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Keyham
View of the terraced housing in Keyham
KeyhamLocation within Devon
OS grid reference	SX4556
District	Plymouth
Shire county	Devon
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	PLYMOUTH
Postcode district	PL2
Dialling code	01752
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Devon and Somerset
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Plymouth Sutton and Devonport
List of places UK England Devon 50°23′09″N 4°10′34″W / 50.385833°N 4.176111°W / 50.385833; -4.176111

Keyham is a Victorian-built area of Plymouth in the English county of Devon. It was built to provide dense cheap housing just outside the wall of HM Dockyard Devonport for the thousands of civilian workmen.

History

1900s: Early History

In the early-19th century, Devonport Dockyard was smaller than now; it was enlarged mid-century by Keyham Steam Yard - Keyham at that period was a suburb of Devonport itself. Keyham Steam Yard was one of the locations for the first trials of the Fairbairn patent crane.

The development of housing was so rapid that HMS Hotspur, later renamed HMS Monmouth, was provided as a chapel ship for Roman Catholic services until the Roman Catholic Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer was built in 1901. That church was destroyed by fire following a bombing raid in 1941 and it was rebuilt in 1954.

2021: Plymouth Shooting

On 12 August 2021, a mass shooting occurred in the area, where a gunman, identified as 22-year-old Jake Davison, killed five people and injured two others, before killing himself. His motive remains undetermined, although his online activity made multiple references to the incel subculture. An inquest jury found the 5 people were "unlawfully killed" due to a "catastrophic failure" by Devon and Cornwall Police.

2024: WWII Bomb

On Tuesday 20 February 2024, a 500kg bomb was discovered in a back garden in Keyham. An area of 309 metres around the device was evacuated and cordoned off. The Ministry of Defence said that it was "one of the largest peacetime evacuations since the second world war"

An emergency alert was sent to residents in Plymouth around 12pm on Friday 23 February advising more evacuations as the bomb disposal teams prepared to move the device to the Torpoint Ferry slipway to be disposed of at sea. During the incident, thousands of residents that live inside the cordon were evacuated.

References

1. Fairbairn, William (1856). Useful Information for Engineers. London: Longmans. pp. 283. fairbairn boiler.
2. Moseley, Brian (1 July 2011). "Church of our Most Holy Redeemer". The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
3. Picheta, Rob; Kent, Lauren. "Five dead and suspect killed after 'devastating' shooting in England". CNN. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
4. "Plymouth shootings may be a sign 'incel' culture is spreading". The Guardian. 13 August 2021. Archived from the original on 15 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
5. "Plymouth gunman: a hate-filled misogynist and 'incel'". The Guardian. 13 August 2021. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
6. "Plymouth shootings: Why was Jake Davison allowed a gun?". BBC News. 21 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
7. "Plymouth bomb discovery: A timeline of events so far". ITV News. 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
8. "Plymouth WW2 bomb: Thousands evacuated before unexploded device moved". BBC News. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
9. Ambrose, Tom (23 February 2024). "Plymouth bomb: Thousands evacuated before unexploded second world war ordnance disposed of at sea – live". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
10. "Unexploded WWII bomb found in Plymouth to be moved by military convoy through city and 'disposed of' at sea". Sky News. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
11. "Thousands evacuated in Plymouth as army to move WW2 bomb and detonate it at sea". The Independent. 23 February 2024. Retrieved 23 February 2024.

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