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==Famous Lymingtonians==
==Famous Lymingtonians==
* [[Ben Ainslie]] (Olympic Sailor)
* [[William Allingham]] (Irish Poet)
* [[William Allingham]] (Irish Poet)
* [[Thomas Blakiston]] (19th Century Explorer - born in Lymington)
* [[Thomas Blakiston]] (19th Century Explorer - born in Lymington)

Revision as of 22:21, 2 July 2007

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Cobbled streets in Lymington town centre.
For other uses of the name Lymington, see Lymington (disambiguation).

Lymington is a port on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the Bournemouth conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town has a large tourist industry, based on proximity to the New Forest and the harbour. It is a major yachting centre with a three marinas. According to the 2001 census the Lymington urban area had a population of about 14,000.

The town has many shops, catering for tourists and sailing enthusiasts alike. There is a local market every Saturday, which takes place in the main High Street. The market is fairly typical for southern England, selling a selection of cheap general household items, craft items and a selection of food produce from the local area.

History

The earliest settlement in the Lymington area was at the Iron Age fort at Buckland known as Buckland Rings. The hill and ditches of this fort still remain.

Lymington itself began as an Anglo-Saxon village. The Anglo-Saxons, probably Jutes, arrived in what is now South West Hampshire in the 6th century. They founded a settlement called limen tun. The Saxon word tun means a farm or hamlet. Limen is believed to be a Celtic name meaning either elm river or possibly, marshy river.

The town is recorded in the Domesday book of 1086 as "Lentune". About 1200 the lord of the manor, William de Redvers gave the town its first charter and the right to hold a market.

From the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century Lymington was famous for making salt. This was done at the part of the town now known as The Salterns.

During the hundred years war (throughout the 14th and 15th centuries) the French attacked and burned Lymington twice. Once in 1338 and again in 1370. In 1346 Lymington was required to provide King Edward III with 9 ships and 159 men to fight the French. The French attacked and burned the town for the third time in 1545.

In the eighteenth and early nineteenth century Lymington possessed a military depot that included a number of foreign troops. At the time of the Napoleonic Wars the King's German Legion was based here. As well as Germans and Dutch, there were French émigrés, and French regiments were raised to take part in the ill fated Quiberon bay expedition (1795), from which few returned.

From the late seventeenth century it had a thriving shipbuilding industry. Much of the town centre is Victorian and Georgian, with narrow cobbled streets, giving an air of quaintness. The wealth of the town at the time is represented in its architecture.

Lymington is particularly famous for its smuggling history, and under the High Street are smugglers' tunnels which run from the old inns to the town quay. These are no longer open to the public, as they are deemed to be dangerous.

Lymington was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. In addition to the original town, 1932 saw a major expansion of the borough, to add Milton (previously an urban district) and the parishes of Milford on Sea and Pennington, and parts of other parishes, from Lymington Rural District - this made the borough extend west along the coast to the border with Christchurch. [1]

Under the Local Government Act 1972 the borough of Lymington was abolished on April 1, 1974, becoming an unparished area in the district of New Forest, with Charter Trustees. The area was parished as the four parishes of New Milton, Lymington and Pennington, Milford-on-Sea and Hordle.

Lymington New Forest Hospital opened in 2007, replacing the earlier Lymington Hospital.

Lymington in Fiction

Lymington is mentioned in 'The Children of the New Forest' by Captain Marryat. It also features in the historical novels of local writer Warwick Collins (namely 'The Rationalist' and 'The Marriage of Souls') and 'The Forest' by Edward Rutherford.

Lymington also occasionally featured in the 1980s series Howard's Way.

Sailing

Lymington is also famous for its sailing history, and in recent years, has been home to world famous regattas such as the Royal Lymington Cup, Etchells Worlds, Macnamara's Bowl, and Source Regatta. The strong tides make it a challenging race track, and together with the shallow depth of the river, has resulted in Lymington losing a lot of regattas to the Central Solent, principally run from Cowes. Nevertheless, Thursday Evening Racing takes place with up to 100 boats registered to race every Thursday night during the summer, hosted by the Royal Lymington Yacht Club. Started in the 1990s, it has continued to become more and more popular.

There are two Sailing Clubs in the town, both active. The Royal Lymington Yacht Club, founded in the 1920s as the Lymington River Sailing Club, now has over 3000 members, and now plays host to major keelboat and dinghy events. The Lymington Town Sailing Club, founded in 1946, plays host to the popular Lymington Winter Series known as the Solent Circuit.

Leisure amenities

The town's leisure amenities include; several parks, two sailing clubs, a community centre, a library, the St Barbes Museum and Gallery, two swimming baths (one is an open air sea water baths dating back to the 1830s), a sports centre and a very small cinema/theatre. Lymington, being near the New Forest, is also a good location for walking, cycling and riding.

Shopping

Lymington is fortunate enough to have 3 major named supermarkets, including the new Marks & Spencer Simply Food store, on St. Thomas Street (which includes clothing and a Cafe), Waitrose and Tesco.

Transport Links

File:LymingtonTownStation.jpg
Lymington Town railway station.

Rail

Lymington has two railway stations: Lymington Pier (the terminus), and an intermediate station called Lymington Town. These stations are connected to the national rail network by a branch line to Brockenhurst. Services are currently operated by South West Trains, and are unofficially known as the "Lymington Flyer". This branch line is one of the last places in the country that old "slam-door" trains can be seen in operation, as a "heritage" service.

Roads

The A337 road links Lymington to Lyndhurst and the M27 motorway to the north, and to New Milton and the South East Dorset conurbation to the west.

Ferries

Three Wightlink ferries have run from Lymington to Yarmouth since the 1970s, named after Anglo Saxon Kings: Cenred, Cenwulf and Caedmon. The ferries on average run every 20 minutes.

Nearby Towns and Villages

Nearest Large Towns/Cities

Famous Lymingtonians

Famous Visitors

Famous MP

  • Edward Gibbon (Author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire)

Twin Towns

External links

50°45′N 1°33′W / 50.750°N 1.550°W / 50.750; -1.550

  1. ^ Vision of Britain: Lymington MB
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lymington&diff=142107279&oldid=142105490

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