Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the

Lymington River The Lymington River drains part of the New Forest in Hampshire in southern England. Numerous headwaters to the west of Lyndhurst give rise to the river, including Highland Water, Bratley Water and Fletchers Water. From Brockenhurst the river r ...

on the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay t ...

, in the New Forest district of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England. It faces

Yarmouth, Isle of Wight Yarmouth is a town, port and civil parish in the west of the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. The town is named for its location at the mouth of the small Western Yar river. The town grew near the river crossing, originally a ferry ...

, to which there is a car ferry service operated by

Wightlink Wightlink is a ferry company operating routes across The Solent between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the south of England. It operates car ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth, and Portsmouth and Fishbourne and a fast passenger-only ...

. It is within the civil parish of

Lymington and Pennington Lymington and Pennington is an administrative area formed i1974in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It covers the historical settlements of Pennington village and Lymington Town, as well as smaller hamlets, and newer residential ar ...

. The town has a large tourist industry, based on proximity to the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

and its harbour. It is a major

yachting Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called ''yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboats, t ...

centre with three

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

s. As of 2015, the parish of Lymington and Pennington had a population of 15,726.

History

Quay Street, Lymington, Hampshire, England

Town Quay, Lymington, Hampshire, England

The earliest settlement in the Lymington area was around the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

hill fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...

known today as

Buckland Rings Buckland Rings is the site of an Iron Age hill fort in the town of Lymington, Hampshire. Today, the mounds and dykes around the outside which once constituted its defences are still clearly visible, although the outer bank lies under the road on ...

. The hill and ditches of the fort survive, and archaeological excavation of part of the walls was carried out in 1935. The fort has been dated to around the 6th century BC. There is another supposed Iron Age site at nearby Ampress Hole. However, evidence of later settlement there (as opposed to occupation) is sparse before ''

Domesday book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'' (1086). Lymington itself began as an Anglo-Saxon village. The

Jutes The Jutes (), Iuti, or Iutæ ( da, Jyder, non, Jótar, ang, Ēotas) were one of the Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans. According to Bede, they were one of the three most powerful Germanic nations ...

arrived in the area from the Isle of Wight in the 6th century and founded a settlement called ''Limentun''. The

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

word ''tun'' means a farm or hamlet whilst ''limen'' is derived from the Ancient British word ''*lemanos'' meaning an elm tree. The town is recorded in Domesday as "Lentune". About 1200, the lord of the manor, William de Redvers created the borough of New Lymington around the present quay and High Street, while Old Lymington comprised the rest of the parish. He gave the town its first charter and the right to hold a market. The town became a parliamentary borough in 1585, returning two MPs until 1832, when its electoral base was expanded. Its representation was reduced to one member under the Second Reform Act of 1867, and it was subsumed into the New Forest Division under the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict., c. 23) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

. Lymington was famous for salt-making from the Middle Ages up to the 19th century. There was an almost continuous belt of salt workings along the coast toward

Hurst Spit Hurst Spit is a shingle bank near the village of Keyhaven, at the western end of the Solent, on the south coast of England. The spit shelters an area of saltmarsh and mudflats known as Keyhaven and Pennington marshes. At the end of the spit is ...

. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Lymington possessed a military depot that included a number of foreign troops – mostly artillery but also several militia regiments. At the time of the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, the

King's German Legion-Artillery Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh' ...

was based near Portchester Castle and sent sick soldiers to Lymington or Eling Hospital. As well as Germans and Dutch, there were French émigrés and French regiments. They were raised to take part in the ill-fated

Quiberon Quiberon (; , ) is a commune in the French department of Morbihan, administrative region of Brittany, western France. It is situated on the southern part of the Quiberon peninsula, the northern part being the commune of Saint-Pierre-Quiberon. It ...

Invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...

, from which few returned (contrast the

Battle of Quiberon Bay The Battle of Quiberon Bay (known as ''Bataille des Cardinaux'' in French) was a decisive naval engagement during the Seven Years' War. It was fought on 20 November 1759 between the Royal Navy and the French Navy in Quiberon Bay, off the coast ...

, or ''Bataille des Cardinaux'', a 1759 victory). From the early 19th century, Lymington had a thriving

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

industry, particularly associated with Thomas Inman, builder of the schooner ''Alarm'', which famously raced the American yacht ''America'' in 1851. Much of the town centre is Victorian and

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

, with narrow cobbled streets in the area of the quay. Lymington particularly promotes stories about its

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

. There are unproven stories of smugglers' tunnels running from the old inns and under the High Street to the town quay. Lymington was among the boroughs reformed by the

Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will 4 c 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The legisl ...

