The Box: Port of Plymouth

 This is an ongoing exhibition at the Box.

This exhibition looks at the history of Plymouth from the the people of Whitehorse Hill on Dartmoor to its modern history.  The focus is it's use as a port.  The exhibition was very goo and I learnt a lot.  Not living in Plymouth, much of this was completely new to me.

The exhibition began with a film narrated by Dawn French.  It was very cleverly produced with a flat area which often played the part of the sea and a curved backdrop that was often the sky and a few protrusions at the base that often played the part of the land around the harbour.  The film was then projected on to this landscape.   I found this 3D set up very interesting and it really helped me understand the layout of Plymouth.

I learnt about the development of Plymouth as a port and how there are as many as 600 shipwrecks around the area.  The port was (and remains) an incredibly busy port but it was vulnerable to the weather.  The eddystone rocks off the coast were a particular hazard and the current lighthouse there is the fourth.  The Navy later spent 40 years constructing a breakwater to protect the port from the worst of the weather.

Lets go back a bit though...  After the film we went back in time and looked at archaeological finds from the area, starting with the Bronze Age people of Whitehorse Hill on Dartmoor.  The exhibition takes you through finds from various ages and their connection with the port, such as the Iron Age and the Romans.  The port brought goods in from across Europe and there are pieces of pottery and venetian beads on display.  Its clear the port was rich.

Then we move on to the development of the port itself.  OK, so a small aside first....  Across Cornwall and Devon there are river valleys  left over from the Ice Age but as ice melted  and sea level rose, these river valleys were flooded.  They are known as rias.  The one at Plymouth is huge and would have been a river delta with the River Tamar swollen by the Rivers Lynher and Tavy on one side meeting the River Plym on the other.  Plymouth sits on the high ground that remains at the fork of the Tamar and Plym.  The delta lies below though with the high ground of Torpoint and Wembury / Bovisand on the other.  

Now all the ice is gone, Plymouth is by the sea and the sea also goes some way inland along the flooded river valleys.  It makes for an incredible deep water harbour with many safe anchorages along the flooded river, especially the Tamar.  There are only two problems, the dangerous Eddystone rocks and the vicious westerly storms that sweep right in to the harbour.

The Eddystone rocks are a little out to sea but directly in the approach to the harbour and caused many a wreck.  The first lighthouse as built in 1698, but was wooden and destroyed in a storm.  The next caught fire as it was made of wood.  The second, Smeaton's lighthouse was in use from 1759 to 1877 until signs of instability were noted.  The fourth and current lighthouse was built alongside and then Smeaton's lighthouse was removed and rebuilt on Plymouth Hoe, where it still remains.  The exhibition included an interactive map of known wrecks, items from two wrecks and depictions of the lighthouses (including a beautifully intricate silver salt).  

This helped ships coming into the harbour but not those affected by storms within the harbour.  It is across the mouth of the harbour and entirely at sea.  It was started in 1811 and consists of four million tonnes of stone.  A lighthouse was later added to the breakwater.  The wall is 1560 metres long and lies in 10 metre deep water.  The breakwater takes the force out of the worst waves in the strongest storms and creates a safe harbour behind.  

Plymouth is the largest deep water harbour in Western Europe and remains a vibrant port city with the Royal Naval base including nuclear submarines, shipbuilding, a fishing fleet and ferry services.  It was good to see a video about the local fishing industry.  The next room took us on to the military history of Plymouth.

There were a few bits about Napolean but this room largely covered the World Wars.  Of course, Plymouth played a huge part and suffered for it.  there were more bombs dropped per person than the West End of London.  Efforts to protect the docks with decoys were largely successful but the town bore the brunt and was pretty decimated.  This is documented in the bomb book held upstairs in the Active Archive.  This room holds an interesting mix of film, photographs and items including a model of the Hood.  I always find the Hood a little...  something...  when I come across it.  My husbands Grandfather served on it and was transferred off days before it sank.  For those who don't know this piece of history, she was sunk in the battle of Denmark Strait in 1941.  There were only three survivors.

The display lastly moved on to some film about Devonport docks as they are now and how they affect the social landscape of the city.  There is a small display of items used at the dock, such as a clocking in machine.  This section also promoted the inclusion of women at the docks now.  I definitely support this.  There is a bias towards men in these industries.  The footage largely shows men, because that's how things were.  It's good to make it clear to children that this is not how things are now.

So yes, the exhibition is great.  It's well laid out, interesting and informative.  I don't know that they could do very much more in the space.  I am sure they could fill the entire space with the story of Plymouth in the two world wars.  I think for me, there were two things missing for me personally.

I find geography and geology fascinating.  I loved seeing Plymouth laid out in the introductory video.  Seeing the development as different parts of the harbour were developed was really interesting.  I would really have loved to see some more topographical information on the harbour over time.  I would love to have seen an animation of how the area has changed as sea levels have risen.  I think this also leads to a discussion of Plymouth's future as sea levels continue to rise and how this will affect the city.

The second was about the Napoleonic wars.  It was nice to see some paintings, but it was a tiny part.  This could have been expanded a lot, with more space.  I don't know much about the Napoleonic wars and I was left feeling quite aware of that!  There were also various fortifications added to Plymouth and these were not covered either.

It must be so hard as a museum to curate an exhibition with such a vast swathe of history to cover, knowing you are going to have miss out quite a lot.  I think it's just an introduction really.  I imagine you could find out rather more by booking time in the Cottonian Room at the museum.  They certainly succeeded in giving a really good and engaging introduction!  They made sure that the exhibition looked at the ports continuing relevance, although there is obviously a lot that happens that is secret!