The name first appears as ryver of Hamose in 1588. The first element is thought to refer to specifically to Ham in the parish of Weston Peverel, now a suburb of Plymouth (whose name in turn came from the Old English word Шаблон:Lang, meaning "water-meadow, land in the bend of a river"). The second element is thought to derive from Old English Шаблон:Lang meaning "mud" (as in "ooze"). Thus the name once meant "mud-banks at Ham". The name originally probably applied only to a creek running past Ham, which perhaps consisted of mud-banks at low tide, north of the present-day Devonport Dockyard. The name later came to be used for the main channel of the estuary into which the creek drained.[1]
Geography
The Hamoaze flows past Devonport Dockyard, which is one of three major bases of the Royal Navy today. The presence of large numbers of small watercraft is a challenge and hazard to the warships using the naval base and dockyard. Navigation on the waterway is controlled by the King's Harbour Master for Plymouth.[2][3]
Two regular ferry services crossing the Hamoaze exist: the Torpoint Ferry (a chain ferry that takes vehicles) and the Cremyll Ferry (passengers and cyclists only).
A street in Torpoint bears the name Hamoaze Road, named after the stretch of river.
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