Mount Batten

Mount Batten is a 24-metre-tall outcrop of rock on a 600-metre peninsula in Plymouth Sound, Devon, England, named after Sir William Batten (c.1600-1667), MP and Surveyor of the Navy.

After some redevelopment which started with the area coming under the control of the Plymouth Development Corporation for five years from 1993, the peninsula now has a marina and centre for sea sport.

The Mount Batten Breakwater (also referred to as Cattewater Breakwater and Mount Batten Pier) to the west doubles as a breakwater for the Cattewater and Sutton Harbour. It was built in 1881 by the Cattewater Commissioners and subsequently refurbished by the Plymouth Development Corporation opening formally in 1995.

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 period. 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 and for the 'Tamaris' of Ptolemy's Geographia. Three fine British-made bronze mirror were excavated on the peninsula, among many other ancient finds, but were lost in the Plymouth Blitz.

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. However, in 1633 and 1634 the Mount Batten isthmus was breached. A sea wall was built to resolve the problem but it wasn’t until the breakwaters were built that the problem was finally solved.

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