Reasons for Designation
The Citadel is one of the most complete surviving examples of a bastioned
artillery defence in England and is the most extensively intact survival of
the important later 17th century group built to defend the principal naval
ports. It retains a near-complete circuit of its original walling and
extensive survival of its outworks, parts of the latter being masked beneath
later features. Within its walling are rare survivals of this form of
defences original internal buildings, while extensive areas of the
interior are known from partial excavation to retain evidence for other
original structures of the Citadel as well as the nature of the Elizabethan
fort known to have occupied this site. Designed by Sir Bernard de Gomme, the
importance of its surviving remains is supplemented by the wealth of
contemporary documentation pertaining to its original design and construction,
including de Gomme's own plans showing the development of his ideas. His
resulting design was unusual in the irregularity of its plan and in the
construction of its substantial walls entirely in stone, though backed with
earth and rubble ramparts, both features showing his response to the nature of
the site. The original main gateway, designed by an associate of Wren, is a
good example of Baroque architecture and is particularly unusual in south west
England.
The available historical documentation shows the wider context in which
the Citadel was built, confirming its major place in the development of the
nation's defences. In 1688 the declaration of the Citadel's garrison in
favour of William of Orange soon after his landing was crucial in his
securement of Plymouth, the first town in England to declare allegiance to
William and a strategically important base from which he eventually deposed
James II. The quality of the monument's surviving remains and its documentary
support also provides an insight into the historical development of
fortifications generally. This is given chronological depth by the radical
changes it represented from the earlier fort on the site and by the successive
modifications that it incorporates from subsequent episodes, reflecting both
changes in defensive technique and shifts of emphasis for the protection of
one of the nation's most important naval ports and dockyards. The documented
decline of the Citadel's defensive role during the later 19th and 20th
centuries marks the culmination of developing techniques and policies which
are demonstrated by this monument.
Details
The monument includes a late 16th century artillery fort, superseded by and
partially incorporated into a mid 17th century bastioned artillery defence,
called the Citadel, with associated outworks. The monument also includes a
series of alterations and additions made to the Citadel during subsequent
centuries, and a statue of George II erected in 1728. The monument is situated
on the eastern part of Plymouth Hoe, a limestone cliff overlooking the
strategically important entrance to the Cattewater in Plymouth Sound on the
south west coast of Devon.
Historical sources provide the context for the construction of the late 16th
century artillery fort between 1592-1598 in response to a perceived threat of
attack by sea from the Spanish. Although the Armada had been defeated in 1588,
fears that Spain would attempt to invade England again led to a strengthening
of English defences. The construction of the fort at Plymouth was part of
these works. Situated at the east end of the Hoe, it protected the entrance to
the important sheltered anchorage of the Cattewater and the harbour in Sutton
Pool. Contemporary plans show this fort consisted of two parts: a roughly
triangular fort with two bastions pointing to the north and west to defend
against landward attack from the Hoe, and the lower fort containing the main
armament in ramparts of earth and stone, called bulwarks, along the shore. The
stone walls of this fort were about 4m high, and 1.4m thick at the base,
accompanied by an outer ditch 6m wide. Guns were mounted on timber staging on
earth platforms. The main fort contained the captain's lodgings, barracks, a
storehouse, stables, guardhouse, powderhouse and the medieval Chapel of St
Katherine on the Hoe, an important landmark for shipping. Parts of this fort
have been revealed by partial excavation.
The late 16th century artillery fort was partially incorporated into the mid
17th century Citadel. Although much of the walling around the main area of the
earlier fort was demolished as the Citadel was constructed, the lower fort, at
the south eastern end of the main 16th century fort was retained. Within the
Citadel, the south curtain wall from and including the Cumberland Battery to
Prince Henry's Demi-Bastion follows the line of the dividing wall between the
16th century main fort and its lower fort. The Citadel's curtain wall between
Prince Edward's Bastion and Prince Henry's Demi-Bastion may also preserve the
line of the earlier main fort's east wall. The base of the point of Prince
Henry's Demi-Bastion and the sides of Piper's Platform contain some original
16th century stonework and the wall running south east from Piper's Platform
towards Fisher's Nose continues the line of the 16th century lower fort wall.
