Lymington
Lymington | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | LYMINGTON | |
Postcode district | SO41 | |
Dialling code | 01590 | |
Police | Hampshire and Isle of Wight | |
Fire | Hampshire and Isle of Wight | |
Ambulance | South Central | |
UK Parliament | ||
Lymington
The town faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a car ferry service operated by Wightlink. It is within the civil parish of Lymington and Pennington. The town has a large tourist industry, based on proximity to the New Forest and its harbour. It is a major yachting centre with three marinas. As of 2015, the parish of Lymington and Pennington had a population of 15,726.[1]
History
The earliest settlement in the Lymington area was around the
Lymington itself began as an Anglo-Saxon village.
The town is recorded in Domesday as Lentune. About 1200, the lord of the manor, William de Redvers created the borough of New Lymington around the present quay and High Street, while Old Lymington comprised the rest of the parish. He gave the town its first charter and the right to hold a market.[4] The town became a parliamentary borough in 1585, returning two MPs until 1832, when its electoral base was expanded. Its representation was reduced to one member under the Second Reform Act of 1867, and it was subsumed into the New Forest Division under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885.
Lymington was famous for salt-making from the Middle Ages up to the 19th century. There was an almost continuous belt of salt workings along the coast toward Hurst Spit.
In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Lymington possessed a military depot that included a number of foreign troops – mostly artillery but also several militia regiments. At the time of the Napoleonic Wars, the King's German Legion-Artillery was based near Portchester Castle and sent sick soldiers to Lymington or Eling Hospital.[5] As well as Germans and Dutch, there were French émigrés and French regiments.[6] They were raised to take part in the ill-fated Quiberon Invasion of France, from which few returned (contrast the Battle of Quiberon Bay, or Bataille des Cardinaux, a 1759 victory).
From the early 19th century, Lymington had a thriving shipbuilding industry, particularly associated with Thomas Inman, builder of the schooner Alarm, which famously raced the American yacht America in 1851.[7] Much of the town centre is Victorian and Georgian, with narrow cobbled streets in the area of the quay. In 1859 the Roman Catholic church of Our Lady of Mercy and Saint Joseph was built to a design by Joseph Hansom.[8]
Lymington particularly promotes stories about its smuggling. There are unproven stories of smugglers' tunnels running from the old inns and under the High Street to the town quay.
Lymington was among the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. In 1932 it was extended to include Milton (previously an urban district), the parishes of Milford on Sea and Pennington, and parts of Lymington Rural District, so extending it along the coast to the edge of Christchurch.[9]
The borough of Lymington was abolished on 1 April 1974 under the terms of the
Lymington today
Due to changes in planning legislation, many older areas of the town have been redeveloped. Houses have been demolished and replaced with blocks of flats and retirement homes. In a
The main Anglican parish church is
Neighbourhoods
The northern neighbourhoods of the town are Buckland and Lower Buckland, the latter adjoining the Lymington River. However, to avoid confusion with Buckland, Portsmouth, also in Hampshire, many people refer to themselves and their businesses here solely as Lymington. The poet Caroline Anne Bowles (1786–1854) was born at Buckland Manor and died at Buckland Cottage.[11]
Pennington is a village near Lymington, but is separated from the town by several schools with playing fields. Upper Pennington is a northern residential offshoot of Pennington, more rural in character, almost entirely surrounded by heath and farmland.
Lymington yacht basin and mudflats make up the former docks area known as Waterford.
Normandy is a coastal hamlet by a very small
Shopping
The high street has seen rapid change over the last few years, with an increasing presence of chain stores and coffee-shop franchises. There is a local market, one of the New Forest producers' markets, held at the Masonic hall once a month in the game season. There are several marine outfitters in the cobbled street leading down to the quay.
Lymington has a wide range of shops and a large street market in the High Street, as well as three supermarkets:
Climate
Lymington, like the rest of the South of England, has a
Climate data for Everton 16m asl, 1971–2000, extremes 1960–2003 (Weather station 2 miles (3 km) to the West of Lymington) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 13.5 (56.3) |
14.5 (58.1) |
19.1 (66.4) |
23.3 (73.9) |
26.6 (79.9) |
33.5 (92.3) |
32.6 (90.7) |
32.9 (91.2) |
26.3 (79.3) |
23.3 (73.9) |
17.5 (63.5) |
15.3 (59.5) |
33.5 (92.3) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 7.9 (46.2) |
7.9 (46.2) |
10.1 (50.2) |
12.4 (54.3) |
15.9 (60.6) |
18.4 (65.1) |
20.8 (69.4) |
20.8 (69.4) |
18.3 (64.9) |
14.9 (58.8) |
11.1 (52.0) |
9.0 (48.2) |
14.0 (57.2) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.6 (36.7) |
2.3 (36.1) |
3.6 (38.5) |
4.7 (40.5) |
7.7 (45.9) |
10.4 (50.7) |
12.5 (54.5) |
12.6 (54.7) |
10.7 (51.3) |
8.2 (46.8) |
5.0 (41.0) |
3.6 (38.5) |
7.0 (44.6) |
Record low °C (°F) | −11.1 (12.0) |
−8.7 (16.3) |
−8.3 (17.1) |
−4.5 (23.9) |
−2.8 (27.0) |
1.7 (35.1) |
4.4 (39.9) |
4.4 (39.9) |
1.7 (35.1) |
−2.3 (27.9) |
−6.5 (20.3) |
−8.9 (16.0) |
−11.1 (12.0) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 81.0 (3.19) |
58.7 (2.31) |
60.3 (2.37) |
48.4 (1.91) |
45.9 (1.81) |
51.9 (2.04) |
37.7 (1.48) |
49.5 (1.95) |
67.1 (2.64) |
88.0 (3.46) |
84.2 (3.31) |
91.2 (3.59) |
763.7 (30.07) |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 61.7 | 81.1 | 121.8 | 181.5 | 223.2 | 212.4 | 231.6 | 223.2 | 160.2 | 120.0 | 80.7 | 53.3 | 1,750.7 |
Source 1: Met Office[19]
date=November 2011 | |||||||||||||
Source 2: Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute/KNMI[20]
date=November 2011 |
Sports and leisure
The town's leisure amenities include several parks, a nine-hole golf course, a rowing club, a community centre, a library,
The proximity of the New Forest makes Lymington a popular base for walking, cycling and riding.
