Holland Road

Unusually - and confusingly - there are three different Holland Roads within the present Plymouth boundaries. One in Mannamead, one in Plymstock and a third (the most recent) in Plympton.

In each case there are no obvious clues as to the choice of name. No one is sure either about why Holland, as in the country also known as the Netherlands, is so-called. The most popular theories are either that it comes from old Dutch 'Holtland' - as in forest land (it was once well wooded) - or 'hollow land'.

The Holland in Essex derives from 'land on or by a Hoh, or spur of a hill'. The Holland Inn, at Hatt, near Saltash, is said to derive from a local politician, Lord Holland, who was prominent in the mid-19th century. Holland Park in London is the district named after Holland House, home of the Earls of Holland, a title first conferred upon Sir Henry Rich, in Lincolnshire in 1624.