Beyond this monument, further walling of the 16th century lower fort is
likely to survive along the coastal margin by the blockhouse at Fisher's
Nose.
The mid 17th century Citadel was constructed between 1665-1675 in response to
another perceived threat of war, this time with the Dutch, rivals for overseas
trade with the colonies. Charles II wished to secure Plymouth as a naval base,
whose town and hinterland was large enough to victual a large number of ships,
and which had a large sheltered anchorage. The Citadel was situated at the
east of the Hoe on the site of the late 16th century fortress, retaining the
earlier lower fort at its south east end. Designed by Sir Bernard de Gomme,
the King's Engineer General, the original plan had been for a regular five
bastioned fort to the west of the Elizabethan fort, but was adapted to
incorporate as much as possible of the earlier fort and to maintain
defence of the Cattewater while it was being built. The resulting Citadel was
constructed as a six bastioned walled fortification. The wall was backed by an
earth rampart. Beyond the wall was a broad flat-bottomed ditch except on the
south east side where it was adjoined by the lower fort. The surface against
the outer side of the ditch was levelled to create a covered way, protected by
a raised outer lip from which a long outer slope, called a glacis, descended
to the surrounding ground surface. Within the ditch, a triangular outwork,
called a ravelin, protected the main entrance to the north; the covered way
outside the ditch was enlarged on the east and west to create two assembly
points for troops, called place d'armes. Beyond this monument, a small rock
cut harbour was constructed to the south of the lower fort to supply ships
under cover of the Citadel.
By the end of 1667 most of the defensive works had been completed, as had the
impressive main gateway, though the interior still required the completion of
the ramparts and construction of the buildings needed to house the garrison.
Work finished on the Citadel in 1675.
The walls of the Citadel enclose an area approximately 280m east-west by 270m
north-south, and survive as an almost complete circuit meeting either side of
the northern main entrance. The walls are constructed of limestone quarried
from the ditch supplemented by limestone from the two nearby quarries of
Lambhay and Tinside. Dartmoor granite was used for the quoins on the corners
of the bastions, for the sides of the gun ports, called embrasures, and for
the cordon, a rounded horizontal moulding running around the exterior face of
the Citadel just below the embrasures. There were also granite corbels or
moulded supports for sentry boxes close to the top of the bastions, one of
which survives on the north east point of Prince of Wales' Bastion. Originally
there were stone sentry boxes on the top of the walls at various points around
the Citadel. The only portion of wall which has not survived to its original
height is along Prince of Wales' Curtain where it was lowered in the 1890s.
The walls are capped with turf, except between Bath's Bastion and Prince
Henry's Demi-Bastion where it is capped with asphalt above the later
casemates.
The walls form six bastions and one demi-bastion linked by sections of curtain
wall; of these only Prince George's Bastion to the north west and King
Charles' Bastion to the south west are of regular design. Prince of Wales'
Bastion to the north east is truncated because of the steep slope of the
ground to the east. Bath's Bastion is extended to link with the line of the
earlier fort. The curtain wall from Prince Edward's Bastion towards Prince
Henry's Demi-Bastion also links with or possibly follows the line of the
earlier fort. The other bastion and the demi-bastion follow the line of the
earlier fort. There are several large water tanks, now disused, within Prince
George's and King Charles' Curtain walls. Originally there were probably five
entrance ways, called sallyports, through the walls. The sallyports have
granite doorways or lintels, decorated in each corner above their arched
entrance. One sallyport is in the west wall facing the Hoe with a plain arched
entrance; another to the south west has a later doorway; one faces south into
the lower fort, now facing the Queen's Battery, and another faces south east
to Piper's Platform. There was probably a sallyport facing north east before
the Prince of Wales' Curtain was taken down. The Queens Battery is a tenaille,
a low wall enclosing the area between Cumberland Battery and Prince Henry's
Demi-Bastion in front of the curtain wall, it was constructed to provide extra
cover for the curtain wall above the lower fort and also gave access to the
lower fort.