Sailing
Lymington is famous for its sailing history, and in recent years has been home to the world-famous
There are two active sailing clubs in the town. The Royal Lymington Yacht Club, founded in the 1920s as Lymington River Sailing Club, has over 3,000 members and runs major keelboat and dinghy events.[21] The Lymington Town Sailing Club, founded in 1946, hosts a popular Lymington Winter Series known as the Solent Circuit.[22]
Football
Lymington has a non-League football club, Lymington Town F.C., which plays at the sports ground. The children's football club, Lymington Sprites, is based in nearby Pennington.
Cricket
Lymington Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club that plays at the Sports Ground. The Third and Fourth XI play their home matches at Woodside Park. The club's first team compete in the Southern Premier Cricket League, which is the highest level of club cricket in Hampshire.[citation needed]
Rugby union
Lymington has a rugby union club, Lymington Mariners RFC, whose two teams play at Woodside Park. It meets every Thursday evening for practice and most Saturday afternoons for tournament games in the Hampshire region, and friendlies around the South of England.
Media
Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian. Television signals are received from the Rowridge TV transmitter.[23]
Local radio stations are BBC Radio Solent on 96.1 FM, Heart South on 96.7 FM, Capital South on 103.2 FM, Easy Radio South Coast on 107.8 FM, Nation Radio South Coast on 106.0 FM and New Forest Hospital Radio, that broadcast local programming to patients from the New Forest Hospital in the town.[24]
The Lymington Times and New Milton Advertiser is the town's local newspaper.[25]
Transport
Buses
Lymington bus depot is owned by Go South Coast. Numerous local services operate, as do routes to Bournemouth and Southampton. In the summer, the New Forest Tour serves the town with open-top buses.
Rail
Lymington's two railway stations –
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
Ferries have run between Lymington and Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, since the 19th century. Since 1990 they have been operated by Wightlink, succeeding the nationalised Sealink on the route.[26] The current fleet comprises three car ferries, which entered service in 2009: Wight Light, Wight Sky and Wight Sun. The service runs about once an hour from a dock south-east of the old town on the far side of the Lymington River.
In fiction and on screen
Lymington features in The Children of the New Forest by Captain Marryat, in the historical novels of the local writer Warwick Collins (The Rationalist and The Marriage of Souls), and in The Forest by Edward Rutherfurd.
In Tom Clancy's Patriot Games, a Wightlink ferry heading from the Lymington ferry terminal is intercepted and a prisoner extracted in heavy seas. Several men on board the ferry are murdered.[27]
The 1980 Christmas special of the ITV children's show Worzel Gummidge was filmed in the town during the summer of that year. During filming a sudden wind blew the titanium dioxide that was being used as a replica of snow into homes, shops and businesses, causing damage and a large compensation bill for the producers, Southern Television.[citation needed]
Lymington was occasionally featured in the 1980s BBC series Howards' Way.[28]
Notable people
Twin towns
An active programme of exchange visits is coordinated by the local Twinning Association.[29]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Population and Census Data". New Forest District Council. 2015. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ISBN 185455056X.
- ISBN 0713456256.
- ^ Bearman, R., ed. (1994). Charters of the de Redvers Family and the Earldom of Devon, 1090–1217. Exeter: Devonshire Records Society.
- ISBN 978-3864686658.
- ISBN 2737317452.
- .
- ^ ISBN 9780300225037.
- ^ "Lymington MB". A vision of Britain Through Time. Archived from the original on 24 December 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ISBN 9780300225037.
- doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26054. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^ Lymington & Pennington Town Council, Parks & Gardens | https://www.lymingtonandpennington-tc.gov.uk/parks-and-open-spaces
- ^ Historic England. "Manor House (Grade II) (1274531)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Historic England. "All Saints Church Hall (1277406)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Historic England. "De la Warr House (1231907)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ Barkham, Patrick (13 September 2010). "Is Lymington the snootiest town in Britain?". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- KNMI.
- KNMI.
- ^ "Everton 1971–2000 averages". Met Office. Archived from the original on 19 October 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
- KNMI. Archived from the originalon 30 December 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2011.
- ^ Royal Lymington Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ "About Us". Lymington Town Sailing Club. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ "Full Freeview on the Rowridge (Isle Of Wight, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ "New Forest Hospital Radio". Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ "Lymington Times". British Papers. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
- ^ "History". Wightlink. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
- ISBN 1101002395– via Google Books.
- ^ "Howards' Way locations". BBC. n.d. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
- ^ "Lymington Twinning". Lymington Twinning. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
External links
- Lymington and Pennington Town Council website Archived 9 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- 1828 guide to Lymington at Google Books
- Lymington.com