Across the River Dart from Kingswear, this is a delightful setting with timber frame and multicoloured houses spreading up the steep valley sides. On top of the hill overlooking the town is the splendid building of the Britannia Royal Naval College, which has been training naval officers since 1863.
The River Dart forms a natural deep water harbour, sheltered in a steep valley. Its importance was recognised soon after the Norman Conquest. Hidden by a bluff at the mouth of the River, and safe from raiding ships, a town grew up around the port.
The town was used as an assembly point for a fleet of 146 ships setting out on the Second Crusade 1147, and again in 1190, when more than 100 vessels left for the Third Crusade. Hence the name Warfleet Creek, just inside the river mouth.
The town was originally made up of two small settlements separated by a tidal creek, that has since been reclaimed. In the 13th Century the two settlements were joined by a dam (on the line of the modern Foss Street) that utilised the power of the tide to drive the wheel of a flour mill. This continued to be used until 1815.
St Clement’s Church was built at the top of the town around 1190. St Saviour’s Church in the lower town was built in response to parishioners no longer wanting to struggle 400’ up the hill to reach the parish church of St Clement.
By 1231, the town had been given the right to hold a weekly market and annual fare. In 1341, the town was granted a Royal Charter, which allowed for the election of a mayor. The borough was required to provide two ships for forty days per year.
Not only had Dartmouth grown rapidly, it was also extremely wealthy from its thriving wine trade with south-west France.
During the Hundred Years War with France (1337-1453), there was an increasing danger of attacks from across the Channel. Dartmouth contributed many ships to defend England and also destroyed many French ships and seizing their cargo. John Hawley, a wealthy merchant and landowner as well as Mayor of Dartmouth, was responsible for the construction of Dartmouth Castle at the mouth of the river. Along with Kingswear Castle on the other side of the river, these were designed as artillery defences and also had a moveable chain between the two to prevent ships attacking the town.
Despite the loss of the wine trade at this time, Dartmouth continued to prosper from the cloth trade and also the export of Cornish tin.
At the time of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Dartmouth sent 11 ships to join the English fleet. The captured Spanish flagship, the Nestra Señora del Rosario, was anchored in the Dart for over a year while its crew worked as labourers on the Greenway Estate.
In the C17th fishing became increasingly, especially trade with Newfoundland and Devon fishermen travelled to Newfoundland every summer for its plentiful supplies of cod. Ships would return via Spain and Portugal, trading salted cod for wine. Other ships returned via the West Indies using the salted cod to buy cotton and tobacco.
Unlike many places in England, the Industrial Revolution didn’t bring immediate prosperity to the area as Dartmouth was virtually inaccessible by road and the railway was late to arrive. Steam ships replaced sail and little coal was available until the arrival of the railway. There was a collapse in the Newfoundland trade. Hand weavers were also replaced by machines elsewhere. By the mid C19th, the town faced a serious economic downturn.
The economy began to recover when the Royal Navy decided in 1863 to train naval cadets on the Dart. The splendid building above the town was built at the start of the C20th and the Britannia Royal Naval College still in use today.
During WW2 it was used as a base for planning and preparing for the the D-Day landings Nearly 500 ships left here for Utah beach.
Many of the town’s traditional industries like ship building, have disappeared and there is little fishing apart from crab. The local economy relies on the thriving tourism industry, with a heavy emphasis on yachting and the sea. The estuary is always busy with boats. Ferries run regular services across the river to Kingswear as well as to Totnes and Dartmouth Castle. The town is always busy with visitors and there is a lot of money here.
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