. In 1932 it was extended to include

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

(previously an urban district), the parishes of

Milford on Sea Milford on Sea, often hyphenated, is a large village or small town and a civil parish on the Hampshire coast. The parish had a population of 4,660 at the 2011 census and is centred about south of Lymington. Tourism and businesses for quite pr ...

and Pennington, and parts of Lymington Rural District, so extending it along the coast to the edge of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

. The borough of Lymington was abolished on 1 April 1974 under the terms of the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, becoming an

unparished area In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unparish ...

in the district of

, with

Charter Trustees In England and Wales, charter trustees are set up to maintain the continuity of a town charter or city charter after a district with the status of a borough or city has been abolished, until such time as a parish council is established. Duties are ...

. The area was subsequently divided into the four parishes of

New Milton New Milton is a market town in southwest Hampshire, England. To the north is in the New Forest and to the south the coast at Barton-on-Sea. The town is equidistant between Lymington and Christchurch, 6 miles (10 km) away. History Ne ...

Milford-on-Sea Milford on Sea, often hyphenated, is a large village or small town and a civil parish on the Hampshire coast. The parish had a population of 4,660 at the 2011 census and is centred about south of Lymington. Tourism and businesses for quite pr ...

and

Hordle Hordle is a village and civil parish in the county of Hampshire, England. It is situated between the Solent coast and the New Forest, and is bordered by the towns of Lymington and New Milton. Like many New Forest parishes Hordle has no vill ...

Lymington today

Quay Hill, Lymington, Hampshire, England

Due to changes in planning legislation, many older areas of the town have been redeveloped. Houses have been demolished and replaced with blocks of flats and retirement homes. In a Channel 5 programme, Lymington received the accolade of "best town on the coast" in the UK for living (ahead of

Sandbanks Sandbanks is an affluent neighbourhood of Poole, Dorset, on the south coast of England, situated on a narrow spit of around 1 km2 or 0.39 sq mi extending into the mouth of Poole Harbour. It is known for its high property prices and for it ...

), for scenery, transport links and low crime levels.

Lymington New Forest Hospital Lymington New Forest Hospital is a community hospital in Lymington, Hampshire. It is managed by the Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital was procured under a Private Finance Initiative contract to replace the old Lymingto ...

opened in 2007, replacing the earlier

Lymington Hospital Lymington Hospital was a consultant-led community hospital in Lymington, Hampshire. It was administered by New Forest Primary Care Trust before it was replaced by the Hampshire Primary Care Trust. History The fundraising for the new hospital wa ...

. This has a Minor Injuries Unit but no

Accident and Emergency An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), ...

facility. The nearest are at

Southampton General Hospital Southampton General Hospital (SGH) is a large teaching hospital in Southampton, Hampshire, England run by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital was founded in 1900 as the Southampton Union Infirmary in Sh ...

16 miles (25.7 km) away and the

Royal Bournemouth Hospital The Royal Bournemouth Hospital is an acute general hospital in Bournemouth, Dorset, England. It is managed by the University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital was managed by The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals ...

14.5 miles (23.3 km) away. The main Anglican parish church is St Thomas's in the High Street.

Neighbourhoods

The northern neighbourhoods of the town are Buckland and Lower Buckland, the latter adjoining the Lymington River. However, due to confusion with

Buckland, Portsmouth Buckland is a residential area in the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. History Buckland, then known as Bocheland, was one of the three settlements on Portsea Island mentioned in the Domesday Book. The Manor of Bocheland ...

, also in Hampshire, many people refer to themselves and their businesses here solely as Lymington. The poet Caroline Anne Bowles (1786–1854) was born at Buckland Manor and died at Buckland Cottage. Pennington is a village near to Lymington, but is separated from the town by several schools with playing fields. Upper Pennington is a northern residential offshoot of Pennington, more rural in character, almost entirely surrounded by

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

and farmland. Lymington yacht basin and

mudflat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

s make up the former docks area known as Waterford. All Saints' Parish Church, All Saints Road, Lymington, Hants - geograph

Woodside consists of a small southern triangle of residential roads, gardens and a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

ground, which includes a manor house, church community hall, and All Saints, Lymington. The church was built in 1909 by W. H. Romaine-Walker, architect of

Danesfield House Danesfield House in Medmenham, near Marlow, Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills is a former country house now used as a hotel and spa. The house stands on a plateau which shelves steeply down to the River Thames to the south. History ...

