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Lyme Regis / United Kingdom

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.

Lyme Regis Museum

Lyme Regis / United Kingdom

Lyme Regis Museum is situated in the town of Lyme Regis on the Jurassic Coast in Dorset, England. It is a registered charity under English law.The museum building was commissioned in 1901 by Thomas Philpot, a relative of the fossil collector Elizabeth Philpot, hence the name. The architect of the building was George Vialls, who also designed the nearby Guildhall . It is built on the site of the birthplace and home of the fossil hunter Mary Anning. The Anning family also ran a shop here. The collections and subject areas exhibited include fossils from the surrounding area dating from the Jurassic period, geology, local maritime history, memorabilia, and writers associated with the town such as Jane Austen and John Fowles. An ornate example of Coade stone work, in the form of ammonites is set into the pavement outside the museum, reflecting both local history and the palaeontology for which Lyme Regis is well known.