Slice of history is found under Armada Way

SECTION OF DRAKE'S LEAT IS UNCOVERED BY CONTRACTORS

- By OLIVIER VERGNAULT [e-mail]

A LEAT commissioned by none other than Plymouth's own privateer and Elizabethan sailing legend Sir Francis Drake has been found by contractors on a £27m project to revamp the city centre.

Contractors working on Armada Way unearthed a slice of the city's rich history when they discovered a drain dating back to the 16th century.

Identified as Drake's Leat, the artificial water trench would have supplied the city's water for several hundred years. Drake's Leat opened in 1591 and ran for 17 miles from the River Meavy to the sea. As part of the contract, Drake, who famously helped defeat the Spanish Armada, was granted leases for six water mills along its course.