Drake's Island

Drake's Island

The island in the middle of Plymouth Sound was known during the middle ages as St Michael's after the chapel that stood on it, recorded in 1135. After Sir Frances Drake sailed from here in 1577 and circumnavigated the world, it was occasionally referred to as Drake's Island but became principally known as St Nicolas' Island until well into the 19th Century. It is only in comparatively recent times that it has become widely known as Drake's Island. From Elizabethan times, the island was fortified as a defence against the French and Spanish and it still contains derelict military buildings from the Napoleonic era. In 1995 the island was sold by the Crown Estate to a former chairman of Plymouth Argyle with a view to developing it as a tourism destination.

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