Timeline of Plymouth

Prior to 17th century

1086 - The Domesday Book records Plymouth as Sudtone (Sutton) and records only 7 households and a total annual revenue of £1. The lord of the manor before 1066 had been Edward the Confessor.

1254 – Town status recognised.

1276 - Plymouth first recorded as a borough.

1291 – St. Andrew church built.

1371 – Royal Chapel of St Katherine-upon-the-Hoe licensed.

1403 – Town burned by Bretons.

1404 – Town wall constructed.

1431 – Dominican monastery built.

1439

Town granted charter by Parliament.

Market and fair active.

1542 - Antiquary John Leland visits and records "The towne of Plymmouth is very large."

1572 – Grammar school founded.

1579 – Plague.

1580 – 26 September: Drake's Golden Hind ship arrives.

1581 – Plague.

1588 - 19 July: Fifty-five English ships sail from Plymouth under the command of Lord Howard of Effingham and Sir Francis Drake to fight the Spanish Armada.

17th–18th centuries

1620

6 September: Mayflower ship departs for New England.

November: Mayflower arrives in New England.

1621 – 9 November: The Fortune arrives in Cape Cod.

1623 – 10 July: The Anne arrives in Plymouth Colony.

1623 – 5 August: The Little James arrives in Plymouth Colony.

1644 – The Siege of Plymouth by Royalist forces under Sir Richard Grenville in the English Civil War.

1652 – 26 August: Battle of Plymouth occurs offshore in the First Anglo-Dutch War.

1657 – Charles Church built.

1658 – Post house established.

1670 – Citadel built on the Hoe.

1671 – Royal Chapel of St Katherine-upon-the-Hoe rebuilt (approximate date).

1690 – Royal Dockyard built near town.

1696 - Work starts on Henry Winstanley's first Eddystone Lighthouse, 12 miles (19 km) off Plymouth Sound.

1718 – Plymouth Weekly Journal in publication.

1758

Theatre built.

Plymouth and Portsmouth Fortifications Act passed by Parliament.

1759 – Smeaton's Tower (lighthouse) built.

1762 – Plymouth Synagogue built.

1768 – Cookworthy's porcelain factory established.

1770 – Plymouth Improvement Act passed by Parliament.

1773 – Stonehouse Bridge constructed.

1781 – Poor Relief, etc. Act passed by Parliament.

1790 – New Pier constructed at Sutton Pool.

1798 – 3 April: HMS Pallas wrecked offshore.

19th century

1800 – Guildhall built.

1808 – Plymouth Gazette begins publication.

1810 – Plymouth Proprietary Library founded.

1811 – Theatre/Hotel building constructed.

1812

Plymouth Institution (now The Plymouth Athenaeum) founded.

Plymouth Breakwater construction begins.

1813

Port of Plymouth Chamber of Commerce established.

Exchange building constructed.

1815 - 26 July: Napoleon Bonaparte enters Plymouth Sound aboard HMS Bellerophon, awaiting transportation to exile in Saint Helena.

1819 – The Plymouth Athenaeum building designed by John Foulston opens.

1820 – Plymouth Herald and Plymouth Journal newspapers begin publication.

1825 – Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway in operation.

1826 – Plymouth Mechanics' Institute founded.

1828

Royal Union Baths built.

Plymouth, Devonport, and Cornwall Races begin.

1829

Museum of the Plymouth Institution built.

Blue Friars (club) founded.

1831 – Plymouth and Devonport Spring Races begin.

1832 – Plymouth Times newspaper begins publication.

1844 – Lighthouse commissioned on Plymouth Breakwater.

1849 – South Devon Railway begins operating.

1851 – Plymouth Institution (now The Plymouth Athenaeum) merges with Devon and Cornwall Natural History Society.

1854 – Royal Albert Bridge constructed to Saltash.

1856 – Plymouth Drawing School founded.

1858 – Plymouth Cathedral building constructed.

1860 - Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom recommends a huge programme of fortifications for Plymouth, with a projected cost of £3,020,000.

1862 – Plymouth Lifeboat Station in operation.

1863 – St. Boniface Boys' Catholic School active.

1865

Plymouth Breakwater Fort built.

Duke of Cornwall Hotel in business.

1871 – Agaton Fort built.

1874 – Guildhall built.

1877 – Plymouth College founded.

1889 – Grand Theatre opens.

1895 – Western Evening Herald newspaper begins publication.

1898 – New Palace Theatre opens.

1899 – Plymouth Institution (now The Plymouth Athenaeum) merges with Plymouth Mechanics' Institute.

20th century

1914 – Plymouth, Devonport, and East Stonehouse merge to form the County Borough of Plymouth.

1928 – Plymouth attains city status.

1929 – Old Plymouth Society founded.

1933 – Western Fascist newspaper begins publication.

1934 – Mayflower Steps monument erected.

1935

Tinside Pool (swimming pool) opens.

Lord Mayor appointed.

1940 – 6 July: Aerial bombing by German forces begins.

1941 – 20 March: Aerial bombing by German forces.

1944 – May: aerial bombing by German forces ends: about 1,000 people were killed, 5,000 injured, 10,000 houses destroyed, and 70,000 more damaged.

1958 – Drake Cinema opens.

1961

Westward Television begins broadcasting.

The Plymouth Athenaeum reopens after destruction of original building in Blitz.

1967

28 May: Sir Francis Chichester arrives back in Plymouth on his yacht, Gypsy Moth IV, after completing his single-handed voyage around the world.

Plympton and Plymstock become part of city.

1971 – Mayflower Centre (sport facility) built.

1975 – Plymouth Sound (radio) begins broadcasting.

1982

Television South West begins broadcasting.

St Boniface Arena opens.

1986 – Plymouth Citybus begins operating.

1991 – Plymouth Pavilions (sport facility) opens.

1992 – University of Plymouth chartered.

1998 – National Marine Aquarium opens.

1999 – Vue cinema opens.

21st century

2006 – Drake Circus Shopping Centre in business.

2009 – The Plymouth Athenaeum's theatre closes.

2010 – Radio Plymouth begins broadcasting.

2012 – The Plymouth Athenaeum celebrates bicentenary.