LYME REGIS-.e., The KING'S TOWN of LYME.

[Population 2852.

Inns: Three Cups, Red Lion, and George.

144 m. from London; 25 m. from Exeter; 9 m. from Bridport; 24 m. from Dorchester; and 6 m. from Axminster.

Omnibuses daily to Bridport, and thence, by rail, to Yeovil and Dorchester; to Axminster, Chard, Ilminster, and Taunton; and Honiton, and Exeter. BANKERS: Messrs R. H. Williams & Co.]

He who goeth to Lyme Regis will find its inhabitants proud of three things, their Esplanade, their Cobb or pier, and their George Inn." The first is a broad level walk by the sea-side, much frequented by nurserymaids, children, invalids, and young ladies in crinoline. The second shelters the sands from violent seas, and is really a curious and note-worthy structure.* It was first erected in the reign of Edward III., and having undergone a succession of repairs, renewals, and restorations, was brought, in 1825-6, at a cost of £17,337, into its present condition,-232 feet of its roadway, and 447 feet of its parapet being reconstructed under the superintendance of Lieut.-Col. Fanshawe. Its total length is now 680 feet, and its height above the sea-level 16 feet. From its semicircular form it concentrates at one point the sounds produced at another, with an effect similar to that which distinguishes the Whispering Gallery at St. Paul's; and its curvature affords a secure harbour, much frequented by coasters and lobster smacks. The " George Inn" is noticeable as the residence, for four days, of the Duke of Monmouth, when he landed here in 1685. His bed-chamber is still pointed out to the curious.

Having inspected these three "lions," the visitor will have seen all that particularly "renowns" Lyme Regis, as far as “the works of man" are involved; but he must next direct his attention to its natural advantages—to the mighty hills that roll along the coast, like billow upon billow-to the abrupt peak of the RHODE HORN, rising in the rear of the town, and penetrated by the artificial cutting of the NEW PASSAGE: a breeze-swept road not to be lightly adventured upon in a winter gale—to the sands, level and tenacious; and the cliffs broken up into a thousand picturesque forms. "The character of the scenery," says Miss Mitford, "the boldness of the coast, and the rich woodiness of

According to Roger North, the name is derived from cobble-stone; and he says, that "not a stone was ever touched with a tool, or bedded in any sort of cement."

the inland views, varied by hill and dale, and sparkling streamlet, belong entirely to Devonshire. The town is distinguished by its fine harbour, its magnificent pier, and the large coasting trade consequent on these advantages; it is, for the most part, old, dingy, and irregular. It lies in the centre of a natural bay, and, on the one side, the sands go sweeping under cliffs of a tremendous height and blackness, down which a rapid stream [the Lym] comes pouring its slender waters, like a thread of silver, to an abrupt headland, beyond which the cliff had in some former century given way; and where masses of earth, huge trees, and even an old mossy orchard, were mingled in most romantic confusion with huge rocks, blackened by exposure, and the gardens, barns, and other buildings of a small farm-house. On the opposite side of the bay, the coast-road, after passing the pier and the harbour, winds under rocks, of which large fragments strew the shore, and which every moment seem threatening to fall, to a pretty village [Pinney] about a mile and a half from the

town."

As far back as the days of the Saxon kings, Saxon workers had formed a settlement in this advantageous locality, and established here some largely productive salterns. Lyme Regis did not decay after the establishment of the Norman supremacy, and when Edward III. marshalled his fleet against Calais, contributed four ships and six and twenty mariners. It suffered, like other seaports on the southern coast, from the descents of the French, but repulsed them in 1544 with considerable slaughter. A century later, and it was involved in the turmoil of the Civil Wars. Lord Paulet and Sir John Berkeley captured the town in March 1644, but the great siege took place from April 10 to June 14, and formed one of the most stirring incidents of a stirring time. The Parliamentarian garrison was then commanded by Colonel Ceeley, assisted by Robert Blake, the future hero of so many ocean-triumphs; and the Royalists were led by Prince Maurice, who established his head-quarters at Old Colway and Hay House, and disposed his troops upon the neighbouring hill. The besieged held out for nearly seven weeks, and were finally relieved by the Parliamentarian army under the Earl of Essex. Day after day the attack was made, and day after day it was repulsed, until the blood ran red upon "Lyme's leaguered beach."

