THESE old pictures show a west Dorset town that was popularised as a resort in the 19th century and has retained its appeal over the years.
Lyme Regis can be seen in bygone days in these Claud Hider photographs which were taken from 1922 onwards.
They have been shared by history enthusiast Neil Mattingly of Charmouth, whose passion for the past has led to him creating a digital archive of west Dorset photographer Hider's works.
In the 19th century it became a notable watering-place and resort and in 1895 was described as having streets lighted with gas and well paved.
One of Lyme's best known features is its sea wall, known as The Cobb, which dates from at least 1328, when it was mentioned in a document as having been damaged by storms.
The Cobb has been included in literature and was mentioned in Jane Austen's Persuasion and John Fowles The French Lieutenant's Woman.
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The town was served by a branch railway opened in 1903 and initially operated by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR).
Passenger use declined in the years following the Second World War, and only summer weekends remained busy.
When the report The Reshaping of British Railways (often referred to as the "Beeching Axe") was produced, the line was included for closure, and this was implemented on November 29, 1965.
The main station building at Lyme Regis was wooden, and after closure it was dismantled and re-erected at Alresford station, on the Watercress Line in Hampshire.
The parish church is St Michael the Archangel (dedicated in 1405) and the registers date from 1538 (although there is a gap between 1572 and 1653).
Within the town are several non-conformist places of worship including the Catholic church of Sts Michael & George, Poulett House Chapel, a Congregational Chapel, a Wesleyan Chapel, a Bethany Chapel and meeting rooms for the Brethren.
The Baptist Church is first mentioned on 15 Oct 1653 and its people likely first met in each other's house, such as Elizabeth Goodman's in Silver Street.
Nearby Uplyme was given to Glastonbury Abbey by King Cynewulf in 774 and held by the abbey until the Dissolution.
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It was then bought from the Crown by John Drake whose descendants sold it in 1775: the manor had thus changed hands only once in a thousand years. Shapwick (“sheep farm”) is first mentioned in 1167.
It became a grange of Newenham Abbey, near Axminster, and in 1670 was in the hands of Solomon Andrew, a rich merchant of Lyme Regis, whose granddaughter and heiress Sarah Andrew attracted Henry Fielding.
Her guardian disapproved of his suit and removed her elsewhere. She is supposed to be the model for Sophia Western in Tom Jones. (Davidson, Newhaven Abbey, 166; Huchins, History of Dorset (3rd. ed., 1863), 78)
The church (St. Peter and St. Paul) was so badly over-restored in 1876 that it has lost all interest. In 1850 a Roman villa was discovered at Uplyme.
Thanks to the Dorset Online Parish Clerks (OPC) website and to Uplyme Village Hall's website for the extra information provided in this article.
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