On the site of Cloverdale Court Flats...

Back in 1931, the ground on which the current retirement flats stand was just a piece of land belonging to the Henley Estate. Then along came "Fred" Halliday with £500 in his pocket. Find out more about the history of this corner on Charmouth Road. The link also gives you access to the information so far uploaded about other streets and buildings in Lyme.

Today's Additions to the Archive

Two more files have been added today. Firstly a valuable resource for anyone even remotely interested in parish churches: Richard Wells, a long-standing member of the Museum's Research Team, has taken very clear photographs to illustrate a complete interior inventory of Lyme Regis' Parish Church, St Michael the Archangel. The inventory itself is based on that made by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments in 1952 (with permission from Historic England.)

Secondly, a timeline of the life of Molly Raison, a member of the well-known Wiscombe family, based on her recollections as given to Graham Davies in 2006, plus additional background research.

A personal collection of newspaper cuttings provides insights into the local effects of WWII

William Emmett, Mayor of Lyme Regis from 1937-1945, kept scrapbooks of press cuttings that mentioned his activities for the entire 8 years. As he was also a local Justice of the Peace, these provide interesting insights into many aspects of the life of the town. The first two books for instance, show the build-up to the outbreak of war, starting with the Council receiving the appeal for ARP volunteers in March 1938 - they were still short of the desired number by May 1939, when the town was advised that it was likely to be allocated 700 evacuated children.

A black-out practice scheduled for August 10th 1939 was vociferously opposed as an unreasonable request at the height of the holiday season, so the Council asked for it to be postponed to mid September. Once war was declared and the black-out regulations were in force, the local police and courts were kept busy dealing with those reported to have been letting lights be seen. Browse here to see what intrigues you.