The ramparts were constructed of earth and stone immediately behind the inner
face of the walls and provided platforms for the guns for the defence of the
Citadel. The ramparts survive as steep turfed banks and are approximately 8m
to 12m thick and 4m to 5m high. Gently sloping inclines or paths up the
ramparts' inner faces provided access for the guns and gun carriages; these
are now tarmacked but were originally cobbled, as survives in a small area on
one incline. Four inclines survive in all: to the west of the main entrance,
to King Charles' Bastion, to Bath's Bastion and to Prince Edward's Bastion.
Originally there was an incline east of the main entrance and two more between
King Charles' Bastion and Prince George's Bastion. The north side of the
incline to Prince Edward's Bastion forms three wide shallow steps.
On the ramparts, the gun ports, called embrasures, are backed by granite paved
gun platforms, a rectangular area paved with large granite blocks, on which a
gun on its carriage would stand. There were embrasures around King Charles'
Bastion to the south west, Prince George's Bastion to the north west, Prince
Edward's Bastion to the south east and Prince of Wales' Bastion to the north
east, and along the west curtain. On the wall facing the ramparts between
Cumberland Battery and Prince Henry's Demi-Bastion is a rectangular stone
plaque which was probably a name plate for the battery or curtain wall. On
King Charles' Bastion four traversing guns were positioned, their metal
racers surviving. Similar racers for another traversing gun survive on Prince
Henry's Demi-Bastion. Both Bath's Bastion and Queen's Battery have grooves in
the granite where the racers for a traversing gun have been. The full length
of Cumberland Battery is paved with granite forming interlocking wedge shapes,
reflecting its use also as a saluting battery. The positions of former merlons
(the solid part of a parapet, between two embrasures) can be seen where the
parapet has been made good upon their removal. The brick sills of the former
embrasures remain, well weathered, each opposite the earlier phase of wedge
shaped granite platforms. Remains of paved gun platforms also survive on the
Queen's Battery.
There are four surviving magazine stores on the inner edge of the ramparts, a
short length of high wall against which ammunition may have been stored.
However the lengths of these walls and the fixing positions for lean to roofs
and racking suggest that these may have been side-arms sheds, or stores for
ramrods, sponges, traversing staves and ropes. The one along Prince Edward's
Bastion is wider than the other three, which are between Prince George's
Bastion and King Charles' Bastion. The only section of the ramparts which has
been removed, during the 1890s, is along Prince of Wales' Bastion and Curtain
wall. The ramparts between Bath's Bastion and Prince Henry's Demi-Bastion were
not completed in 1665-1670, when only some masonry arches and piers were
built.
The main entrance to the Citadel is in the north wall. It was designed by Sir
Thomas Fitch or Fitz, an associate of Sir Christopher Wren. Flanking the arch
are paired Ionic pilasters with carved motifs between them. The keystone is
adorned with the coat of arms of John Grenville, Earl of Bath. Above the arch
is a large niche which probably displayed a statue of Charles II until the
early 19th century, when it appears to have fallen and never been replaced;
the niche now contains a small pile of four cast-iron spherical mortar bombs.
Above the niche is the date 1670 and to either side, a Corinthian column and
carved motifs of trophies of arms. The pediment bears the royal coat of arms
in relief. Between the large niche and the royal arms is a rectangular stone
tablet inscribed `Carolus secundus dei gratia magnae brittaniae franciae et
hiberniae'. Originally a guardroom occupied the floor over the arch, later
taken down, leaving the decoration above the arch fronting a facade. The
interior face of the entrance displays the royal coat of arms above the
archway.
Within the Citadel fortifications, several buildings survive from the original
17th century internal layout, or incorporate 17th century features. These
include the guardhouse, the Great Store and the Governor's and Lieutenant-
Governor's houses.
The guardhouse is situated by the main entrance and is now visible as a two-
story rectangular building with a colonnaded porch running the length of the
facade facing the entrance to the Citadel. The guardhouse was completely
rebuilt in the 18th century, the external staircase to the rear being rebuilt
in the same position as the original 17th century staircase.
