Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England. The town has a population of 3,513 (2001), 45% are retired.
Lyme Regis lies on the South Coast of England 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. Its railway station was closed, a victim of the Beeching Axe, in the early 1960s
Lyme Regis is well known for "The Cobb", an enormously characterful harbour wall, built from Portland Admiralty Roach stone. The Cobb featured in novels by Jane Austen (who lived for a time in Lyme Regis) and in the film The French Lieutenant's Woman, based on the book of the same name by local writer John Fowles.
It was at Lyme that the Duke of Monmouth landed at the start of the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685.
Lyme is famous for the fossils found in the cliffs, which are part of the Jurassic Coast (also known as the Heritage Coast), a World Heritage Site. Many of the earliest discoveries of dinosaur and other prehistoric reptile remains were in the area surrounding Lyme Regis, notably those discovered by Mary Anning in the 1820s.
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Last updated: 08-26-2005 15:49:55
