George
Lane continues northwards from Longbrook Street.
It was formerly called Manalyn Street. This referred
to the leper hospital, dedicated to Mary Magdalene,
which from 1307, until it was partly destroyed for
turnpike improvements in 1770, stood on the north-east
corner of George Lane and Ridgeway. There used to
be houses on both sides of George Lane until about
1700 when Sir George Treby, the Lord Chief Justice
of England, had Plympton House built. Completed
in 1720, it is a typical Queen Anne house, but the
architect responsible is unknown. There is an interesting
contrast between the limestone facade and the brick
which is used for the side walls of the house. Much
of the interior panelling remains, and there are
the original fireplaces and staircase. Now, as St.
Peter's Convent, it is a private nursing home. The
surrounding high brick walls are a striking feature,
the bricks in the older section in Longcause having
been made with clay from a field to the east of
Longbrook Street. The entrance to the drive, in
Longcause, has eighteenth century pillars with heraldic
lions on top. Evidence of hooks and rings in this
south side of the wall shows where animal pens were
fixed when the cattle market was held in Longcause,
earlier this century. |
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Further
along Longcause, in one of a pair of cottages which
have since been converted into a single dwelling
known as Southview, lived Florence Nightingale's
maid. She was married to the butler of Chaddlewood
House which is situated north of Ridgeway. It is
said she had met him abroad in 1855 during the Crimean
War. Perhaps he had been a patient under the care
of her mistress! The houses at the junction of Barbican
Road and George Lane are all that remain of a group
of Elizabethan cottages, forming Hannaford, or Hanover
Square. They were originally thatched, with latticed
windows. Opposite them was the Castle Inn. In common
with other local Inns in the eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries, it was open daily from 6 a.m.
until 11 p.m.! On Good Friday 1867, after a prize
fight on the Castle Green, a skirmish between Plympton
and Plymouth youths led to a pitched battle outside
the Inn. A young man was seriously injured when
he, jumped out of a neighbouring cottage window
to join in the fight! The Inn became a private house
in 1909, and the blocked in entrance can still be
seen.
Based on:
© MILLS, Audrey F, 1981: Plympton St.
Maurice Guide, First Edition, Plympton
St. Maurice Civic Association
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