LymeLiving - OCTOBER 2026 - Edition_compressed (1) - Flipbook - Page 44
44
LymeLiving - The Lyme Regis Town Council Magazine
STORIES
IN STONE
LYME REGIS
MUSEUM
Research Team
This feature invites readers to
explore the fascinating history
behind some of the town9s most
distinctive buildings.
This series is informed by the
remarkable work of Graham Davies
and the Lyme Regis Museum
Research Team, who for more than 16
years, carefully researched the
buildings and streets of Lyme Regis.
Through 8Stories in Stone9, we are
proud to share some of that research
with the wider community.
Because every building has a story.
ODAY, 20-21 Coombe Street
beside the River Lym
T sits
overlooking Gosling Bridge as
if centuries of change hasn9t
bothered it.
To many passers-by, it is simply
another building in one of Lyme
Regis9 oldest streets, yet beneath its
modern appearance lies a story
stretching back hundreds of years.
The original building that stood on
this site survived Lyme9s
devastating fire of 1803 and may
even have had Elizabethan origins.
Although no longer standing, local
historians believe it occupied a
significant position in the town9s
early history.
Dr Wyatt Wingrave, the first
curator of Lyme Regis Museum,
recorded that the building had once
been used as a town hall during the
17th century.
While documentary proof has never
been found, more recent research
suggests Lyme9s earliest town hall
may indeed have stood close to
Gosling Bridge, which was once one
of the main entrances into the
town.
Of course, this was long before
modern roads, where travellers
arriving from inland would have
crossed the bridge after following
the packhorse route alongside the
River Lym.
20-21, COOMBE STREET
The section of today9s Coombe
Street leading to the bridge from
The Ship Inn was once known as
8Horse Street9, a reflection of its
importance as a thoroughfare for
both traders and travellers and aptly
named as hundreds of horses
traversed this street every single
day.
Adding further mystery to the story
of 20-21 Coombe Street, local
historian Gulielma Lister referred to
the building as the 8Old Hospital9 in
her scrapbook.
Census records from the 19th
century mention a property known
as 8Hospital9 in the vicinity, which
suggests the site may have served
more than one purpose during its
long history.
By the early 20th century, the
building had been divided into two
properties, numbered 20 and 21
Coombe Street.
One resident of the property was
retired mariner Robert Hodder,
whose daughter Margaret ran a
laundry business from the house
while also taking in lodgers for
boarding.
Several local families have lived
there over the years but by the
outbreak of the Second World War
the building had fallen into serious
disrepair.
Following the war, local builder
Cecil Quick acquired the property
and rebuilt it, and the structure seen
today dates largely from that postwar reconstruction.
Years later, the building became
associated with another chapter of
Lyme9s commercial history when it
was used by Quick9s business
venture, Freezerland.
Freezerland became a popular local
grocery and freezer-food store and
while it is no longer operating today,
it is fondly remembered by locals for
serving the community as a go-to
shop for frozen goods and groceries.
Cecil Quick was a prominent figure
in the town. He was a well-known
local builder for more than 30 years
and a dedicated community leader
who notably served as the president
of the local branch of the Royal
British Legion.
The story of 20-21 Coombe Street is
fascinating, as with many of the
town9s buildings, and although the
original, possibly Elizabethan,
building has long since disappeared,
its story reflects the changing
fortunes of the town itself.
From possible town hall and hospital
to family home, laundry business and
commercial premises, this modest
riverside site has witnessed
centuries of town life beside the
waters of the Lym.
