of the present ornamental park as a "Recreation Ground". The next available map
of 1933 shows the paths, flowerbeds, tennis court and bowling green all laid out. Somewhere between these two dates the park was
constructed, but by who and when?
The Tothill Community Centre:
During the Second World War a large number of American servicemen were stationed in and around Plymouth. There was even an anti-aircraft
unit stationed in Tothill Park, presumably because of the railway line running into Friary, and in particular the two bridges which
would have been prime targets for the German bombers. At the end of the war, the "British War Relief Society of the United States" gave
two large sums of money to Plymouth in grateful recognition of its efforts as a host to the American servicemen. The first of these
sums, (over £6,000), was used to build the Tothill Community Centre, and the second the Trelawney Centre in Ham. The Tothill centre
was officially opened by the then Lord mayor Ald. (later Sir) Harry Mason on September 13th 1945.
An extension was added at a cost of
£760, and opened by the deputy Lord Mayor, Mr W.J.Oats on September 27th 1950. The money had been raised by the centre members, in
particular the women's good-neighbour group. At an annual dinner of the Community Centre in February 1955, the Lord Mayor said that
the membership of the Centre had risen from 200 in 1945 to 450, and would now need twice as big a building, which would cost over
£5,000, of which £1,600 had been raised so far. In November 1959, a Western Morning News article put the extension cost at £10,000. One of
the new amenities planned for the new hall was in indoor bowling rink. The membership had now risen to 500.
The new extension was
finally opened on Tuesday the 12th April 1965 by the Lord Mayor Ald. T.H.Watkins, at a cost of £14,500. In May 1971 the full time
warden, Mr Edgar Boulton-Way an ex-army warrant officer, retired having been in post since 1947. The membership now stood at 3,000
members.
We have compiled some appropriate images to accompany this article that show various periods in the history of both the park and St Judes in general.
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the various copyright holders for allowing us to freely reproduce them here. Images can
be purchased, if required, from the copyright holders. Each full size image contains full details.
 Cottage Little Saltram Rugg Monk 50.59.127.jpg)
Coombe Cottage, Little Saltram, c1892; PCMAG Rugg Monk 50.59.127 |
Field at the east end of Tothill Lane, c1900; PLS Reference P7 Lai |
Tothill Lane junction with the Embankment, c1890; PLS Reference P388.1 Lai |
Mount Gould from the south, c1900; PCMAG AR1967.44.13 |
Photograph captioned 'Mount Gould', c1900; PCMAG AR1967.44.12 |
Little Saltram Farm, c1892; PCMAG Rugg Monk 37.112.61.jpg |
Farm House (Little Saltram Farm), near Mount Gould, c1892; PCMAG Rugg Monk 50.59.130 |
Lane leading to Little Saltram, c1892; PCMAG Rugg Monk 50.59.128 |
Mount Gould House, c1892; PCMAG Rugg Monk 50.59.131 |
Tothill House, late 19th century; PCMAG Rugg Monk 37.112.54 |
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.jpg)
Tothill Lane and drained land at Tothill Bay, no date; PCMAG Collection |
Moorings and Boathouses in Tothill Bay - Fact or 'Urban Myth'?
When I have spoken to some people about the history of the Laira and Tothill Bay, I have been told there are the remains
of mooring rings and boathouses still to be seen at the west end of Lanhydrock Road. Some people claim to remember them
in use; others recall family memories of them in use / being used.
I am a little sceptical; after all, the Embankment had stopped the tide and boats entering Tothill Bay in the early
1800s. The creek was slowly drained. Nothing is depicted on known maps and plans.
It is possible that there could have been a small quay or landing point on the shores of Tothill Bay before the
Embankment (pre c1802), though again we currently have no evidence of this. However, we do know of other quays served
by the Laira - Point Quay (Arnold's Point), Saltram Quay and Crabtree or Efford Quay. There is structural evidence too
of a quay at Blackstone (Blaxton) Point (north of Blaxton Meadow), Saltram - possibly where the Ebb Ford came ashore. I
have also heard mention of a 'Quay/Key Field', now far inland but once on the shores of Chels(t)on Creek, Saltram.
