Wat-er interesting find. Who would have thought drains could be so fascinating, but they are when the contractor was none other than Sir Francis Drake!
Contractors working on Armada Way are lifting the lid on a slice of Plymouth history – Drake’s Leat, which supplied the city’s water for several hundred years.
Drake’s Leat opened in 1591 and ran for 17 miles from the River Meavy to the sea. As part of the contract, Drake was granted leases for six water mills along its course.
Sections of the leat are still very visible on the moors and along the Tavistock Road at Derriford. This city centre section is buried several metres below the surface but is being in part uncovered as part of the preparation work for the regeneration scheme.
As it is a known archaeological feature, AC Archaeology have been commissioned by the council to record its condition and preserve findings by record before it is covered over once more – in line with best practice to keep finds in situ wherever possible.
The work will involve photographs and creating scaled drawings when the leat is exposed as well as sampling organic material, if there is suitable access.
The leat was created at street level but now it’s a couple of metres down, which shows how much the lay of the land has changed. Blitz rubble was used as infill when the city centre was completely rebuilt after the war.
The industrial revolution in the early 19th Century saw factories and foundries crop up in this location, all of which used water from the leat. Early Victorian maps show an iron works, a sawmill and a dye works in the area currently occupied by SpecSavers, Barclay’s Bank and B&M. A fabric production factory close to the site also produced sails for the Royal Navy.
Councillor Mark Lowry, city centre champion said: “This stretch of the leat will be particularly interesting due to its reconstruction in the Victorian era to help serve the industries nearby. It will be fascinating to see what archaeologists find. It all adds to the story of Plymouth.”
Part of the massive Armada Way Regeneration scheme will reference the leat. The water play area will follow its direction and there will be metal markers in the ground to indicate to people the location and direction and flow of the water through the leat.
The leat fell out of fashion and out of use in the early 1800s when reservoirs were built to supply water to Plymouth’s rapidly expanding population. Two reservoirs were built at Drake's Place currently part of the University of Plymouth campus on North Hill. The leat within the city centre area was covered over to prevent pollution and to reduce the danger to pedestrians, especially children.
In 1826 the Corporation laid new iron pipes to supply water. Other reservoirs were built in the mid to late 1800s at Crownhill, Hartley, Roborough and Yelverton.