Lympstone

infobox UK place
country= England
official_name= Lympstone
latitude= 50.6460
longitude= -3.4298
population= 1,754(2001 Census)
shire_district= East Devon
shire_county= Devon
region= South West England
constituency_westminster=East Devon
post_town= EXMOUTH
postcode_district= EX8
postcode_area= EX
dial_code= 01395
os_grid_reference= SX990839
static_

static_image_caption=Lympstone river frontage from Cliff Field: Peters Tower and the traditional washing poles on the beach are visible

Lympstone is a village and civil parish in English county of Devon. It has a harbour on the estuary of the River Exe, lying at the outlet of Wotton Brook between cliffs of red breccia. [http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/planning-lympstone_village_design_statement 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 and Exeter from Lympstone Village railway station.

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, [ [http://pmsa.cch.kcl.ac.uk/BL/DE304.htm Peter's Tower] , Public Monument and Sculpture Association National Recording Project] and for its tradition of residents drying washing on the foreshore. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/4652015.stm Washing line row hits flood plans] , BBC News, online, 5 July, 2005] 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. [ [http://www.exe-estuary.org/news/Exe-press-spring06i.pdf Waterproof! Lympstone tidal defence scheme complete] , "Exe-press News", Spring 2006]

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, Lympstone Commando, (not in public use) on the Exeter- Exmouth branch line.

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.

ee also

*Lympstone Commando railway station

References

External links

* [http://www.lympstone.org/ Lympstone village website]
* [http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/planning-lympstone_village_design_statement Lympstone Village Design Statement] , East Devon Council
* [http://www.britannia.com/lympstone/lympstone.html The Early History of Lympstone] , Britannia.com, reproduced from "The Lympstone Story: The Red Cliffs of Lympstone", Lympstone Society