Philpot Museum - Lyme Regis

Description:

The Museum stands in the heart of Lyme Regis  and is housed in a building of idiosyncratic charm built in 1901 by Thomas Philpot. The building was very delapidated by 1991 and a major scheme of reconstruction and extension has recently been completed. The Museum is fully independent and is almost entirely run by volunteers.

The Museums collections  are unusally rich for a small museum and Lyme's lively local history is well represented by maritime and domestic objects and illustrated by paintings, prints and photgraphs. The area is of course well noted for its fossils, displayed in the museums geological galleries as well as its literary connections such as Jane Austen who stayed in the town with her family in 1804 (her novel Persuasion is partly set in the town), Beatrix Potter who holidayed in 1904 and used some views of the town to illustrate her book Little Pig Robinson and John Fowles who lived in the town (author of French Lieutentant's Woman - made into a film starring Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons) are all illustrated in the museums Writers Gallery.

For thousands of years the cliffs at Lyme Regis crumbled and fell, revealing great numbers of fossils which were washed away by the sea. People occasionally picked them up as curiosities of nature, but it wasn't until the 19th century that they became of scientific interest or understanding.

In the early 19th century Mary Anning (1799-1847), who was born on the site of the Museum, became the pioneer geologist to earn a living from geology. Lyme Regis not only had the fossils, but as a holiday resort it also had the visitors  who wanted to buy the smaler specimens. Her major discoveries were sold to museums and collectors with the trade in cheaper fossils confined mainly to tourists.

The Lyme and the Sea; the Cobb. Tells how the town's fortunes have been inextricably bound up with the sea. For seven centuries trade has flourished and faded through its port, protected by the great wall of the Cobb. Fishing, smuggling, storm and shipwreck have left their relics and for the last 200 years the town has earned its living as a tourist resort, all of which are reflected in the Museum's displays and artefacts.

The year 2009 is especially significant for the annual Lyme Regis Fossil Festival which has the theme Evolution Rocks and takes place in the town between 22nd and 24th May, as it coincides with the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's Big Idea .

The Museum is also holding an exhibition from 10th May to 21st June titled "The Bird Man from Lyme Regis, which is about John Gould and Charles Darwin and is designed to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth.