Lymington

: "For other uses of the name Lymington, see Lymington (disambiguation)."

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 50.75
longitude= -1.55
official_name= Lymington
shire_district= New Forest
shire_county= Hampshire
region= South East England
constituency_westminster= New Forest West
post_town= LYMINGTON
postcode_district = SO41
postcode_area= SO
dial_code= 01590
os_grid_reference= SZ3295
static_

static_image_caption = Cobbled streets in Lymington town centre.

Lymington on the west bank of the Lymington River is a port on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset 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 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.

Lymington Today

Due to the recent change in planning legislation, many traditional areas of the town have been redeveloped; older houses have been demolished and replaced with new blocks of flats and retirement homes. The high street has also seen rapid change over the last couple of years with an increasing presence of chain stores and coffee shop franchises. In recent months approval has been granted to a large development of retirement flats adjacent to the historic quay area. In a recent channel 5 program, Lymington received the accolade of 'best town on the coast' in the UK for living, due to its beautiful scenery, strong transport links, low crime levels, and high quality of life.

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. The town became a Parliamentary Borough in 1585 returning 2 MPs until 1832. Lymington continued to return 2 MPs until the Second Reform Act of 1867 when its representation was reduced to one. On the passage of the Third Reform Act of 1885 Lymington's parliamentary representation was merged with the New Forest Division.

From the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century Lymington was famous for making salt. Saltworks comprised almost a continuous belt along the coast toward Hurst Spit.

In the eighteenth and early nineteenth century Lymington possessed a military depot that included a number of foreign troops-mostly artillery but including several militia regiments. 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, there are unproven stories that under the High Street are smugglers' tunnels which run from the old inns to the town quay.

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. [ [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10002000&c_id=10001043 Vision of Britain: Lymington MB] ]

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.

In Tom Clancy's 'Patriot games', a wight link ferry heading from the Lymington ferry terminal is intercepted and a prisoner is extracted in heavy seas. Several men on board the ferry are murdered.

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

ailing

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.

Sailors from Lymington continue to dominate Olympic events, most notably Ben Ainslie and Pippa Wilson.

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.

hopping

Lymington has a wide range of shops and a large street market on the High Street as well as three supermarkets: Waitrose (The Largest), Marks & Spencer Simply Food, and Tesco.

Transport Links

Rail

Lymington has two railway stations: Lymington Pier (the terminus), on the east side of the river near the ferry terminal, and 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 30 minutes, from a port south east of the old town on the far side of the Lymington River.

Gallery

Nearby Towns and Villages

* Brockenhurst
* Beaulieu
* Boldre
* Burley
* Christchurch
* East Boldre
* Hordle
* Keyhaven
* Lyndhurst
* Milford-on-Sea
* New Milton
* Pennington
* Ringwood
* Sway
* Yarmouth, Isle of Wight

Nearest Large Towns/Cities

*Southampton
*Bournemouth

Famous current and former residents

* William Allingham (Irish Poet)
* Peter Barratt (Hampshire cricketer)
* Thomas Blakiston (19th Century Explorer - born in Lymington)
* Caroline Bowles (Writer and wife of Robert Southey)
* Charles Burrard (Naval Officer and artist)
* Harry Burrard-Neale (18th and 19th Century Sailor/Admiral and MP)
* Emma Chambers (TV star)
* Warwick Collins (Novelist)
* Clare Francis (Novelist and Yachtswoman)
* Tom Johnstone (Smuggler - born in Lymington in 1772)
* Henry Lyte (Curate and Hymn Writer)
* Jenni Murray (Broadcaster - used to live in Lymington)
* Coventry Patmore (Poet)
* Russell Perrett (Portsmouth, Cardiff City, Luton Town and AFC Bournemouth footballer)
* Jonathan Raban (Writer - lived briefly on the outskirts of Lymington)
* Nick Rogers (Olympic Sailor)
* Ken Russell (Film Director)
* Robert Southey (Writer and former Poet Laureate - author of 'The Three Bears')
* David Stride (Chelsea, Millwall and Leyton Orient footballer)
* John Tutchin (17th Century Poet, Journalist and radical Whig)
* Dennis Wheatley (Writer)
* Sam Vokes (AFC Bournemouth, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Wales footballer)
* Neville Duke (World War II fighter pilot and holder of the world air speed record)
* Leslie Thomas (Writer)
* Johnny Depp (Hollywood Actor - owns a house.)
* Jeffrey Skitch (Opera singer, actor and academic, Principle Baratone of the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company)
* Sion Jenkins ( accused and acquitted of the murder of his daughter Billie-Jo)
* Bruce Grobbelaar (Footballer)
* Mark Kermode (Film Critic)

Famous Visitors

* Edward Burne Jones (Pre-Raphaelite Artist)
* Adair Crawford (18th Century Chemist, died in Lymington)
* Daniel Defoe (Writer)
* Celia Fiennes (Writer)
* Jane Goodall (The UK HQ for the Jane Goodall Institute was based in Lymington)
* William Morris (Artist)
* Thomas Rowlandson (Artist and Caricaturist)
* G. O. Smith (19th century footballer, died in Lymington)
* Alfred Lord Tennyson (Poet)
* George III (Monarch)
* Paul Verlaine (French Writer briefly taught in Lymington)
* James Wolfe (18th Century British General)

Famous MP

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

Twin Towns

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*flagicon|Ukraine Odessa (The Ukraine)

References

External links

* [http://www.lymington.com/ Lymington Dot Com Online Webcams, Magazine and Directory]
* [http://www.hants.gov.uk/localpages/south_west/lymington/ Hampshire Local Pages (Lymington)]
* [http://www.lymingtonchurch.org St.Thomas and All Saints, Lymington]
* [http://www.lymington.org/ Lymington.org website]
* [http://www.lymingtonharbour.co.uk/ Lymington River - Lymington Harbour Commissioners]
* [http://www.gjcoop.plus.com/ Sir Charles Burrard]
* [http://www.sailingnavies.com/show_person.php?id=2273 Sir Harry Burrard Neale Info]
* [http://www.follies.btinternet.co.uk/lymingtontxt.html Lymington Obelisk - memorial to Sir Harry Burrard Neale]
* [http://www.smuggling.co.uk/gazetteer_s_12.html Smuggling in Hampshire - Includes article on Lymington smuggler Tom Johnstone]
* [http://www.newforestguides.com New Forest Guides and History]
* [http://www.smuggling.co.uk/famous.html More from Smugglers Britain website]
* [http://www.localhistories.org/lymington.html Local Histories.org (Lymington)]
* [http://www.oldtowns.co.uk/Hampshire/lymington.htm Old Towns of England (Lymington)]
* [http://www.stbarbe-museum.org.uk/ St Barbe Museum (Lymington)]
* [http://users.bigpond.net.au/bwi28/cyg/lymington.html The two Lymingtons of Tasmania]
* [http://users.ox.ac.uk/~peter/workhouse/Lymington/Lymington.shtml Lymington Workhouse]
* [http://www.lymington.biz/lymington/visiting.asp Welcome to Lymington (Chamber of Commerce site)]
* [http://www.lymingtonbaptist.org/ Lymington Baptist Church]
* [http://www.thenewforest.net New Forest Community Media] - A not-for-profit media site serving the National Park