It was here that the Duke of Monmouth landed, on the 11th

of June 1685, accompanied by Grey, Fletcher, Ferguson, Wade, and about 80 men. Monmouth, on his landing, immediately commanded silence, "kneeled down on the shore, thanked God for having preserved the friends of liberty and pure religion from the perils of the sea, and implored the divine blessing on what was yet to be done by land. He then drew his sword, and led his men over the cliffs into the town. As soon as it was known under what leader, and for what purpose the expedition came, the enthusiasm of the populace burst through all restraints. The little town was in an uproar, with men running to and fro, and shouting, 'A Monmouth! a Monmouth! the Protestant religion !' Meanwhile the ensign of the adventurers, a blue flag, was set up in the market-place. The military stores were deposited in the Town Hall; and a declaration, setting forth the objects of the expedition, was read from the Cross"-(Macaulay, chap. v). After four days' stay at the George Inn, and having collected upwards of 1500 horse and foot, Monmouth set out upon the bold adventure which had so disastrous an issue.

The WORTHIES of Lyme may next be enumerated. First and foremost we place Captain Coram, born here in 1668, and renowned as the benevolent founder of the Foundling Hospital, whom a neglectful public suffered to wear out his old age in undeserved penury; Sir George Somers, the discoverer of "the vext Bermoothes"-formerly named after him, "the Somers' Islands"-was also a native; and Arthur Gregory, famed for his skill in opening private correspondence, and employed by Walsingham to open the letters addressed to, or written by Mary, Queen of Scots-" he had an admirable tact of forcing a seal, yet so invisibly that it still appeared a virgin to the exactest beholder”—(Fuller). Dr. Case, notorious in the days of James II., and William III., as an astrologer and quack physician, was also born at Lyme. Having acquired considerable wealth by his nostrums, he started a carriage, and blazoned on the panels a coat of arms, and the pithy motto, "The Case is altered." The Icthyosaurus was first discovered (1811) in the neighbouring cliffs by a native of Lyme, Miss Mary Anning, then only in her 11th year.

[HINTS FOR RAMBLES.-1. There is so much of the romantic and beautiful in the vicinity of Lyme Regis, that wherever the tourist bends his steps, he will surely meet with attractive changes of scenery. To the westward, the coast is richly and boldly picturesque, and no tourist will fail to visit the UNDERCLIFF, the CHIMNEY Rock, an abrupt and striking projection; the WHITECHAPEL ROCKS, so named be

cause they were resorted to by persecuted Nonconformists in the reign of Charles II., as a secure place of devotion; and the PINNEY LANDSLIP, near Dowlands, where the silent agency of hidden springs has washed away the base of clay and sand on which the chalk and sandstone rested, and produced a disruption of nature as picturesque as it is wonderful. At Christmas 1839, a landslip of 40 acres occurred on the farms of Bendon and Dowlands. After a few days of gradual subsidence, the earth moved bodily downward, and was rent open into a vast chasm with a loud crackling noise, which was plainly audible at a moderate distance. Two cottages and a fine orchard shared in the general destruction; and rude crags and rough pinnacles everywhere started up as if designed by nature to be the monuments and memorials of a wide spread ruin. From the brink of the cliff, the completest view, perhaps, is to be obtained of the extraordinary scene beneath, but the wayfarer will do well to survey it from different points. Almost opposite to the commencement of the great chasm stands BENDON FARM, a quaintly interesting Jacobean manorhouse, which was long the seat of the Erle family, now represented by Lord Chief Justice Erle, and Thomas Erle Drax, Esq. From this point the tourist may strike across to AXMOUTH, and return by way of Hawkesdown Hill. 2. A walk across the sands to CHARMOUTH, and thence to "Golden Cap," and the "Down Cliffs," penetrating inland to BRIDPORT, and returning by the high road, may be commended. 3. A ramble northward should include CONIE (i. e., Konig's, or King's) CASTLE, and LAMBERT'S CASTLE-two encampments of remarkable strength-and the sister-hills of LEWESDON and PILLESDON, overlooking the vale of Marshwood, and the downs and dells of western Devon. 4. AXMINSTER (population, 3888, including the districts of Kilmington, population, 533, and Membury, population, 793), 5 miles west, on the pretty river Axe, should of course be visited. Its carpet-manufactories have a wide-spread reputation, and its Early English CHURCH contains a finely carved pulpit, and three good sedilia. The font is ancient. John Prince, the quaint and laborious author of "The Worthies of Devon," and Dr. Buckland, the eminent geologist, were natives of Axminster. 5. FORD ABBEY is 10 miles from Lyme, but the tourist may avail himself, for a considerable portion of the distance, of the omnibus to Chard].