I would suggest that the stone retaining walls (abutments) with relieving arches at the west end of Lanhydrock Road are
just that. Built in or soon after the 1890s to facilitate the associated housing developments and road network - and not
shown on the Ordnance Survey map of that period - or earlier.
It is not unusual to see Victorian (and earlier) supporting and retaining walls feature relieving arches. More materials
and expense are needed for a solid earth or stone faced embankment. Sometimes the spaces beneath and/or behind a supporting
or facing embankment wall could be conveniently used as cart sheds or garages (think of railway viaducts).
Some people have memories of boats being kept in the 'arches' at Tothill… This is much more likely and perhaps, with the
passage of time, helps explain why some still talk of more substantial moorings and boathouses on the north shore of
Tothill Bay….
Nigel Overton, Maritime Heritage Officer,
Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery
June 2007
Do you know anything about the history of Tothill Park or the surrounding area? Can you identify, or do you have stories or memories
related to any of the picures used? If so, we would like to hear from you. Please use the contact
page [here] and let Rob (the webmaster) know.
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 Cottage Little Saltram Rugg Monk 50.59.127.jpg&image_text=Also known as 'Policeman's Cottage'. This was probably part of the Little Saltram Farm estate. Nearby, now part of the site of Salisbury Road School, was the site of 'Tothill Gardens'.&image_copyright=Photo and information courtesy of Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery and Plymouth Library Services - in support of the Heritage Lottery Funded 'Plymouth's Eastern Gateway' Project.)
. The image displayed here is copyright. For this reason, you may not copy, download, save or publish it in any other publication or medium. The image may only be viewed here.&aerialmap=http://www.tothillpark.co.uk/aerialmaps/FieldattheeastendofTothillLane.jpg&maintitle=Field at the east end of Tothill Lane, c1900; <i>PLS Reference P7 Lai</i>&sourceimg=pls&image_title=Tothill east post GWR bridge1897 PLS P7LAIL.jpg&image_text=With Friary Junction signal box and rail bridges across Embankment Road carrying the LSWR (bridge right, built 1879) and the GWR (bridge left, built 1897).&image_copyright=Photo and information courtesy of Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery and Plymouth Library Services - in support of the Heritage Lottery Funded 'Plymouth's Eastern Gateway' Project.)
. The image displayed here is copyright. For this reason, you may not copy, download, save or publish it in any other publication or medium. The image may only be viewed here.&aerialmap=http://www.tothillpark.co.uk/aerialmaps/TothillLanejunctionwiththeEmbankment.jpg&maintitle=Tothill Lane junction with the Embankment, c1890; <i>PLS Reference P388.1 Lai</i>&sourceimg=pls&image_title=Tothill Lane-Embankment Toll PLS P388.1L.jpg&image_text=Embankment Road runs below and alongside the Embankment itself. This is probably the first tollhouse that stood at this junction. Across the Laira is the Ride embankment and the reclaimed land at Chels(t)on Creek, Saltram.&image_copyright=Photo and information courtesy of Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery and Plymouth Library Services - in support of the Heritage Lottery Funded 'Plymouth's Eastern Gateway' Project.)
, near Mount Gould, c1892; <i>PCMAG Rugg Monk 50.59.130</i>&sourceimg=pcmag&image_title=Little Saltram Farm 1892 Rugg Monk 50.59.130.jpg&image_text=This photograph is one of several of the wider Lipson area published in the ‘Doidges Annual’ of 1909. It is perhaps hard to believe that this is how the area looked before its rapid development for new housing in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The 1909 caption reads: “This was a well-known and interesting old house, which stood on the lane which led from Tothill Lane to Mount Gould, and passing en route Seymour House, occupied by the late Mr. Isaac Watts. The position was somewhere about the present Salisbury Road.”&image_copyright=Photo and information courtesy of Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery and Plymouth Library Services - in support of the Heritage Lottery Funded 'Plymouth's Eastern Gateway' Project.)
.jpg&image_text=This is thought to be the east end of Tothill Lane, now Lanhydrock Road, before the development of the Astor Estate at Mount Gould. Could that be Mount Gould House on the left and cottages at Arnold's Point on the right?&image_copyright=Photo and information courtesy of Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery and Plymouth Library Services - in support of the Heritage Lottery Funded 'Plymouth's Eastern Gateway' Project.)
