The Royal Citadel in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England, was built in the late 1660s to the design of Sir

Bernard de Gomme Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...

. It is at the eastern end of

Plymouth Hoe Plymouth Hoe, referred to locally as the Hoe, is a large south-facing open public space in the English coastal city of Plymouth. The Hoe is adjacent to and above the low limestone cliffs that form the seafront and it commands views of Plymouth ...

overlooking

Plymouth Sound Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England. Description Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...

, and encompasses the site of the earlier fort that had been built in the time of

Sir Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ( ...

. The citadel site is a Scheduled Monument and many of the buildings within are

Grade II Listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

Drake's Fort

In 1590, Sir Francis Drake was appointed to improve the defences of Plymouth. After setting up some temporary

artillery batteries In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit or multiple systems of artillery, mortar systems, rocket artillery, multiple rocket launchers, surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, etc., so grouped to facil ...

, Drake petitioned the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

for the funds to build a

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

on Plymouth Hoe that could dominate 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 ...

, the approach to Sutton Harbour, which at that time was the main port at Plymouth. By May 1592,

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

had decided that the fort could be funded by a tax on every hogshead of

pilchard "Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes from the ...

s which was exported from Plymouth. Construction of the fort dragged on until 1596 and was only finished after the government had drafted in a further 500 labourers. The northern landward side of the fort was protected by two

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

s and it enclosed the previously established batteries overlooking the Cattewater, and also the Fisher's Nose

Blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

, located on its south east corner, which dates from about 1540. A further blockhouse called Queen Elizabeth's Tower was built a short distance to the west of Fisher's Nose.

Design and construction of the Citadel

Royal Citadel main gate.jpg, The Baroque main gate of the Royal Citadel. Note the date 1670 above the arch Gomme, Sir Bernard de (English) 1666-7 and 1672. Two plans of the citadel at Plymouth. RMG K1029.jpg, De Gomme's original designs for the Royal Citadel During the

Dutch Wars The Anglo–Dutch Wars ( nl, Engels–Nederlandse Oorlogen) were a series of conflicts mainly fought between the Dutch Republic and England (later Great Britain) from mid-17th to late 18th century. The first three wars occurred in the second ...

of 1664-67 King Charles II decided that it was necessary to realise the importance of Plymouth as a channel port. The original plan was to build a regular self-contained fort with five

s, to the west of Drake's Fort, but this was revised to take in the earlier fort, resulting in the Citadel's irregular outline. Possibly due to Plymouth's support for the Parliamentarians in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

its guns could also fire on the town. De Gomme faced some criticism over his unorthodox design: for instance when

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...

visited in 1683 he wrote that "De Gomme hath built very sillily". Work began in March 1665, but it was not until 18 July 1666 that the foundation stone was laid by

John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath PC, 29 August 1628 – 22 August 1701, was an English landowner who served in the Royalist army during the First English Civil War and was rewarded for his services after the 1660 Stuart Restoration with a title ...

. This stone, inscribed 'Jo Earle of Bathe 1666', is still in the wall facing the Hoe. Elements from the earlier Tudor fort were incorporated into the new work. The Citadel is built of local

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, while the

English Baroque English Baroque is a term used to refer to modes of English architecture that paralleled Baroque architecture in continental Europe between the Great Fire of London (1666) and roughly 1720, when the flamboyant and dramatic qualities of Baroque ...

gateway, designed by Sir Thomas Fitz, is of

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

. The gateway was originally approached by a drawbridge over a dry moat, but these were removed with all the other

outwork An outwork is a minor fortification built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponiers to shield bastions and fortification curtains ...

s in the 1880s. On the opposite bank to Fisher's Nose is the Queen Anne's Battery, dating from 1667.

Later use

File:The Citadel of Plymouth, July 25th, 1737 - Original.jpg, The Citadel in 1737 The Royal Citadel was the most important

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

defence for over 100 years, with 70 ft high walls, and was regularly strengthened over the years, particularly during the 1750s when it was equipped with 113 guns. In 1860, the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom recommended the construction of a new ring of forts to defend Plymouth from a greater distance, the "

Palmerston Forts The Palmerston Forts are a group of forts and associated structures around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. The forts were built during the Victorian period on the recommendations of the 1860 Royal Commission on the Defence of the ...

"; however, the Citadel was still judged to be '...a valuable support to the works on the right of the "North-Eastern Defences".' During the later Victorian period the Citadel was being used by the

Royal Garrison Artillery The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) ...

for instruction. During the

Second World War 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Citadel was used as the headquarters of the Coast Artillery Training Centre, Plymouth. After the war, the Coast Artillery School moved there from

Great Orme The Great Orme ( cy, Y Gogarth) is a limestone headland on the north coast of Wales, north-west of the town of Llandudno. Referred to as ''Cyngreawdr Fynydd'' by the 12th-century poet Gwalchmai ap Meilyr, its English name derives from the Old N ...

