page_title: Lyme Regis
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Lyme Regis / Culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Photographer: User:Ballista
context_page_description: Lyme Regis is a town in West Dorset, England, 25 miles west of Dorchester and 25 miles east of Exeter. Styled "The Pearl of Dorset", it lies at Lyme Bay on the English Channel coast at the Dorset–Devon border. It is noted for fossils found in cliffs and beaches on the Heritage or Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site. The harbour wall – known as "The Cobb" – appears in Jane Austen's novel Persuasion, the John Fowles novel The French Lieutenant's Woman, and the 1981 film of that name, which was partly shot in the town. A former mayor and MP was Admiral Sir George Somers, who founded the English colonial settlement of Somers Isles, now Bermuda, where Lyme Regis is twinned with St George's. In July 2015, Lyme Regis joined Jamestown, Virginia, in a Historic Atlantic Triangle with St George's. The 2011 Census gave the parish and electoral ward a population of 3,671.
context_section_description: The museum was built on the site of Mary Anning's birthplace and family shop off Bridge Street. It houses a collection of local memorabilia, historical items and exhibits explaining the local geological and palaeontological treasures. It was formerly known as the Philpot Museum. Set into the pavement outside the museum is an example of Coade stone work, in the form of ammonites, reflecting the palaeontology for which the town is famous, and commemorating Eleanor Coade, who had an 18th-century artificial stone factory in London and seaside home, Belmont House, in the town.
  The Dinosaurland Fossil Museum is in the former church where Mary Anning was baptised.
  Thanksgiving Day has been held since Parliament decreed, at the end of the English Civil War, a day of celebration and prayer in Lyme to commemorate its victory over the long siege of the town by the Royalist forces. The celebration includes residents dressing in period costume to parade through the streets.
  Annual events in the town include the Lyme Regis Carnival and Regatta, the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival (in conjunction with the London Natural History Museum), and Mary Anning Day. The traditional conger cuddling event takes place during Lifeboat Week. The carnival and regatta, organised by volunteers, take place over a week in August. The Lyme Regis Gig Club regatta also takes place during Carnival Week.
  Bonfire night celebrations include a torchlight procession, bonfire on the beach and firework display. A Christmas Tree Festival has more than 30 trees decorated and displayed in Lyme Regis Baptist Church. An Easter bonnet parade takes place each year in the town on Easter Sunday. A May Day fête features stalls and entertainment from various Lyme groups.
  Lyme Regis is the home of B Sharp, a music charity for young people. It organises music workshops, performances and training, and signposts progression routes beyond B Sharp. It also runs an annual Busking Festival open to all performing artists, now in May, and an open air "Big Mix" festival in July to present music-making by young people.
  The Marine Theatre, operated by the charity Lymearts Community Trust, stages a variety of live events.
  In 2012 graffiti artist Banksy stenciled an origami crane on a wall adjacent to the River Lym at the intersection of Mill and Coombe Streets.
caption: The samba band Street Heat, in the twilight parade marking the end of the 2006 'Lyme Regis Carnival'
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