Lympstone is a village and civil parish in East Devon in the English county of Devon. It has a population of 1,754. There is a harbour on the estuary of the River Exe, lying at the outlet of Wotton Brook between cliffs of red breccia.Lympstone Village Design Statement
, East Devon Council 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 has rail services on the Avocet Line to

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...

and

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

from

Lympstone Village railway station Lympstone Village railway station serves the village of Lympstone in Devon, England. History Lympstone station was opened with the railway on 1 May 1861. It was renamed Lympstone Village in the 1990s to avoid confusion with the new Lympstone ...

. It is known locally for Peter's Tower, an Italianate riverfront brick clock tower built around 1885 by W.H. Peters as a memorial to his wife, and for its tradition of residents drying washing on the foreshore. 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.

Lympstone Manor Lympstone is a village and civil parish in East Devon in the England, English county of Devon. It has a population of 1,754. There is a harbour on the estuary of the River Exe, lying at the outlet of Wotton Brook between cliffs of red breccia.< ...

is an historical house which now provides hotel and restaurant accommodation. The parish church is the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Near the village is the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines (CTCRM), the principal military training centre for the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

. The training centre has its own dedicated railway halt,

Lympstone Commando Lympstone Commando railway station is a railway station situated on the Avocet Line, a branch line from Exeter to Exmouth in Devon, England. The station is for the exclusive use of visitors to the Royal Marine Commando Training Centre at Lym ...

(not in public use), on the

–

branch line.

Sport and leisure

Lympstone AFC were formed in 1906, they have sides in the Devon & Exeter Football League. Lympstone 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

Royal Marines A.F.C. Royal Marines Association Football Club was a association football, football club based in Lympstone, near Exmouth in Devon, England, the committee and players were all serving or retired Royal Marines. At the end of the 2011–12 South West Pe ...

who play at Endurance Park CTCRM. They have since folded in April 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, cafe and pubs and adds to the vibrancy and sustainability of the village centre and its businesses. Despite this, a minority group is currently campaigning to change the route and are concerned it affects the village centre and could be made safer for users and villagers. 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.

Notable people

* 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 Roanoke Island () is an island in Dare County, North Carolina, Dare County, bordered by the Outer Banks of North Carolina, United States. It was named after the historical Roanoke (tribe), Roanoke, a Carolina Algonquian people who inhabited the ar ...

amidst great hardship and deprivation. He was later present at the defeat of the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aris ...

. * Theophilus Rhys-Jones (d. 1959), headmaster of St Peter's Preparatory School, Harefield, Lympstone, and paternal grandfather of Sophie, Countess of Wessex * Singer and lead guitarist of The Kinks, Dave Davies, lived in Lympstone in the 1990s. * Former Tottenham Hotspur footballer

Steve Perryman Stephen John Perryman MBE (born 21 December 1951) is an English former professional footballer who is best-known for his successes with Tottenham Hotspur during the 1970s and early 1980s. He has won the FA Cup, League Cup, and UEFA Cup all twi ...

currently resides in Lympstone. * John Nutt (before 1600 – after 1632) was an English pirate. He was one of the more notorious brigands of his time raiding the coast of southern Canada and western England for over three years before his capture by Sir John Eliot in 1623. His arrest and conviction caused a scandal in the English court, after Nutt paid Eliot £500 in exchange for a pardon, and was eventually released by Secretary of State George Calvert. *

Francis Augustus Eliott, 2nd Baron Heathfield General Francis Augustus Eliott, 2nd Baron Heathfield (31 December 1750 – 26 January 1813) was a senior British Army officer. Military career Heathfield was a soldier who served as lieutenant-colonel of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons. He large ...

, British Army officer, and son of the revolutionary general,

George Augustus Eliott George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield, (25 December 1717 – 6 July 1790) was a British Army officer who served in three major wars during the eighteenth century. He rose to distinction during the Seven Years' War when he fought in Ge ...

, inherited the Lord of the Manor of Lympstone from his uncle, alongside the Manor at

Nutwell Nutwell in the parish of Woodbury, East Devon, Woodbury on the south coast of Devon is a historic Manorialism, manor and the site of a Georgian neo-classical Listed building, Grade II* listed mansion house known as Nutwell Court. The house is s ...

(then in Lympstone). Lord Heathfield spent the next 5 years (1798-1803) rebuilding Nutwell Court to its current appearance, whilst living at nearby Gulliford Farm.

References

External links

Lympstone village websiteLympstone Village Design Statement
East Devon Council

Britannia.com, reproduced from ''The Lympstone Story: The Red Cliffs of Lympstone'', Lympstone Society {{authority control Villages in Devon Civil parishes in Devon Seaside resorts in England

Sport and leisure

Notable people

See also

References

Further reading

External links