The Cobb, Lyme Regis

The massive stone structure known as the Cobb conjures up in the modern mind the image of a windswept Merle Streep in The French Lieutenant’s Woman, gazing out to sea as she awaits the return of her lover. Or Louisa Musgrove in Jane Austen’s Persuasion falling down the steps known as ‘Granny’s teeth’.

The original purpose of the Cobb was as a quay, built to withstand the south-westerly gales that batter this coastline. The first reference to ‘la Cobbe’ is over 700 years ago, and its heyday was probably the 18th century, when Lyme Regis rivalled Weymouth as the premier port on the Dorset coast and the Cobb would have been alive with the bustle of ships loading and unloading.

Nearest post code: DT7 3JY
OS reference: SY338915
What3words: shadowing.worked.dugouts