, and the two institutions merged with the one remaining regular

coast artillery Coastal artillery is the branch of the armed forces concerned with operating anti-ship artillery or fixed gun batteries in coastal fortifications. From the Middle Ages until World War II, coastal artillery and naval artillery in the form of c ...

regiment (47th Coast Regiment), which relocated to Plymouth from Dover to provide a depot establishment for the new Training Centre; training of recruits and others continued until the Coast Artillery was disbanded in 1956. The Royal Citadel is still occupied by the military, being the base of

29 Commando Regiment 29 Commando Regiment, Royal Artillery is the Commando-trained unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery, based in Plymouth. The regiment is under the operational control of 3 Commando Brigade, to which it provides artillery support and gunnery ...

of the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

. This specialist

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

unit provides

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

support to

3 Commando Brigade 3 Commando Brigade (3 Cdo Bde), previously called the 3rd Special Service Brigade, is a commando formation of the British Armed Forces. It is composed of the Royal Marine Commandos, alongside commando qualified sailors, soldiers and airmen f ...

of the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

. Guided tours are sometimes available. Immediately to the east of the Citadel, and contemporary with it, a Royal Navy

Victualling Yard The Commissioners for the Victualling of the Navy, often called the Victualling Commissioners or Victualling Board, was the body responsible under the Navy Board for victualling ships of the British Royal Navy. It oversaw the vast operation of ...

was established to serve the fleet in Plymouth Sound and Sutton Pool. This closed with the establishment of the

Royal William Victualling Yard The Royal William Victualling Yard in Stonehouse, a suburb of Plymouth, England, was the major victualling depot of the Royal Navy and an important adjunct of Devonport Dockyard. It was designed by the architect Sir John Rennie and was named ...

in the 1830s, since when the area has been used as an extension to the military base (and accommodates vehicles too large to pass through the seventeenth-century gateway).

Based units

The following notable units are based at Royal Citadel.

British Army

** 29th Commando Regiment

Future

''A Better Defence Estate'', published in November 2016, indicates that the Ministry of Defence will dispose of the Royal Citadel by 2024. This was later extended to 2035.

Garrison church

The Royal Chapel of St Katherine-upon-the-Hoe was originally licensed for services in 1371. During the period 1666–1671, the original church was demolished and the present nave, chancel and sanctuary were rebuilt on the same site. The galleries and

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

s were added in 1845 and give a cross-like structure to the building. King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

re-granted the title ''Royal Chapel'' in 1927 during a visit to the Royal Citadel.

Royal Citadel in the media

The 2011 BBC television series '' The Choir: Military Wives'' featured the Royal Citadel along with

RMB Chivenor Royal Marines Barracks Chivenor is a British military base used primarily by 3 Commando Brigade. It is situated on the northern shore of the River Taw estuary, adjacent to the South West Coast Path, on the north coast of Devon, England. The near ...

in Devon. The programme documented choirmaster

Gareth Malone Gareth Edmund Malone (born 9 November 1975) is an English choirmaster and broadcaster, self-described as an "animateur, presenter and populariser of choral singing". He is best known for his television appearances in programmes such as '' The ...

forming a choir of wives and partners of Royal Citadel personnel deployed on active service in the

Afghanistan War War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...

. In forming a choir, Malone aimed to raise the women's morale and raise their profile in the public perception. The song " Wherever You Are" was recorded by the Military Wives Choir and was the

Christmas number one In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume ...

in 2011, with proceeds going to the

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...

and

SSAFA Forces Help SSAFA – the Armed Forces charity, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, is a UK charity that provides lifelong support to serving men and women and veterans from the British Armed Forces and their families or dependents. Anyone ...

Visitor access

Access to the Royal Citadel is by guided tour only.

Gallery

File:RGA Royal Citadel, c1905 01.jpg, Guard mounting by the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA), Royal Citadel, 1905 File:Guns on the Citadel, Plymouth (5027).jpg,

105 mm Light Gun The L118 light gun is a 105 mm towed howitzer. It was originally designed and produced in England for the British Army in the 1970s. It has since been widely exported. The L119 and the United States Army's M119 are variants that use a different ...

s of 29th Commando Regiment Royal Artillery on the rampart at the Citadel. File:Stkatherineuponthehoe.JPG, The Royal Chapel of St Katherine-upon-the-Hoe within the precincts of the Citadel. File:Plan of the Town and Citadel of Plymouth, Benjamin Donn, 1765.jpg, "A Plan of the Town and Citadel of Plymouth" by

Benjamin Donn Benjamin Donn or Donne (1729–1798) was an English mathematician. Life Donn was born at Bideford, Devon, where his father and brother Abraham (1718–1746) kept a school. Until 1768 he was a ‘teacher of the mathematics and natural philosophy on ...

in 1765. It shows the design of the Royal Citadel as completed, including the

outworks An outwork is a minor fortification built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponiers to shield bastions and fortification curtai ...

which are now lost. File:Plymouth, The Royal Citadel - geograph.org.uk - 1564192.jpg, The southern bastions of the Citadel. File:The Royal Citadel, Plymouth from Mount Batten.jpg, The Royal Citadel as seen from

Mount Batten Mount Batten is a 24-metre (80-ft) tall outcrop of rock on a 600-metre (2000-ft) peninsula in Plymouth Sound, Devon, England, named after Sir William Batten (c.1600-1667), MP and Surveyor of the Navy; it was previously known as How Stert. Af ...

References

Sources

* * * *{{cite web, url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/Royal%20Citadel.htm , archivedate=September 28, 2013 , date=25 January 2011 , title=Plymouth, Royal Citadel , publisher=The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History , accessdate=12 February 2015 , last=Moseley , first=Brian , url-status=unfit , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928230927/http://www.plymouthdata.info/Royal%20Citadel.htm Forts of Plymouth, Devon Royal Citadel Grade II* listed buildings in Devon Grade II listed buildings in Devon English Heritage sites in Devon Buildings and structures in Plymouth, Devon

Buildings and structures completed in 1666 1666 establishments in England Scheduled monuments in Devon