Lyme Regis Museum, Independent museum along the Jurassic Coast in Lyme Regis, England.
Lyme Regis Museum is an independent local museum housed in a Grade II listed building from 1901, sitting at the edge of the town center close to the seafront. It holds fossils from the Jurassic period, maritime objects, and items relating to the town's history.
The building was constructed in 1901 on the site where Mary Anning, the fossil hunter whose discoveries shaped early 19th-century paleontology, had her home and shop. The museum was set up to bring together the town's geological and local heritage in one place.
The museum holds a connection to Jane Austen, who set part of her novel Persuasion in Lyme Regis, and to John Fowles, who lived in the town for decades. Fowles even served as the museum's curator for a period and left his personal library to the collection.
The museum sits in the center of Lyme Regis within easy walking distance of the seafront and the Cobb. It also organizes guided fossil walks along the coast, which require a separate booking from the main visit.
A blue plaque on the outside of the building marks the exact spot where Mary Anning ran her fossil shop in the early 1800s. Many visitors walk past it without noticing, even though it sits right at the entrance.
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