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ROADS AND STREETS IN OLD PLYMOUTH - A-Z INDEX

WESTWELL STREET

On Benjamin Donn's plan of Plymouth in 1765 what was to become Westwell Street was shown as Love Lane.

Westwell Street, Plymouth, ran southwards from Bedford Street to Princess Square.  In 1765 it was known as Love Lane and was reputed to have been the favourite resort of courting couples. At that time it led up to Plymouth Hoe.

Looking south down Westwell Street from Bedford Street.
Note the Guildhall Tower.  The tram is passing the Plymouth General Post Office.
From a postcard

By 1778 it had become Burying Place Lane because a new burial ground for the Ancient Parish Church of Saint Andrew the Apostle had been opened up on ground to the west of the pathway.

The West Well was also in a field alongside the path leading to the Hoe.  The Well was apparently filled-in during 1810 and as properties were erected along the road so it became known as Westwell Street.  It is recorded as such in 1812.  There were fourteen properties in the Street in 1864 but this had risen to thirty-one by 1867.

The Street gained in importance when the Guildhall and Municipal Offices were built on the eastern side in 1874 and a new General Post Office was opened on the western side of the Street, opposite Guildhall Square, ten years later.

For a short while the Westwell Street Roller Skating Rink was in Westwell Street.

Westwell Street in its heyday, with Plymouth Corporation tram number 11 proceeding towards Beaumont Road.
©  The Western Morning News Company Limited.

Westwell Street was badly damaged in the Second World War but some of the shops on the western side were able to re-open afterwards.  The Municipal Offices were destroyed and the remains pulled down to make way for Royal Parade.  The position of the Guildhall, which survived the Blitz, gives a good idea of the line of Westwell Street.

Part of the western side of Westwell Street
that survived the Second World War, 1959.
Note Churchill's fish shop.
© City of Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery.

Looking northwards along bomb damaged Westwell Street from Princess Square.
Note the Guildhall Tower on the right and the General Post Office opposite it.
© The Western Morning News Company Limited.

For the Occupants of Westwell Street in 1812 CLICK HERE.