The Great Store is a three-storied building with its 17th century limestone
facade. It is situated at the rear of the parade ground and is a
symmetrical building with a staircase at each end. The 17th century timber
framing of the spine wall survives within the modern carcassing of the spine
wall. The original entrance in the centre of the facade on the ground floor
has been blocked, but the original granite door surround survives, it is of a
similar style to the sallyport entrances with a carved motif in each corner
above an arched doorway. A clock is mounted in a blocked window above this
original entrance.
The Governor's and the Lieutenant-Governor's houses survive as a block of two
three-storied houses on the west side of the parade ground. The originally
rendered limestone facade with granite quoins faces the parade ground. The
entrances in the facade to each house are approached up a short flight of
steps; again the granite door surrounds are of a similar style to the
sallyports with carved corner motifs above the arched doorways. The Governor's
House, occupying the right of the block as viewed from the facade, has two
bay's to each side of the doorway; the Lieutenant-Governor's House, on the
left, has a single bay on each side of the doorway. There is a 17th century
staircase at the south end of the building and an early 18th century staircase
at the north end and two 17th century fireplaces also survive with original
granite surrounds. The original 17th century timber framing of the spine wall
also survives within the modern carcassing of the spine wall.
Other former internal buildings of the original layout are known from
documentary sources and early depictions of the Citadel, but no above-ground
remains survive. There were three terraces of two-storied accommodation for
soldiers, and a three-storied accommodation block for officers, demolished in
the 1890s. The powder house of the 16th century fort was repaired and
continued in use in the Citadel. A medieval chapel dedicated to St Katherine
was also situated on the Hoe; this chapel was demolished soon after the
building of the Citadel and a new one was built in its present position; this
may have happened by 1677 or possibly not until 1688.
The outworks of the Citadel included the lower fort, the north ravelin within
the ditch, the ditch counterscarp, the covered way with the two place d'armes
and the glacis.
The lower fort of the 16th century fortress remained virtually unchanged
against the south east side of the Citadel wall as no work was carried out on
it at this time.
The north ravelin survives as a triangular, low, flat-topped mound in front of
the north entrance. Situated within the ditch, it originally had a wall along
the two outward-facing sides with embrasures and guns. A gateway was situated
on the north east side of the ravelin, with a drawbridge crossing the ditch to
the glacis. The gates are recorded as having a painted design showing two
full length figures in the act of throwing a grenade. The gateway had a
limestone arch, now relocated over the west sallyport. The royal coat of arms
and the letters C R adorn the pediment above the arch. Another drawbridge
crossed from the southern side to the main entrance of the Citadel.
The ditch extends from Bath's bastion on the south west side, around the west
and north to Prince Edward's bastion on the south east. It was interrupted
along the south east of the Citadel by the lower fort and its steep flanking
slopes. The ditch was approximately 12m wide and 3m deep. Its outer face,
called the counterscarp, was approximately 3m high and faced with a wall of
which no visible remains are apparent.
The covered way was a broad walkway behind the crest of the glacis and
immediately beyond the ditch counterscarp. The covered way was approximately
9m wide and was protected by a parapet along its outer side. It originally
extended along the entire outer side of the ditch from Bath's Bastion to
Prince Edward's Bastion. Parts of the covered way survive to the north,
north west, and south west of the Citadel. A small length also survives to
the east, beyond Prince Edward's Bastion, including part of the parapet,
surviving as an overgrown limestone wall.
The covered way was enlarged at two points, on the east and west, to create
triangular, place d'armes. The western place d'armes
was later replaced by a ravelin. The apex of the eastern place d'armes forms
a triangular projection from the crest of the glacis.
The glacis, beyond the parapet of the covered way, was of an even slope along
the west and north sides of the Citadel, between King Charles' and Prince of
Wales' Bastions. It became steeper towards Prince Edward's Bastion on the east
and towards Bath's Bastion on the south west, corresponding to the steeper
coastal slope. Parts of the glacis survive to the north east of the northern
ravelin and around the north west corner towards the later west ravelin.
