 The first record of the existence of a settlement at Plymouth was in the Domesday Book in 1086 as Sudtone , Saxon for south farm , located at the present day Barbican . From Saxon times , it was in the hundred of Roborough . In 1254 it gained status as a town and in 1439 , became the first town in England to be granted a Charter by Parliament . Between 1439 and 1934 , Plymouth had a Mayor . In 1914 the county boroughs of Plymouth and Devonport , and the urban district of East Stonehouse merged to form a single county borough of Plymouth . Collectively they were referred to as " The Three Towns " . 
