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PLYMOUTH ROADS AND STREETS
TREVILLE STREET
| Location
of Treville Street, Plymouth
Treville Street ran
eastwards from the junction with
Old Town Street to Bilbury Street
(formerly Lower Broad Street),
Buckwell Street (formerly Higher Broad Street) and Norley Street.
It later absorbed Bilbury Street.
Origin of the name, Treville Street
It was Jonathan Couch, a Cornish doctor and naturallist, who recorded in
1840 that the Street took its name from Mr Richard Trevill (sic), a
merchant in the Town during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
In an effort to remove the pilchard trade from London-based
merchants he erected pilchard
cellars at Cawsand and Kingsand c1597 and exported "fairmaids"
(pilchards) to Bordeaux, Rochelle, Naples and Spain. [1]
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History of
Butchers Lane/Treville Street
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Although a Town
Rental of 1706 records the existence of Treville street [2], at the time of Benjamin Donn's
plan of Plymouth in 1765 it was known as Butchers Lane [3].
It has been suggested that this was where the butchers put up their
stalls on market days in the 17th century, when the market was held
in the streets around the Guildhall at the top of High Street [4].
At the bottom (east) end of the Lane was the Butchers' Arms, 'a
great resort for farmers of inordinate drinking capacity'
[5]
Bilbury Street was
later absorbed into Treville Street. |
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Treville Street was
the border between the parish of Charles (north side) and St Andrew's
(south side) [6].
Mr Edward Stanley
Gibbons, the founder of philately, was born in Treville
Street in 1840 [7].
Up until the
Second World
War the junction of Treville Street with Old Town Street was known
for being the busiest junction in Plymouth and consequently became the location of Plymouth's first set
of traffic lights [8].
Only a few buildings were
left standing after the Second World War one of which was the
Spread Eagle Public House. It was demolished in 1956, when the
Certified After Damage Value was £3,250 [9]. The only original buildings that now remain are the King's Head Public House and what was
the Treville Street Board School.
Some Views of
Treville Street
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This picture allegedly shows the Old Salt
House
in Treville Street, Plymouth.
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With the old buildings removed as a
result of the Blitz, the line of Treville Street can be easily
followed from the junction with
Old Town Street (by the white shop
blinds) down past the
Unitarian Chapel and the
Society of Friends'
Meeting House, almost the only premises left standing. |
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Occupants of Treville Street, Plymouth
Principal Sources:
[1] Couch,
Dr Jonathan, "Observations in further illustration of the
History and Statistics of the pilchard fishery", Annual Report of
the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society, Truro, 1840.
[2] "Town
Rental for Mayoral Year beginning 1706" listed in section H:
Rentals, Surveys, and Records of Property, of Worth, R N, FGS,
"Calendar of the Plymouth Municipal Records", 1893.
[3] Donn,
Benjamin, "A Map of the County of Devon 1765", facsimile,
Devon
and Cornwall Record Society and the University of Exeter,
Exeter, 1965.
[4] Jewitt,
Llewellyn, FSA, "A History of Plymouth", Simpkin, Marshall &
Company, London, and W H Luke, Plymouth, 1873.
[5]
Whitfeld. Henry Francis, "Plymouth and Devonport: In Times of War
and Peace", E Chapple, Plymouth, and Hiorns & Miller,
Devonport, Second Edition, 1900.
[6]
Ordnance Survey maps 1:2500 scale, Plymouth St Andrew's Parish and
Plymouth Charles Parish, c1860.
[7] 1841
Census, HO107/269/21/36.
[8] Watson,
J Paton, and Abercrombie, Patrick, "A Plan
for Plymouth", Underhill (Plymouth) Ltd, Plymouth, 1943.
[9]
Plymouth City Council, Reconstruction Committee minute dated January 16th 1956.
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