Plymouth, Whimple Street

PLYMOUTH
DATA

The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History

PLYMOUTH ROADS AND STREETS

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Location

Whimple Street ran from the Old Guildhall at the top of High Street north-westwards to St Andrew's Cross, outside St Andrew's Church, at the junction of Bedford Street with Old Town Street. The Street was rather oddly numbered. It started at the Old Guildhall Tavern at top of the High Street, ran along the south-western side to St Andrew's Street, recommenced on opposite, on the corner of Old Town Street, and ran back along the north-eaatern side as far as Kinterbury Street. Then it went across Looe Street and included numbers 40 and 41 on the easatern side of High Street, at the top of Bull Hill.

Principal buildings

The principal buildings on the south-western side of Whimple Street in 1890 were:

the Old Guildhall Tavern; the Victoria Chambers; and the Plymouth & South Devon Savings Bank

and on the north-eastern side were:

Picken & Company, wine & spirit merchants; and the Naval Bank.

Principal businesses

The principal businesses on the south-western side of Whimple Street in 1890 were:

William Brendon, provision dealer; Levi Rosenbaum, furniture dealer; William Birmingham, printer; Gribble & Sons, tailors; Vivian & Sons, coal merchants; the Western Counties & South Wales Telephone Company Ltd; the Western Counties Bank; Frederick William Skardon, solicitor; the Plymouth & South Devon Savings Bank; and the West of England Paper Staining Company Ltd.

The principal businesses on the north-eastern side of Whimple Street in 1890 were:

William Henry Vyvian, tailor; R & S Lear, wholesale grocers; Isaiah Keys, printer; the Naval Bank; Picken & Company, wine & spirit merchants; Henry Tucker, jeweller; John Roach, bootmaker; W & A Gilbey, wine & spirit merchants;

Today only a small part of Whimple Street still exists and the ground floor of the Victoria Chambers, on the corner of St Andrew Street, right opposite St Andrew's Church, is a cafe and restaurant.