Moreton Hall, Warwickshire Moreton Hall is a Grade II listed, Georgian styled Edwardian house, built in the early 1900s and located in Moreton Morrell, Warwickshire, England. It is the location of Moreton Morrel Centre, the agricultural campus of Warwickshire College. ...

and the Tate Gallery extension, and a student of the High Victorian architect

George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccle ...

. Normandy is a coastal hamlet by a very small

dock A dock (from Dutch language, Dutch ''dok'') is the area of water between or next to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore) or such structures themselves. The ex ...

saltern A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works (saltworks), as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but also oth ...

s and

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

. It includes the buildings Normandy Garth, Little Normandy and Normandy Farm. The last backs onto

De La Warr Earl De La Warr ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1761 for John West, 7th Baron De La Warr. The Earl holds the subsidiary titles of Viscount Cantelupe (1761) in the Peerage of Great Britain, Baron De La Warr ...

House, an early 19th-century

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Shopping

High Street, Lymington, Hampshire, England

The high street has seen rapid change over the last few years, with an increasing presence of chain stores and coffee-shop franchises. There is a local market, one of the New Forest producers' markets, held at the Masonic hall once a month in the game season. There are several marine outfitters in the cobbled street leading down to the quay. Lymington has a wide range of shops and a large street market in the High Street, as well as three supermarkets:

Waitrose Waitrose & Partners (formally Waitrose Limited) is a brand of British supermarkets, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. It was acquired in 1937 by employee-owned retailer John Lewis Partnership, which still se ...

, a small

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

in the High Street, and a

Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

Food Hall. Local campaigns resulted in the rejection of proposals for the opening of branches of the

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

retail outlet, and in 2010 of the

Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon plc (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a pub company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based in Watford. It o ...

's pub chain. However, a second proposal by Wetherspoons in 2012 was successful and a pub named ''The Six Bells'' opened in 2013.

Climate

Lymington, like the rest of the South of England, has a

maritime climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

of warm summers and mild winters. The nearest official Met office weather station for which online records are available is Everton, about to the west of the town centre. Thanks to its coastal position, sunshine levels are high relative to the rest of Britain, and severe frost unusual. The coldest recorded temperature in 43 years of records was in January 1963. The highest locally recorded temperature was in June 1976.

Sports and leisure

The town's leisure amenities include several parks, a nine-hole golf course, a rowing club, a community centre, a library,

St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery St Barbe Museum + Art Gallery is a local museum and art gallery in Lymington, Hampshire, England. Enclosed in the building is a small cafe called 'The Old School Cafe', a gift shop, multi-use room named 'The Mac Carthy Room', a museum showcas ...

, two swimming pools (one the

Lymington Open Air Sea Water Baths The Lymington Open Air Sea Water Baths (or "historic Roman Seawater Baths") is a lifeguarded open air lido in Lymington, Hampshire, England. Built in 1833, it is the oldest lido in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain an ...

built in 1833), a sports centre, a small cinema/theatre, a Skatepark (for skateboards), several tennis courts, and some youth football pitches. There is also a

pétanque Pétanque (, ; oc, petanca, , also or ) is a sport that falls into the category of boules sports, along with raffa, bocce, boule lyonnaise, lawn bowls, and crown green bowling. In all of these sports, players or teams play their boules/balls ...

terrain near St Thomas's church. Lymington Cricket Club was established in 1807 and plays in the Southern Premier and Hampshire Cricket leagues. The proximity of the New Forest makes Lymington a popular base for walking, cycling and riding.

Sailing

Lymington is famous for its sailing history, and in recent years has been home to the world-famous

regattas Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

such as the Royal Lymington Cup,

Etchells The International Etchells Class is a racing class of one-design sailing boats, designed by American Skip Etchells. Production The first 36 boats were built by Skip Etchells and the Old Greenwich Boat Company between 1967 to 1969. In the ea ...

Worlds, Macnamara's Bowl, and Source Regatta. The strong

tides Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables can ...

make it a challenging race track, and together with the shallow depth of the river has resulted in Lymington losing several regattas to the Central Solent, principally run from

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

. Nevertheless, Thursday Evening Racing takes place with up to 100 boats registered to race every Thursday night during the summer, hosted by the Royal Lymington Yacht Club. Started in the 1990s, this has become increasingly popular. There are two active sailing clubs in the town. The Royal Lymington Yacht Club, founded in the 1920s as Lymington River Sailing Club, has over 3,000 members and runs major

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open wat ...

and

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

events. The Lymington Town Sailing Club, founded in 1946, hosts a popular Lymington Winter Series known as the Solent Circuit.

