Lyme Regis is well known for "The Cobb", a harbour wall full of character and history. It is an important feature in Jane Austen's novel Persuasion, and in the film The French Lieutenant's Woman, based on the 1969 novel of the same name by local writer John Fowles.
The first written mention of the Cobb is in a 1328 document describing it as having been damaged by storms. The structure was made of oak piles driven into the seabed with boulders stacked between them. The boulders were floated into place tied between empty barrels.
The Cobb was of economic importance to the town and surrounding area, allowing it to develop as both a major port and a shipbuilding centre from the 13th century onwards. Shipbuilding was particularly significant between 1780 and 1850 with around 100 ships launched including a 12-gun Royal Navy brig called HMS Snap. The wall of the Cobb provided both a breakwater to protect the town from storms and an artificial harbour.
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