The leat followed the right hand bank of the River Meavy for some way, before crossing over to Dousland, Yelverton, and Roborough Downs and into Plymouth via Crownhill and Mutley.  Parts of the leat are still visible today on the moor at Roborough Down, near Clearbrook, and even in parts of Plymouth, such as at Crownhill Fort.

After 1592, public 'conduits' were constructed to supply the water free of charge to the population and one of these is still preserved in the walls of Drake's Place Reservoir.  An inscription on it states that it was made in the Mayoralty of John Trelawnye (sic) 1598.

Old Town Conduit 

In the 1820’s, Drake's Place and No Place Lane reservoirs were constructed, and Drake’s Leat within the town was covered over to prevent pollution and accidents to pedestrians.  In 1826 the Corporation laid new iron pipes to facilitate supply, an event that is commemorated by a plaque on the West Pier of the Barbican.  Later the leat was deepened and repaved and in some places received a concrete bottom to aid the flow of water.  In 1891 the two reservoirs at Drake's Place were combined into one, deepened, and ornamental fountains added.

Leather Tor and Devonport Leat, above Burrator Reservoir

The Plymouth Corporation Act of 1893 authorised the construction of an impounding reservoir at Burrator Gorge about 13 miles from Plymouth, from where the water would be piped to the Roborough service reservoir. Drake’s Leat began about 3/4-mile above Burrator Dam, and its original path can sometimes be seen when the level of water in the reservoir is very low. It remained very close to the original path of the River Meavy although instead of dropping to the bottom of the gorge, it was taken round the rocky west side of Burrator Gorge in wooden conduits into a ditch a few feet on the south side of the present dam.

Burrator Gorge during construction of the Dam

For about three hundred years since 1584, Drake’s vision, however self-serving, provided Plymouth with a secure and ample water supply, setting an example for other cities in Britain.  Drake's water supply helped to change Plymouth from being a tiny coastal fishing village to a town where, instead of living off the sea or the surrounding land and being self-sufficient, men worked for one another or for organisations like the Navy.  This industrialization of Plymouth caused people to move from their farms on the high lands of Dartmoor.  Many of our family members gradually made their way down to Plymouth, taking with them skills they had acquired on the Moors - the building of the dockyard, for instance, required hundreds of skilled masons - a job any Moor man was used to doing every day of his life. 

Plymouth always claimed that the supply from Drake's Leat was only just enough for themselves. In the late 1700’s, the larger population of Plymouth Dock (known since 1824 as Devonport) decided to provide for themselves.  In 1792, Royal Assent established a company to construct a leat from the Blackabrook, Cowsic and West Dart streams on Dartmoor for the sole use of Dock residents.  By 1797, water was flowing along Devonport Leat, and construction was completed in 1801.  A new reservoir was constructed at Dousland in 1907 and the leat below that point was abandoned.  Devonport Leat continued to provide water direct to the reservoir until 1951, when the flow was diverted to a waterfall into Burrator Reservoir, thus combining Drake's Leat with Devonport Leat."

At the annual "Fishing Feast", or Mayor's survey of the water supply, a toast is drunk to the memory of Sir Francis Drake: 

“To the pious memory of Sir Francis Drake”

“May all the descendants of him who brought us water never want wine”