Plymouthhistory

Plymouth's offensive capabilities meant that it was placing itself in the limelight for retaliatory
strikes and raids against itself. The French descended on the town for the first time in 1339 setting
fire to what was then largely a wooden settlement. Another expedition entered the Hamoaze in
1350 but only destroyed outlying farms and settlements. There were further attacks in 1377, and
1400 before culminating in the most devastating raid in 1403. This last expedition saw 30 ships
carrying 1200 men land from St Malo a mile to the north of the port. They then proceeded to
attack the town from this direction getting as far as Exeter Street but not able to enter the port
itself due to intense fighting from the defenders. The area is still known as 'Bretonside' in honour
of this fight. Indeed, for many years the fight was re-enacted between those who would later live
inside and outside of the town walls that were soon put up to help protect the port. This tradition
lasted until the Eighteenth Century before being banned for being 'too unruly' and resulting in too
much violence between rival gangs. Still, the incident showed that defence was a priority for the
growing settlement and a castle was soon built to guard the entrance of Sutton Harbour. A chain
could be pulled across the harbour to prevent enemy ships from entering Plymouth. This was
followed by walls to surround the town.
Map of “walled” Plymouth
Plymouth was more than just a military port, it had long shown itself to be a good base for fishing
and was replacing Plympton as the port of choice for merchants and traders. It became an
important port for the wine trade and brought in much of the wine from Bordeaux and La Rochelle.
It exported fish, tin, wool and cloth. In 1362 it was granted a license to trade with Portugal as
England sought an ally to help fight the growing antagonism from the Castillian Royal Family
(which would later become Spain). In 1381 and 1385 two new armadas were assembled in
Plymouth in order to help the Portuguese in their fight against Castille. These armadas were
designed to guard the approaches of the Channel and show an early indication of the value of the
strategic location of Plymouth that would later see it at the heart of England's naval defences. As it
was, this war saw England cement its friendship with Portugal which would go on to become
England's (and then Britain's) longest alliance in history and which is still technically in effect to this
day. It also marked out England's early antipathy towards what would become Spain, even before
any Reformation marked out differences between Catholicism and Protestantism