Lyme Regis

Lyme Regis (IPA: [ˌlaɪmˈɹiːgɪs]) is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and 25 miles east of Exeter. The parish church is located at 50°20′49″N 2°42′10″W / 50.34694°N 2.70278°W / 50.34694; -2.70278. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border. It is nicknamed "The Pearl of Dorset". In the 13th century it developed into one of the major British ports.

The town has a population of 3,513, 45% of whom are retired.^[1]. Lyme is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The Royal Charter was granted by King Edward I in 1284, with the addition of 'Regis' to the town's name. This charter was confirmed by Elizabeth I in 1591.

History

In 1644 during the English Civil War, the townspeople who were Parliamentarians, withstood an 8-week siege by Royalist forces under Prince Maurice. It was at Lyme Regis that the Duke of Monmouth landed at the start of the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685.

In the early 1960s, the town's railway station was closed, as part of the Beeching Axe. It was rebuilt at Alresford, on the Mid Hants Watercress Railway in Hampshire. The surviving Adams 'Radial Tank' 4-4-2T locomotive is now used on the Bluebell Line in Sussex.

In 2005, as part of the bicentenary re-enactment of the arrival of the news of Admiral Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the actor playing the part of Trafalgar messenger Lieutenant Lapenotiere was welcomed at Lyme Regis.

Places of interest

The Cobb

Lyme Regis is well-known for "The Cobb", a harbour wall full of character and history. It is an important feature in Jane Austen's novel Persuasion (1818), and in the film The French Lieutenant's Woman, based on the 1969 novel by local writer John Fowles and set around Lyme.

The Cobb was of enormous economic importance to the town and surrounding area, allowing it to develop as both a major port and a ship-building centre from the 13th century onwards. It provided both a breakwater to protect the town from storms and an artificial harbour.

Well-sited for trade with France, the port's most prosperous period was from the 16th century until the end of the 18th century and as recently as 1780 it was larger than Liverpool. The town's importance as a port declined in the 19th century because it was unable to handle the increase in ship sizes.

It was in the Cobb harbour, after the great storm of 1824, that Captain Sir Richard Spencer RN carried out his pioneering lifeboat design work.

The first written mention of the Cobb is in a 1328 document describing it as having been damaged by storms. The structure was made of oak piles driven into the seabed with boulders stacked between them. The boulders were floated into place tied between empty barrels.

A 1685 account describes it as being made of boulders simply heaped up on each other: "an immense mass of stone, of a shape of a demi-lune, with a bar in the middle of the concave: no one stone that lies there was ever touched with a tool or bedded in any sort of cement, but all the pebbles of the see are piled up, and held by their bearings only, and the surge plays in and out through the interstices of the stone in a wonderful manner."

The Cobb has been destroyed or severely damaged by storms several times; it was swept away in 1377 which led to the destruction of 50 boats and 80 houses. The southern arm was added in the 1690s, and rebuilt in 1793 following its destruction in a storm the previous year. This is thought to be the first time that mortar was used in the Cobb's construction. The Cobb was completely reconstructed in 1820 using Portland Admiralty Roach, a type of Portland stone.

The Town Mill

The watermill, dating from 1340, has been restored to working order and produces flour which is used in the mill's bakery and also sold in its shop. The water comes from the River Buddle (also called Lim), which runs along a terrace or lynch, hence the description of lynch mill.

The Church

Mary Anning's Window, St Michael's Church

The parish church is St Michael's, on Church Street. Its full title is parish church of St Michael the Archangel. It is situated above Church Cliff and is on ground high enough to dominate the old town. There are three ways to access the churchyard. From Church Street, one can enter through the archway and up the steps, next to the Boys' Club or from higher up the hill, direct from Church Street. From Long Entry, there is a steep climb either up steps or up the service road in front of the flats overlooking Lyme Bay. Mary Anning is buried here and there is a stained-glass window dedicated to her memory by members of the Geological Society of London, an organisation that did not admit women until 1904.

The Philpot Museum

The museum, built on the site of Mary Anning's birthplace and family shop off Bridge Street, houses a large collection of local memorabilia, historical items and exhibits explaining the local geological and palaeontological treasures.

