PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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A tablet in the Civic Centre records that ~ The first act in the rebuilding of Plymouth was the decision of the City Council made on the 1st September 1941 -- within six months of the destruction of the centre of the city -- that a Redevelopment Plan should be prepared. The Plan -- A Plan for Plymouth -- by James Paton Watson, CBE., the City Engineer, and Sir Patrick Abercrombie, the Town Planning Consultant, was completed by September 1943, and the basic principles of the Plan were approved by the Council in August 1944. ~ Long before the air raids of the Second World War had ended, Plymouth realised that it would be impossible to rebuild the City just at it had been in 1939. For one thing, traffic congestion had been a problem for many years and to rebuild the narrow, irregular streets would be to reintroduce the same problems. In addition, to widen the streets would lessen the building space between them, which would also be unsatisfactory. The obvious course, it was felt, was to clear the lot and start afresh. The Council's new Reconstruction Committee appointed Sir Patrick Abercrombie work with the City Engineer, Mr Paton Watson, in designing a new City. They quickly realised that in order to be able to carry out any plan for redevelopment, they needed to have the whole of the central area to work in. But it was owned by numerous people and this dream seemed impossible. However, with the support of many other town councils, they successfully lobbied Parliament for a new Act authorising them to compulsorily purchase land devastated by the War and also adjoining slums or potential slums. The result was the Town and Country Planning Act 1944. It is said that Abercrombie and Watson's famous "Plan for Plymouth" for the City Centre was based on the simple use of the contours of the land. An east-to-west boulevard would provide for traffic passing through the City (it should be remembered that the Torpoint Ferry was the main crossing point of the River Tamar at that time, not Saltash), and a north-to-south avenue would glide from the railway station down into the centre and up again on to Plymouth Hoe. Both these roads were later built, one as Royal Parade and the other as Armada Way, although the latter was originally more aptly named Phoenix Way.
Compare the map above, reproduced from R A J Walling's excellent and very readable "Story of Plymouth", with the present City Centre. Note that the outlines of the only buildings to survive the Blitz are shown: the Odeon Cinema, Western Morning News Office, Prudential Building and Pannier Market. Outlying estates were to be self-sufficient, having their own churches, community centres, libraries, and shops. "A Plan for Plymouth" was published on April 27th 1944, although the publication carries the date 1943. The reconstruction work commenced in 1947. In 1953 there was a public inquiry at Devonport Guildhall into the Plan. When asked about the demolition of 22 public houses in Stonehouse, Mr Paton Watson replied: 'I do not think the public houses are open when men have their tea breaks. It is tea they drink nowadays.' Sources:
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