Dartmouth

Dartmouth, town and seaport in Devon, England, located near the mouth of the River Dart. The Royal Naval College is situated above the town's harbour and trains officers of the Royal Navy and Mercantile Marine. Its industries include boatbuilding, light engineering, and pottery manufacture. Dartmouth Castle (15th century) and Kingswear Castle, on opposite banks, guard the estuary entrance. The 17th-century Butterwalk, named because the adjacent arcade sold dairy produce, comprises four houses with intricate wooden carvings and decorative plasterwork on its exterior. The maritime museum houses many old maps and prints. Richard I's crusaders sailed from here in 1190 destined for the Holy Land, on the Third Crusade. In 1944 American troops sailed from Dartmouth to the Normandy beaches in France. Population 5,676 (1991).