The Form & Growth of the City

The years following the Restoration of Charles II in 1660 saw a spectacular rise in the city’s fortunes; between c. 1680 and 1730 it reached its summit of prosperity. There was a rapid growth in population from around 9-10,000 in 1640 to around 13,000 by the 1680s accompanied by much house-building, especially in the suburbs. In 1700 the city was the fourth or fifth largest in Britain. The basis of prosperity was the flourishing Devon cloth industry, and the development of a major new market for it in the Netherlands, especially at Rotterdam.