Monument record MWX78 - Old Lyme Road, turnpike road between Charmouth and Lyme Regis

The road between Charmouth and Lyme was turnpiked in 1757-8 but had a tendency to landslip. A new cutting was made at the Charmouth end in 1839 and again in 1852. It was abandoned in 1924 when the present route via Fern Hill was constructed.

Old Lyme Hill (NAT) (SY 35909347) Old Lyme Road (NAT) (1)

(SY 35559334) Charmouth Cutting (NAT) (2)

(SY 34309311-SY 36119363) The Lyme Regis and Crewkerne Turnpike Trust was established by an Act of Parliament of 1757-8, comprising at first in Dorset only the road from Charmouth through Lyme Regis as far as Uplyme. The road from Charmouth to Lyme originally followed what still goes by the name of the Roman Road (RR 49), which continues into Colway over Timber Hill. Perhaps because of steepness and exposure, the Charmouth end of the road was abandoned in 1825 when a new road south of it across the upper part of the undercliff of Black Ven was opened. This was known as the Charmouth Cutting or Bellows Road. It was widened in 1839 and again in 1852, but was never satisfactory, partly because of the wind, and partly due to its tendency to slip, and after being precarious for many years, was finally abandoned in 1924, being replaced by the present route via Fern Hill (SY 350940). (3)

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey 1:10,000 scale map, 1979 (Map). SDO17396.

<2> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1890 edition OS map (Map). SWX1540.

<3> Good, R, 1966, Old Roads of Dorset, p130-131 (Monograph). SWX1178.

<4> National Record of the Historic Environment, 449783 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Sep 9 2024 4:45PM