The South Hams were formerly part of the
Brythonic (Celtic) Kingdom of
Dumnonia. Post-Roman settlement on coastal
promontory hillforts, such as
Burgh Island, followed the established pattern of trading (particularly of
tin) found across the western Atlantic coastal regions. The
Anglo-Saxon conquest of south Devon was completed in the late 7th and early 8th centuries. In the later
Anglo-Saxon era, the South Hams was a feudal estate consisting of all of the land between the
River Plym and
River Dart and south of
Dartmoor with the
English Channel forming the southern boundary. As a result of claims made by 19th century
antiquarian Richard Polwhele, there is a popular belief that
Cornish continued to be spoken in the area until the later middle ages and as late as the 14th century. However, there is, in fact, no evidence supporting this. In 1917, the village of
Hallsands was abandoned after much of it was lost to the sea following the removal of the shingle bank protecting the shore to help build
Devonport dockyard. In 1944 several villages were evacuated so that training for
D-Day could be carried out in secret. The area was chosen because of the resemblance of its beaches to those of
Normandy. Preparations were disrupted, and secrecy nearly compromised, by a devastating
E-boat attack during
Exercise Tiger. The modern local government district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of seven former districts which were all abolished at the same time: •
Dartmouth Municipal Borough •
Kingsbridge Rural District •
Kingsbridge Urban District •
Plympton St Mary Rural District •
Salcombe Urban District •
Totnes Municipal Borough •
Totnes Rural District The new district was named South Hams, using the long-established name for the area. ==Governance==