Set into the pavement, outside the museum, is an ornate example of Coade stone work, in the form of ammonites, reflecting both local history (Eleanor Coade) and the palaeontology for which the town is famous.

Physical geography

The town is famous for the fossils found in the cliffs and beaches, which are part of the Jurassic Coast—also known as the Heritage Coast—a World Heritage Site. The Blue Lias rock is host to a multitude of remains from the early Jurassic, a time from which good fossil records are rare^[2]. Many of the remains are well preserved, with complete specimens of several important species. Many of the earliest discoveries of dinosaur and other prehistoric reptile remains were made in the area surrounding Lyme Regis, notably those discovered by Mary Anning (1799–1847). Significant finds include Ichthyosaur, Plesiosaur, Dimorphodon, Scelidosaurus (one of the first armoured dinosaurs) and Dapedium. The town now holds an annual Mary Anning Day. A fossil of the world's largest moth was discovered in 1966 at Lyme Regis.

Landslips

The coast around Lyme Regis is subject to large landslips. This means that Jurassic age fossils are regularly exposed and can be found on the beaches, but also causes devastation to the town.^[3] One of the most spectacular landslips occurred on 24 December 1839, when a field of wheat and another of turnips were dislodged with crops intact, like islands among the newly formed gullies. The area involved was about 40 acres. This strange phenomenon attracted many visitors, and the canny farmers charged sixpence for entrance and held a grand reaping party when the wheat ripened.^[4] The area is now of great interest, as a result of its diverse natural history.

In 2005, work began on a £16 million engineering project to stabilise the cliffs and protect the town from coastal erosion.^[5] The town's main beach was reconstructed and re-opened on 1 July 2006.

Annual events

The town has a busy calendar of annual events, including the Lyme Regatta, the Fossil Festival (in conjunction with the London Natural History Museum) and Mary Anning Day. The traditional conger cuddling event takes place during Lifeboat Week. The Lyme Regatta is an event which takes place over a whole week, during August and is organised by a committeee of local volunteers. Funds are raised for local charities.

People connected with Lyme

Lyme Regis has had its share of notable visitors. Jane Austen spent several weeks here in the summer of 1804 and seems to have enjoyed it a great deal.^[6] The dramatic events in Persuasion led to a flow of fans to the town: the poet Tennyson is said to have gone straight to the Cobb on his arrival, saying, "Show me the exact spot where Louisa Musgrove fell!"^[7]

Around 1834, the English Romantic artist J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) painted a scene of Lyme Regis (now in the Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio, USA). His near-contemporary, James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903) also visited and stayed in Lyme.

Beatrix Potter's 1904 holiday in the town resulted in illustrations for her book Little Pig Robinson.^[8]

In addition to Mary Anning and John Fowles, notable residents include:

Thomas Coram (c 1688–1751), founder of the Foundling Hospital in London
Elinor Coade (1733–1821), manufacturer of the artificial stone known as coade stone

References

^ Office for National Statistics, 2001. Census data.
^ Benton MJ, Spencer PS (1995). Fossil Reptiles of Great Britain. Chapman & Hall. ISBN 0-412-62040-5.
^ "Town fears more landslides". BBC News England. 8 January 2003. Retrieved 2006-07-05.
^ The Undercliff. Philpot Museum website, Lyme Regis. Accessed 2006-09-01.
^ "Popular beach reopens for summer". BBC News. 1 July 2005. Retrieved 2006-07-05.
^ Literary. Philpot Museum website, Lyme Regis. Accessed 2006-09-01.
^ Article by John Vaughan in Monthly Packet (1893). Quoted in Hill, Constance (1923) [1901]. "Chapter 13: Lyme". Jane Austen: Her Homes & Her Friends. Ellen G. Hill (illustrator) (3rd edition ed.). John Lane, The Bodley Head. pp. p140. Retrieved 2006-09-01. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help); |pages= has extra text (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help)
^ Literary. Philpot Museum website, Lyme Regis. Accessed 2006-09-01.