Editing Mount Batten (section)

==History==

===Early history===
According to excavations reported by [[Barry Cunliffe]] in 1988, Mount Batten was the site of the earliest trade with Europe yet discovered in [[Bronze Age Britain]], operating from the late [[Bronze Age]], peaking in the late [[Iron Age Britain]] and continuing in operation throughout the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] period.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mount Batten: prehistoric and Romano-British settlement, Non Civil Parish - 1017598 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1017598 |website=historicengland.org.uk |access-date=25 August 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>Barry Cunliffe : Mount Batten Plymouth: A Prehistoric and Roman Port. Oxford University Press 1988</ref><ref name="Cunliffe 1982">{{cite journal|last1=Cunliffe|first1=Barry|title=Britain, the Veneti and beyond. 1982|journal=Oxford Journal of Archaeology|volume=1|issue=1|pages=39–68|doi=10.1111/j.1468-0092.1982.tb00298.x|year=1982}}</ref> It appears to have been the primary route of entry to [[Bronze Age Britain]] for large quantities of continental commodities such as wine, and is therefore a speculative candidate for the trading centre of '[[Ictis]]' reported by [[Diodorus Siculus]]<ref>Miranda Jane Aldhouse-Green, ''The Celtic World'' (1996), p. 276</ref> and for the 'Tamaris' of [[Ptolemy]]'s [[Geographia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roman-britain.org/places/tamaris.htm|title=Tamaris – Probable Settlement and Port|date=July 2004|publisher=www.Roman-Britain.co.uk|accessdate=22 August 2008|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080811000000/http://www.roman-britain.org/places/tamaris.htm|archivedate=11 August 2008|df=dmy-all}} [http://www.roman-britain.co.uk/places/tamaris/ Alt URL]</ref> Three fine British-made [[bronze mirror]]s were excavated on the peninsula, among many other ancient finds, but were lost in the [[Plymouth Blitz]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.celticmirrors.org/ | title=Celtic Mirrors}}</ref>

=== Coastal erosion ===

Before the [[Plymouth Breakwater]] was completed in 1841 and the Mount Batten Breakwater in 1881, the Mount Batten peninsula was subject to significant [[coastal erosion]]. In the 17th century, maintenance of the Cattewater required annual removal of silt and rubble which was dumped on the south side of Mount Batten.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} However, in 1633 and 1634 the Mount Batten [[isthmus]] was breached.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} A sea wall was built to resolve the problem but it wasn't until the breakwaters were built that the problem was finally solved.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

=== Mount Batten Tower ===
[[Image:Mount Batten Tower.jpg|thumb|Mount Batten Tower]]

In the later [[Medieval period]], Mount Batten became an important defensive point for the developing settlement at Plymouth Harbour, providing a field of fire from across the other side of the [[Cattewater]], the channel connecting the old town to the sea. In 1652, Mount Batten Tower, a 30-foot high circular artillery fort was built here; it is a [[Scheduled Ancient Monument]].

=== Maritime incidents ===
In 1973, a short distance from Mount Batten, the [[Cattewater Wreck]] was discovered during dredging. Subsequent survey and excavation work indicated that the wreck was of a 200–300 ton [[merchant ship|merchantmen]] believed to have been lost in the early 16th Century. It has the distinction of being the first wreck to be protected under the [[Protection of Wrecks Act 1973]].
On 16 February 1811, the [[Sailing frigate|frigate]] {{HMS|Amethyst|1799|6}} wrecked on the ground near Cony Cliff Rocks, Mount Batten. Eight seamen lost their lives.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

=== Quarrying at Mount Batten ===
Extensive quarrying took place at Mount Batten between 1839 and the mid-1860s.<ref>Gerald Wasley: Mount Batten- The Flying Boats of Plymouth, Halsgrove, 2006</ref> Stones from the quarry were used for building steam yards at [[HMNB Devonport]]. The quarrying substantially changed the local landscape and threatened the Mount Batten Tower. Following a petition from 53 leading citizens to the Admiralty, Lord Morley, the landowner, imposed restrictions on quarrying thereby saving the tower.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}

=== Mount Batten Breakwater ===
[[File:Mount Batter Breakwater during storm on 3 Jan 2012.JPG|thumb|Mount Batten Breakwater during storm]]
Work on the Mount Batten Breakwater<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.plymouthdata.info/Mount%20Batten%20Breakwater.htm
|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203063057/http://www.plymouthdata.info/Mount%20Batten%20Breakwater.htm
|archivedate=3 December 2013
|last=Moseley
|first=Brian
|date= 	19 January 2011
|website=The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History
|title=Mount Batten Breakwater
|accessdate=12 February 2015}}</ref> (also referred to as Mount Batten Pier and Cattewater Breakwater) started in 1878 and was completed in 1881 at a total cost of £20,000. It is 915 feet (279 metres) in length and the foundations are 20 feet (6 metres) below the low tide mark. The breakwater was promoted by the Cattewater Commissioners who were responsible for shipping in the area. During the air-station years the breakwater was closed to the public and used, for a period, to store flying boats. In 1995 the breakwater was refurbished and re-opened to the public.

The breakwater is a popular site for local anglers and for those watching ships using the Plymouth Sound. Boats in the Fastnet and Americas Cup, can also be viewed. In August each year, the breakwater is used for the [[British Firework Championships]].

===Early tourism===
The coastal walk to [[Jennycliff Bay|Jennycliff]] and local inns, originally built to service those working on the quarries, helped make Mount Batten an increasingly popular destination for Plymothians. During one bank holiday in 1906, some 10,000 visitors took the ferry to the area. This fledgling tourist industry came to an abrupt end when the area was closed to the public.

===The air-station years (1913–1986)===
Seaplane trials first took place around Mount Batten as early as 1913 and an air-station was subsequently developed. A local commemorative display poster cites the following names and years for the air station:

* 1913–1918 as RNAS Cattewater
* 1918–1928 as RAF Cattewater
* 1928–1986 as [[RAF Mount Batten]]

Between 1917 and 1945, with some gaps, it was a [[flying boat]] base for both the [[Royal Air Force]] and the [[Royal Navy]]. The RAF operated [[search and rescue]] launches from the base. [[T. E. Lawrence]] was stationed there under the moniker Aircraftsman Shaw.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.telawrencestudies.org/telawrencestudies/service_years/high-speed_craft.htm
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110112024750/http://www.telawrencestudies.org/telawrencestudies/service_years/high-speed_craft.htm
|url-status=usurped
|archive-date=12 January 2011
|title=Notes on the introduction to the RAF of high-speed craft
|publisher=T. E. Lawrence Studies
|accessdate=11 April 2011
|last=Beauforte-Greenwood
|first=W. E. G}}</ref>

[[Shorts Sunderland]] flying boats of the [[Royal Australian Air Force]] operated from RAF Mount Batten during [[World War II]], taking part in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]]. The RAF finally left in 1986.

===Recent history===
The former RAF Mount Batten site was transferred to the Plymouth Development Corporation in 1992.

In 1999, the Mount Batten Sailing and Watersports Centre opened on the site of the former sergeants' mess. The [[peninsula]] is also home to a small residential community with 22 houses, Spinnaker Quay, dating from 2001.