LYME REGIS: BOROUGH, TOWN & PARISH
Information connected to Lyme's governance down the ages.
LYME REGIS BOROUGH
INTRODUCTION ​
Lyme became a royal borough in 1284 when Edward I gave it a royal charter (Lyme Regis).
John Fowles writes in his ‘A Short History of Lyme Regis’, "..... new royal boroughs were allowed considerable trading privileges, a degree of self-government and their own minor courts. They could also send two members to Parliament –a right Lyme enjoyed (or abused) from 1295 until 1832. In return they had to pay an annual rent and other taxes to the royal exchequer......"
Of the 1600 acres of the parish [of Lyme], the royal borough occupied only the 40 acres of the old town. It had no jurisdiction outside.
Lyme Regis lost its borough status during the reorganisation of local government in 1974.
COURT BOOKS AND CYRIL WANKLIN
Graham Davies writes:
Cyril Wanklyn, aged 56, came to live at Timber Hill, Lyme Regis in 1920. As to who he was, I can do no better than quote from Richard Bull’s paper, ‘People of Lyme 3: Cyril Wanklyn – Historian of Lyme (Lyme Regis Museum website):
Cyril Wanklyn (1864-1943) was, without doubt, one of Lyme’s greatest historians, ranking with the two other greats, George Roberts (1804-1860) and John Fowles (1926-2005)……….. Single-handedly Wanklyn saved the town’s ancient records from oblivion, having them translated, summarised and bound [Court Books & Calendars]. He popularised their contents in a regular newspaper column, published in book form shortly after his death [Lyme Leaflets]. Like John Fowles, he was curator of the Lyme Regis Museum and put his own resources into it. For his devotion to Lyme’s history he received the Freedom of the Borough in 1938.​​​
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Court Books, Calendars & Prefaces
Lists of the Court Books and Calendars held by Lyme Regis Museum, and the text of the Prefaces to The Court Books and Calendars written by Cyril Wanklyn.
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Court Books & Calendars - OCR Transcriptions
PDF files of Wanklyn's Court Books from 1309 to 1835
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​​Lyme Leaflets
Cyril Wanklin's published articles about various aspects of the Court Books written 1923-1943.​
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MISCELLANEOUS FILES ASSOCIATED WITH THE BOROUGH
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​​13th Century Common Seal of Lyme Borough of Lyme Regis - Property Auction 1838
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Parliamentary Petition 1842: the background of the witnesses from Lyme Regis