Another length survives south of the Citadel in front of King Charles' Bastion
and curtain wall.
Once the 17th century Citadel had been completed, no major building work took
place until 1715, following Colonel Lilley's report on the fortifications of
Plymouth. The ramparts along the south side, between Bath's Bastion and
Prince Henry's Demi-Bastion, previously left uncompleted, were built up with
casemates or barracks beneath to provide accommodation for up to a thousand
men. The casemates survive as barrel-vaulted rooms with a chimney in the
outer wall, the doorways in the inner wall, flanked by a window to either
side. The casemates are constructed of limestone with jambs and lintels of
Portland stone. Their inner walls are buttressed at intervals and there are
regular square gratings in the wall above the casemates.
Lilley's report noted that the lower fort had fallen into disrepair, the
parapets needed replacing and much of the masonry and the gun platforms
required repairs. These repairs were completed by 1725. In 1726-27 the great
powder magazine was constructed or rebuilt in Bath's Bastion. It had walls
approximately 3m thick plus an outer blast wall approximately 1m thick and
about 2m high. This magazine replaced the original 16th century powder house
and was itself demolished in 1895.
A full length lead statue of George II in the costume of a Roman emperor
crowned with a laurel wreath stands on the south west of the parade ground.
The statue is mounted on a rectangular stone plinth and set on top of a four
step base, the bottom step set almost flush with the ground. A plaque of arms
decorates one end of the plinth; three other inscribed plaques formerly on the
plinth, two in Latin, one in English, bearing two dedications to the king, are
now kept in the officers' mess. The statue was erected by Robert Pitt in 1728
and paid for by Louis Dufour who commanded a company of Invalids or retired
soldiers. It was originally situated in the centre of the parade ground, but
moved to its present location in 1903.
More work was done on the Citadel around 1745 when the guardhouse may have
been rebuilt. The gatehouse over the main gate was demolished, the timber
partition placed in the great store, and the depth of the parapet was
increased to 4m from the point of King Charles' Bastion to the point of Prince
George's Bastion along the west side of the Citadel. Alterations were also
made to the outworks. Banks of earth and stone, called traverses, were built
on the covered way, two on each straight section to protect the movement of
men there. Around 1741 three embrasures had been added to the east curtain
wall and eight to the north curtain wall. In 1745 the number of embrasures on
King Charles', Prince George and Prince of Wales' Bastions was reduced from
twenty to ten, but the number on the curtain wall to the south west between
King Charles' and Bath's Bastions was increased from three to eleven,
reflecting an increasing emphasis on protection of the approach to the
dockyard to the west.
The increasing threat of war with France brought more activity and alterations
during the 1750s, focused on the area of the lower fort. In 1753 the Upper and
Lower Ligonier's Batteries were built, named after Sir John Ligonier, Governor
of the Citadel since 1751. These batteries were situated in the lower fort
below Cumberland Battery, facing west to protect the approach to the
dockyard. The upper battery was higher up the rocky slope than the other and
designed to fire over the top of the lower battery. The batteries extended
SSE to beyond the southern edge of this monument, and were demolished in 1888.
Also beyond the southern edge of this monument, Frederick's Battery was begun
in 1754 to the south east of Ligonier's Batteries, and demolished in 1888.
Other additions of this period included the south west coverport, a triangular
outwork faced by limestone walling, which projects out from the walls of the
Citadel between Bath's Bastion and the Cumberland Battery. It was reached by
a passageway under the ramparts and protected a stairway down to Upper and
Lower Ligonier's Batteries. The double wall extending south east from Piper's
Platform, now truncated but formerly extending beyond this monument to
Fisher's Nose, was constructed to cover men moving down into the lower fort.
Cumberland Battery was rebuilt and armed with 12 guns to cover Plymouth
Sound. Access was blocked from the Queen's Battery to the lower fort. The
west place d'armes was replaced with a ravelin outside the ditch. This
ravelin originally had a wall with embrasures and guns on its outer sides, but
now survives as a low triangular mound with part of the covered way to the
north.
