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BUILDINGS AND STREETS 

Middle Row - Landmark view.JPG

For some years the Team has been researching the older buildings and streets of Lyme Regis and the surrounding area, during which time we have been invited to visit several of the houses under investigation. 

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Those findings currently available are listed below, mainly by street name. Some documents have been written up as short papers, others are the raw data we have collected together over the years. We aim to add further documents as time allows.

However, mention must first be made of  John Drayton's Survey of 1824 which contain the maps and valuations of all the  Borough freehold property in the town. The maps are both clear and accurate and provide an unrivalled source of information about the town at that time. John Fowles lleft a note to his successor as Curator saying "This is mone of the most precious things in the Museum - please take care of it!"  John Fowles' description of each map and relating it to then current (1985)  geography his Museum Curator's Report for 1985 adds much to the understanding of the original maps.

                                   

                                           John Drayton 1824 Survey                 John Fowles on John Drayton's Survey     

   BRIDGE STREET, LYME REGIS

Medieval Archway In Bridge Street

Now only accessible from adjoining cellars, this allowed access under the approach road to the bridge.

BROAD STREET, LYME REGIS

Businesses in Lyme Regis - 1930

A snapshot in time of all Broad Street businesses advertising that year.

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Broad Street Business Directory 1900-2000 

Timelines of  known occupying Businesses listed by individual premise.

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Broad Street Adverts 1882-2005 

Be prepared, there are over 1,000! Keep an eye on the filenames as you browse as these give both the address and the year of publication. If you are interested in seeing all the adverts for particular premises, download the file and then search by building number.

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Clarence House, 21 Broad Street, Lyme Regis

Timeline of occupying businesses

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Raymond House, 29 Broad Street, Lyme Regis

and the family originally from Axminster after whom it was named.

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Regent Cinema, 33 Broad Street, Lyme Regis

Full details of all films shown between July 1948 and December 1955.

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Rock Point Inn, 1 Broad Street, Lyme Regis

Originally called Bank House and an imposing building even now, it must have been even grander when built in 1790

Demolition of Assembly Rooms, Broad Street, Lyme Regis and,

more controversially,  Victoria Hall the following year.

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Fire at Radford's Workshops, Broad Street, 1875 

with a map of location.

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Hayden House, 19 Broad Street, Lyme Regis

A description of the varied businesses which have been accommodated here.

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Pitt House Hotel, 44 Broad Street Lyme Regis

A building with a long history, this is a glimpse into its life as a Hotel in the 1930s.

CHARMOUTH ROAD, LYME REGIS

Cloverdale Garage, Charmouth Road, Lyme Regis

Now Cloverdale Court Flats

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CHURCH STREET,
LYME REGIS

A High Street in Lyme Regis:

Church Street has had several names in the past.

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The Gables, 13 Church Street, Lyme Regis

Built as "Nuremburgh House" in 1890/91, it served as the Cottage Hospital for 30 years from 1897.

Treales House, Lyme Regis

The results of visits and research by two members of the Research Team.

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Parish Church of St Michael  the Archangel

An illustrated version of the complete interior inventory produced by the Royal Commission on Historic Monuments in 1952.

COBB ROAD, LYME REGIS

Harbour Heights (formerly Sunnydene), Cobb Road, Lyme Regis

Built on part of the 19th Century Tennis Courts, the building suffered from  the 1962 landslip but still exists today.

COOMBE STREET LYME REGIS

20-21 Coombe Street, Lyme Regis

Although the present building only dates from after WWII, the site has a long history, possibly dating back to Elizabethan times when the neighbouring Gosling Bridge would have been the main entrance to Lyme Regis from inland.

Congregational Chapel's Graveyard

Detailing the search and findings to date as to where the graveyard described as "a curious little graveyard" on the Lynch might be..

GEORGES SQUARE, LYME REGIS

Old George Inn, Lyme Regis

Operating from at least the 15th Century until destroyed by fire in 1844, the George was the major hostelry during the time of the packhorse trains, losing it's status once the first carriage road into the town was built in 1858.

Dutch Bricks found in Lyme Regis

Following on from the authors' note at the end of the paper on the Old George Inn about the possible re-use of the Dutch bricks after the fire, this paper shows where some such bricks have been found.

POUND ROAD, LYME REGIS

Dorset House, 1 Pound Road, Lyme Regis

Tracing the history of this handsome Regency building from its build to 2013.

POUND STREET, LYME REGIS

14 Pound Street, Lyme Regis

A visit to Number 14, Nash House, in 2012 inspired a consideration of both this building and the adjoining Number 15, neighbours of Belmont.

St Michael's House, 7 Pound Street, Lyme Regis

An exploration of what is known about its history and its early owners, the Babbs Family.

The Grove, Pound Street, Lyme Regis

The history of the Georgian House of that name that occupied this whole area before its destruction by fire in 1952 and the subsequent division into 10 separate dwellings.

SILVER STREET, LYME REGIS

Whitsbury, 38 Silver Street, Lyme Regis

(Or Olinka Cottage as it says on the gate posts - timeline of its mainly female inhabitants.

Piper's Croft, 9 Silver Street, Lyme Regis

Including a fascinating painting from the 1950s showing lower Silver Street as it was before buildings were demolished where the the library and layby now are.

STILE LANE

Stile House, Stile Lane, Lyme Regis

Dating back to at least the 1790s, with part of today's house built over a former Quaker burial ground.

WEST HILL ROAD, LYME REGIS

Buckfield Nursing Home, Bell indicator board.

A mundane object brought into the Museum reminded the firm who made it of this former Home.

WOODMEAD ROAD, LYME REGIS

The Haven, 15 Woodmead Road, Lyme Regis

Given access to this Caddy House when it was for sale in 2015, the Research Team were able to illustrate the typical Caddy features.

GENERAL   TOPICS, LYME REGIS

Hotels in Lyme Regis 1804 - 1984

Adverts down the ages.

UPLYME, EAST DEVON

Court Hall Farm - The Ethelston Connection

The Ethelston family were landowners as well as benefactors

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Hunter's Lodge Hotel - Refurbishment 1979

No doubt one of many, but this one revealed evidence of some surprising past uses.

High Wych School, St Mary's, Trinity Hill

A successful school for 49 years that concentrated on the basics.

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