Barbican, Plymouth

The Barbican is the name given to the western and northern sides of Sutton Harbour, the original harbour of Plymouth in Devon, England. It was one of the few parts of the city to escape most of the destruction of The Blitz during World War II. Two or three streets still retain some of the architecture of an old fishing port. The Barbican has the largest concentration of cobbled streets in Britain, and contains 100 listed buildings.HistoryThe present Barbican district is generally regarded as being roughly equivalent to the location and size of the medieval walled town of Sutton. A barbican is a fortified gate, and here the name probably derives from the 'Castle Barbican' which was an entrance to Plymouth Castle, the late medieval fortress that guarded access to the Cattewater, prior to the building of the Royal Citadel.For centuries the Barbican was home to Plymouth's fish market (now relocated to the other side of the harbour) and is still home to many fishermen. One of the oldest streets in Plymouth running north from the Barbican is now called New Street, it was formerly called Rag Street.Much historical research and outreach work is done by the Old Plymouth Society, and many of the oldest surviving buildings were restored and are still owned and maintained by the Plymouth Barbican Association. However many old and significant buildings were demolished during the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries.