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, England, was built in the late 1660s to the design of Sir Bernard de Gomme. It is at the eastern end of Plymouth Hoe overlooking Plymouth Sound, and encompasses the site of the earlier fort that had been built in the time of Sir Francis Drake. 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, 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 on Plymouth Hoe that could dominate the Cattewater, the approach to

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 po ...

, which at that time was the main port at Plymouth. By May 1592, Elizabeth I had decided that the fort could be funded by a tax on every

hogshead A hogshead (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds") is a large cask of liquid (or, less often, of a food commodity). More specifically, it refers to a specified volume, measured in either imperial or US customary measures, primarily applied to alcoho ...

of pilchards 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 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, while the English 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 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 The Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom was a committee formed in 1859 to enquire into the ability of the United Kingdom to defend itself against an attempted invasion by a foreign power, and to advise the British Government on ...

recommended the construction of a new ring of forts to defend Plymouth from a greater distance, the " Palmerston Forts"; 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 for instruction. During the Second World War, the Citadel was used as the headquarters of the Coast Artillery Training Centre, Plymouth. After the war, the

Coast Artillery School The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in ...

moved there from Great Orme, and the two institutions merged with the one remaining regular coast artillery 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 of the Royal Artillery. This specialist British Army unit provides artillery 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 was established to serve the fleet in Plymouth Sound and Sutton Pool. This closed with the establishment of the Royal William Victualling Yard 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

Royal Artillery *

** 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 transepts were added in 1845 and give a cross-like structure to the building. King George V 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 in Devon. The programme documented choirmaster Gareth Malone 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 2011, with proceeds going to the Royal British Legion and SSAFA Forces Help.

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 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 ...

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

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