LYME REGIS, market town, municipal borough, watering place, western parliamentary division, Dorsetshire, England, 151 m. S.W. of London by the Southern railway. Pop. (1931) 2,62o. It is situated at the mouth of a narrow valley opening upon a fine precipitous coast-line, and there is a sandy shore affording excellent bathing. The church of St. Michael and All Angels is mainly Perpendicular, but the tower (formerly central) and the portion west of it are Norman. A guildhall and assembly rooms are the chief public buildings. The principal industries are stone-quarry ing and the manufacture of cement. There is a curved pier of ancient foundation known as the Cobb. The harbour, with a small coasting trade, is under the authority of the corporation.
In 774 Cynewulf, king of the West Saxons, granted land here to the church of Sherborne. In 1 o86 three manors of Lyme are mentioned. The town was first known as Lyme Regis in 1316.
Lyme ranked as a port in 1234, and Edward I. in 1284 granted to the town a charter making it a free borough, with a merchant gild. In the following January the bailiffs were given privileges implying considerable foreign trade ; the importance of the port is also evident from the demand of two ships for the king's service in 1311. It received another grant from Edward III. (1332). In 1591 Elizabeth incorporated Lyme, and further charters were obtained from James I., Charles II. and William III. Lyme returned two members to parliament from 1295 to 1832 when the representation was reduced to one. The borough was disfranchised in 1867. The fairs granted in 1553 for the ist of February and the loth of September are now held on altered dates. Trade with France began as early as 1284. In 1685 Lyme was the scene of the landing of James, duke of Monmouth, in his attempt upon the throne.