Football

Lymington has a

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club, Lymington Town F.C., which plays at the sports ground. The children's football club, Lymington Sprites, is based in nearby Pennington.

Cricket

Lymington Cricket Club is an amateur

club that plays at the Sports Ground. The Third and Fourth XI play their home matches at Woodside Park. The club's first team compete in the

Southern Premier Cricket League The Southern Premier Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in central southern England. The League was founded in 1969 under the name Southern Cricket League, and in 2000 it adopted the name Southern Prem ...

, which is the highest level of club cricket in Hampshire.

Rugby union

Lymington has a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club, Lymington Mariners RFC, whose two teams play at Woodside Park. It meets every Thursday evening for practice and most Saturday afternoons for tournament games in the

region, and friendlies around the South of England.

Transport

Buses

Lymington bus station is owned by

Wilts & Dorset Wilts & DorsetCompanies House extract company no 1671355
Wi ...

, who also owns a bus depot in the town. Numerous local services operate, as do routes to

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. In the summer, the

New Forest Tour The New Forest Tour is an open-top bus service in the New Forest, running three circular routes around various towns, attractions and villages in the protected forest. It is run by morebus and Bluestar in partnership with Hampshire County Counci ...

serves the town with open-top buses.

Rail

Lymington's two railway stations – Lymington Pier (the

terminus Terminus may refer to: * Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination * Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Geography *Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United ...

), on the east side of the river near the ferry terminal, and Lymington Town – are connected to the national rail network by a branch line to

Brockenhurst Brockenhurst is the largest village by population within the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The nearest city is Southampton some to the North East, while Bournemouth is also nearby, South West. Surrounding towns and villages include Beaul ...

. Services twice an hour are operated by South Western Railway.

Roads

The

A337 road The A337 road is a road in southern England that runs from the M27 motorway in Hampshire to Christchurch in Dorset. Route of Road The A337 begins at junction 1 of the M27 motorway near Cadnam. It heads south through the New Forest to the large ...

links Lymington to Lyndhurst and the

M27 motorway The M27 is a motorway in Hampshire, England. It is long and runs between Cadnam and Portsmouth. It was opened in stages between 1975 and 1983, providing the largest two urban areas in Hampshire (Southampton and Portsmouth) with a direct mot ...

to the north, and to New Milton and the

South East Dorset conurbation The South East Dorset conurbation (also known as the South Dorset conurbation, Poole-Bournemouth urban area and Bournemouth urban area) is a multi-centred conurbation on the south coast of Dorset in England. Extent The main population centre ...

to the west.

Ferries

Ferries have run between Lymington and

, since the 19th century. Since 1990 they have been operated by

, succeeding the nationalised

Sealink Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland. Ports served by the company included: Dover, Folkesto ...

on the route. The current fleet comprises three car ferries, which entered service in 2009: '' Wight Light'', '' Wight Sky'' and '' Wight Sun''. The service runs about once an hour from a dock south-east of the old town on the far side of the

In fiction and on screen

Lymington features in ''

The Children of the New Forest ''The Children of the New Forest'' is a children's novel published in 1847 by Frederick Marryat. It is set in the time of the English Civil War and the Commonwealth. The story follows the fortunes of the four Beverley children who are orphane ...

'' by Captain Marryat, in the historical novels of the local writer Warwick Collins (''The Rationalist'' and ''The Marriage of Souls''), and in ''The Forest'' by

Edward Rutherfurd Edward Rutherfurd is a pen name for Francis Edward Wintle (born in 1948). He is best known as a writer of epic historical novels that span long periods of history but are set in particular places. His debut novel, '' Sarum'', set the pattern f ...

. In

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

's ''

Patriot Games ''Patriot Games'' is a thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and published in July 1987. ''Without Remorse'', released six years later, is an indirect prequel, and it is chronologically the first book featuring Jack Ryan, the main character i ...

'', a Wightlink ferry heading from the Lymington ferry terminal is intercepted and a prisoner extracted in heavy seas. Several men on board the ferry are murdered. The 1980 Christmas special of the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

children's show ''

Worzel Gummidge Worzel Gummidge is a scarecrow in British children's fiction, who originally appeared in a series of books by the English novelist Barbara Euphan Todd.

'' was filmed in the town during the summer of that year. During filming a sudden wind blew the

titanium dioxide Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium(IV) oxide or titania , is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula . When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6 (PW6), or CI 77891. It is a white solid that is insolubl ...

that was being used as a replica of snow into homes, shops and businesses, causing damage and a large compensation bill for the producers,

Southern Television Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...

. Lymington was occasionally featured in the 1980s

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...