During 1807-8 a low safety wall, called a garde fou, was built along the rear
edge of the ramparts to prevent men from falling off. This survives as a low
limestone wall from Prince George's Bastion on the north west, along the west
and south sides of the Citadel to Prince Edward's Bastion to the south east.
In 1813 eight sentry boxes were repaired, the remainder of the original 20
stone sentry boxes having probably been removed by this date. In 1844 the
great store was converted to barracks, and is still used as such. In 1846-8
the casemates along the south east of the walls were repaired and the walls
above capped with asphalt following a fire; this work is commemorated by a
brass plaque on the guardhouse wall. These changes reduced the amount
of accommodation provided from space for a thousand men to space for 321 men.
In 1888 the outworks beyond the Citadel wall, and the lower fort, were sold to
Plymouth City Council. The walling of the lower fort and the two ravelins were
demolished, and the outer gateway's arched surround on the north ravelin was
re-erected over the entrance to the west sallyport. The ditch was filled in
and a road built around the north ravelin. Another road was constructed along
the west side of the Citadel along the line of the ditch. Madeira Road was
built along the south side of the Citadel and around Fisher's Nose, cutting
through parts of the glacis, the sites of the lower fort and the Ligonier's
Batteries and truncating the wall down to Fisher's Nose.
The Citadel was refurbished during the 1890s-1900s by the architect T Kitsel
Rogers. In 1895 the powder house was demolished and the officers' mess built.
The north east curtain between Prince of Wales' and Prince Edward's Bastions
was lowered, the ramparts there were removed and an accommodation block built.
The ramparts were also removed from Prince of Wales' Bastion and a canteen
built in 1902. The Governor's House was converted into offices and an adult
school built opposite the guardhouse. The junior officers' mess behind the
guardhouse replaced earlier barracks. A range of buildings behind the
Governor's House was demolished, and another accommodation block built to the
south west of the parade ground.
During World War II and possibly from as early as 1910 the Citadel had a
training role. During World War II the Citadel housed the Coast Artillery
Training Centre and a gun emplacement used for drill was constructed on its
east side in the ditch behind the covered way. This is visible as a circular
concrete gun platform within a low concrete-walled rectangular enclosure. The
entire platform and enclosure is backed by a concrete retaining wall along the
outer edge of the ditch, forming a semicircular niche in the covered way, the
top of the retaining wall flush with the covered way. Dating from the same
period is a small rectangular concrete hut on the rear of the ramparts of
Cumberland Battery and probably used to store flags for signalling to
shipping. Above Queen's Battery there is a semicircular rendered recess in
the rampart which was probably a position for a Watkin's Depression Position
Finder. These were in common usage between 1902 and 1956, although this one
probably dates to 1910.
The latest phase of activity includes the roofing of the interior of King
Charles' and Prince George's Bastions, now used as armouries. Further modern
refurbishment beyond the monument includes a modern transport and ordnance
yard constructed on the east side of the Citadel during 1989-1992.
The ramparts, the Citadel gate, the sallyport and the statue of George
II are in the care of the Secretary of State.
All modern structures and buildings built after the World War II, those
buildings constructed during the 1890-1900s refurbishment and the Chapel of
St Katherine on the Hoe are excluded from the scheduling but the ground
beneath all of these features is included. All security and surveillance
system installations, floodlighting, fire control systems and their cabling
and ducting are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath them is
included. The modern metalled surfaces of all paths, the parade ground, all
parking areas and access roads are also excluded from the scheduling but the
ground beneath is included. All modern MoD and English Heritage signs and
fittings and all street furniture including flagpoles, railings, street
lights, park benches, litter bins, parking meters, traffic and pedestrian
signs, are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath is included.
The war memorials on the south west and north west corners of the covered way
and the metalled surfaces of the modern roads over the west and north of the
Citadel outworks are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath is
included. The Marine Biological Laboratories south west of the Citadel wall
and the observatory buildings, clock, parks depot, public conveniences and
associated modern structures and fittings on the west ravelin are excluded
from the scheduling but the ground beneath them is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
