Efford

Coordinates: 50°23′21″N 4°06′36″W / 50.389167°N 4.11°W / 50.389167; -4.11

Efford is a large, mostly post-war, eastern suburb of Plymouth in the county of Devon, England.

It stands on high ground above the Laira estuary of the River Plym and variously offers views over long distances: to the north across Dartmoor, to the east and south-east across the South Hams of Devon. It has a core of home owners but is predominantly made up of local authority and housing association properties.

Etymology

One theory of the origin of the name 'Efford' is that it originally comes from the part of this suburb that slopes down towards the River Plym (which is now partly reclaimed and built-on land); before much of the river silted up, ships could Ford here when the river was at the Ebb tide; so it was the Ebbing or Ebb-Ford. Over time, by the natural processes of pronunciation change, the 'b's disappeared and it became Efford. Before this land was built on, it was known as 'The Wilds of Efford', which was largely unspoilt countryside and marsh land. Another theory is that 'Efford' comes from the 'ford', which spanned the Plym from Crabtree to Saltram House. It was only usable during low tide 'ebb', hence the name ebb-ford and later, Efford.