29/08/2018
Many of our clients have been local residents to the Crownhill area of Plymouth for many years and have fascinating stories about the history of Crownhill Village...... here we show the history of Crownhill in pictures .....
Crownhill is named after a pair of cottages called Crown Hill that were pulled down to clear the site for the construction of the fort that was erected there in the 1860s.
Prior to that time, and for some time afterwards, the neighbouring village was known as Knackersknowle and oddly enough the community was divided between the parishes of St Budeaux and Eggbuckland.
And so it remained until 1939 when a major boundary extension saw the village brought within the city limits of Plymouth.
At that time the main route from Plymouth to Tavistock ran through the village, but as the city expanded and more people could afford cars and drive to work and therefore viably choose to live outside the city and commute to work, so, in the late sixties the commercial heart of the community was by-passed with the construction of a major new road running to the west of Morshead Road.
Following the construction of Crownhill Fort incidentally Crownhill became very much associated with the Services.
This was one of the principal forts in the ring of 22 that encircled Plymouth, Stonehouse and Devonport and was manned for many years, unlike most of its counterparts.
Substantial barracks were subsequently created here too, Plumer then later Seaton, both of which are now long gone.
Other major buildings have appeared: the Police and the Fire Brigade have major bases in the area, car showrooms have come and gone but the heart of the community along Morshead Road survives providing sufficient services to allow the village to be largely self-contained.