ROUTE II-RINGWOOD to DORCHESTER.

BY LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.

[From Ringwood to Conford Magna, left of the line, 8 m.; Wimborne Minster, 1 m.; Poole Junction, 6 m.; Wareham, 5 m.; East Stoke, 3 m.; Wool, 1 m.; Woodsford, 44 m.; West Stafford, 3 m.; Dorchester, 2 m., i. e., 35 m. from Ringwood, 140 m. from London.]

RINGWOOD.

[Population, 2075.-Inns: The White Hart, The Crown.

106 m. from London; 29 m. from Winchester; 26 m. from Southampton; 18 m. from Salisbury; 9 m. from Christchurch; and 17 m. by rail from Poole. MARKET DAY-Wednesday. BANKERS-Messrs. Ledgard and Sons. A Coach to Salisbury every morning.]

Ringwood is an ancient and a pleasant town, scattered along the highroad to Southampton and the eastern bank of the Avon, which

here divides into several branches. Camden, with audacious speculation, claims it to have been the "Regnum" of Antoninus, and hence derives its name; but it was probably called after the royal manor of Kingswood, corrupted by the Norman compilers of Domesday book into RINCEVEDE. At that date it was occupied by about 600 inhabitants—(Moody). Its annals are entirely destitute of historic interest, and it rests its principal claims to distinction by the tourist on its brewage of strong beer, and its manufacture of stout gloves. Its trade, however, of late years, has considerably declined.

The square massive tower of the CHURCH (which is dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul) will attract the visitor's attention immediately upon his entrance into the town. The ground-plan of the building is cruciform, and the architecture Early English, but repairs and restorations have been recently made at a considerable expense, and with a questionable result. The most satisfactory building in the town is the ALMS HOUSE, erected from Mr. Francis' designs, in 1843, in pursuance of the directions of the will of a Mr. William Clark, an opulent brewer of Ringwood.

To Ringwood the Duke of Monmouth was conveyed after his defeat at Sedgmoor. He was discovered at a place called THE ISLAND, near Winchborne (see post),—" an extensive tract of land separated by an enclosure from the open country, and divided by numerous hedges into small fields. In some of these fields the rye, the pease, and the oats were high enough to conceal a man"-(Macaulay). Here, in a ditch, was found concealed Charles the Second's favourite and once brilliant son. mained at Ringwood for two days, and was then removed to London (July 9 and 10, 1685).

He re

Ringwood is a convenient starting-point or centre for many agreeable excursions. The bosky glades of the New Forest, and the rich rare scenery of Christchurch Bay may well be visited from hence; but perhaps the pleasantest, if not the most striking ramble, is that which opens up to the wayfarer the valley of the Avon from Fording Bridge to Salisbury.

BRANCH ROUTE-RINGWOOD TO SALISBURY.

As this route must necessarily lie without the boundaries of Dorsetshire, and has been detailed with some degree of fulness in