Hopton Close

Two 1970s developments just off Linketty Lane are named after two major English Civil War leaders, Hopton and Ruthven, who fought against each other on the outskirts of Plymouth in 1642.

Sir Ralph Hopton (1598-1652), from Somerset, was a sitting MP from 1624 until 1642 when he was expelled for his Royalist leanings. Thereafter appointed commander for the King in the south-west he advanced on Exeter in November that year and finding it too strong fell back on Tavistock. He then made a move against Plymouth.

Cutting off the town's water from Burrator, he overran Ruthven's outposts and, with 2,500 men, attacked the Parliamentarian troops from Plympton. Here however Hopton was thwarted and moved back into Cornwall where he later met with Ruthven's men again forcing them back across the Tamar and putting Plymouth under effective siege for the first time. Created Lord Hopton by the King in 1643, he eventually was forced to surrender, at Truro, in 1646 and died in exile, in Bruges.