Lyme Regis
The first mention of a settlement on this site refers to King Cynewulf of the West Saxons, who in 774AD granted land at the point in Lyme Bay where the River Lym meets the sea, for the purpose of boiling seawater to extract the salt. Salt extraction apart, Lyme was probably a small fishing port in the centuries that followed, so that by the time Edward I (1272-1307) used its harbour as a base during wars against the French, Lyme was already an old, long established port.
The importance of Lyme Regis as a port is entirely due to the Cobb, a dog-leg breakwater built in the 13th century to provide safe harbour for ships along this otherwise dangerous part of the coast. It seems likely that an early form of the Cobb was established here by the time Edward I made the town of Lyme a borough - by Royal decree the suffix ‘Regis' (of the king) was added in 1279, henceforth Lyme Regis. Certainly the Cobb would have helped protect Lyme's fishing fleet, but it also aided its development as a trading port. By the 16th century Lyme Regis had developed as an important and wealthy south coast port, a combination of legitimate trade and illegal smuggling - a risky practice but with high rewards. In 1588, the town was sufficiently prosperous to send five ships to sail with Sir Francis Drake on his mission to destroy the Spanish Armada; a minor skirmish occurred in Lyme Bay.
On the 11th June 1685, the town witnessed a much more significant event when the ill-fated Duke of Monmouth landed on the beach to the west of the Cobb, now named Monmouth Beach, and accompanied by only 82 men declared his intention to seize the throne. The Duke, encouraged by his reception signed a declaration that he was the rightful king, and that his Catholic uncle James II had poisoned Charles II to obtain the throne. By the end of the month many had rallied to his Protestant cause, his army now numbering 3500 troops with 500 horse. On the 6th July on the plains of Sedgemoor, Monmouth encountered the Royal army and was utterly defeated, losing about 2000 of his men; in fact, so devastating was the defeat that the rebellion in essence ended there on the battlefield. The Duke fled to the Dorset heathland, was eventually captured at Horton and taken to London where he lost his head on 15th July.
By the time of Monmouth's arrival Lyme Regis was already in decline; its location did not allow for major port development, silting-up of the harbour occurred and the increasing size of sea-going vessels led to trade moving elsewhere. Fortunately, the town was saved from ruin by the new fashion for sea bathing, which began in Lyme about 1760; sea-bathing did not become really fashionable and generally accepted until George III bathed at Weymouth in 1789. This in turn led to a building boom and many of Lyme's best houses date from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. when the town had become a fashionable seaside resort. Novelist Jane Austen (1775-1817) had a seafront cottage and wrote part of ‘Persuasion' here, setting a section of the novel in Lyme Regis. Louisa Musgrove has her fall at the Cobb, traditionally the scene of the fall was ‘Granny's Teeth'- the protruding stone steps near the Aquarium. The Jane Austen Garden on Marine Parade by Front Beach is a memorial to her stay. There were other literary visits to the town; Henry Fielding is said to have based the character of Sophie in ‘Tom Jones' on local girl Sarah Andrews. More recently, John Fowles has added to Lyme's literary history, living there and setting a famous part of ‘The French Lieutenant's Woman' on the Cobb. The film of the book was also made in part in the town - the cloaked and hooded heroine standing on the Cobb staring bleakly out to sea with raging waves threatening to cast her into the foaming waters.
On the Cobb itself stands the Marine Aquarium and Cobb History, with tanks holding local fish and sea life as well as a display of the town's history. Inland, St Michael's Church, built about 1500, contains a carved 17th century pulpit and a chained library. It also has a window dedicated to Mary Anning born in 1799, who at the age of 11 years famously discovered the first complete skeleton of an ichthyosaurus buried in the blue limestone around Lyme; this 30ft long aquatic reptile lived 140 million years ago. She sold it to the Natural History Museum for the princely sum of £23.00 where it now resides. In later years she made further discoveries, a plesiosaur and the first ever intact pterosaur. The cliffs around Lyme are exceedingly rich in fossils of which there is a never-ending source as the sea breaks up the rock. This is reflected in the excellent Philpot Museum, located near the Townhall, which houses a comprehensive display of local fossil finds, geology, history and natural history. Another place to learn of local fossils is Dinosaurland in Coombe Street, where exhibitions are mainly devoted to the Jurassic period of 195million years ago, when the cliffs of Lyme were being formed. A special display is rightly devoted to Mary Anning.
The steep narrow streets around Dinosaurland at the eastern end of Lyme are well worth exploring, although the heart of the town will always be close to the sea with its charming colourful seafront cottages. During August there is a local Regatta and Carnival as well as various sporting events and races held both on sea and sand. The present day harbour is far better suited to yachtsmen and fishing boats, and Lyme seems quite happy to prosper as a place for visitors to enjoy a relaxing holiday.
A short journey eastward along the coastal path is Golden Cap, at 617ft the highest cliff on England's south coast offering fine panoramic views across the bay to the Cobb. Lying just behind this headland is Charmouth, a quiet coastal village with a number of Regency houses; here Jane Austen sat in "unwearied contemplation". There is also an old 16th century inn, the Queen's Arms, where Charles II hid away on his flight from Worcester in 1651.