Lympstone

Lympstone
Devon
Lympstone
Location
Grid reference:	SX990839
Location:	50°38’46"N, 3°25’47"W
Data
Population:	1,754  (2001)
Post town:	Exmouth
Postcode:	EX8
Dialling code:	01395
Local Government
Council:	East Devon
Parliamentary constituency:	East Devon

Lympstone is a village in eastern Devon, a sizable place by Devon standards, with a population of 1,754 recorded in 2011.

The village stands on the east shore of the estuary of the River Exe, and has a harbour on the estuary at the outlet of Wotton Brook between cliffs of red breccia. The promontory to the north of the harbour is topped by a flat pasture, Cliff Field, that is managed by the National Trust and used for football matches and other local events.

Lympstone Village station is on the 'Avocet Line' between Exmouth and Exeter.

Sights about the village

Peter's Tower is an Italianate riverfront brick clock tower built around 1885 by W.H. Peters as a memorial to his wife's "kindness and sympathy for the poor of Lympstone".

The riverside houses back directly on to the shore, with no continuous seawall, and the passageways between them to the beach are equipped with metal flood gates that are closed by residents when they are warned of high tides by a local alert network.

There is a local tradition of residents drying washing on the foreshore.

Near the village is the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM), the principal military training centre for the Royal Marines. The training centre has its own dedicated railway halt, called Lympstone Commando (not in public use), on the Exeter to Exmouth branch line.

History

The most celebrated locally born man has been Ralph Lane, equerry to Queen Elizabeth I, was born in Lympstone. He was a soldier who went with Sir Walter Raleigh on his second expedition to the New World in 1585. He founded a colony on Roanoke Island amidst great hardship and deprivation. He was later present at the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

Sport and leisure

• Football:
  • Lympstone AFC, formed in 1906
  • Royal Marines A.F.C. played at Endurance Park in CTCRM until being wound up in 2012

The Exeter–Exmouth cycle route passes through the village. The cycle route is popular for commuters and recreational cyclists. Prior to the opening of the cycle route the only direct route to cycle between Exmouth and Exeter was along the busy A376. The cycle route passes through the centre of the village, bringing custom to the shop, café and pubs and grumpiness to some.

The 1st Lympstone Sea Scouts Group celebrated its centenary in 2012. It currently has flourishing Scout and Cub sections. It meets in the Scout HQ on Cliff Field.

Lympstone Manor is an historical house which now provides hotel and restaurant accommodation.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Lympstone)

• Lympstone Village
• The Early History of Lympstone, Britannia.com, reproduced from The Lympstone Story: The Red Cliffs of Lympstone, Lympstone Society
• SW Comms Band
• Lympstone Cricket Club
• Lympstone Entertainments
• Lympstone Tennis Club
• Lympstone AFC

References

• Smith, Rosemary: 'The Lympstone Story' (The Lympstone Society, 2005) ISBN 0-9504102-2-5