The most famous event connected with the Cobb was the landing of Monmouth thereon in June, 1685.  The ill-starred prince knelt on the stones and thanked God “for having preserved the friends of liberty and pure religion from the perils of the sea.”  Not many days passed before some enthusiasts from Lyme who had followed the gallant lad were brought back to the Cobb and hanged there in sight of their neighbours.  John Tutchin, author of the Observator, was sentenced by Jeffreys to be whipped through Lyme and every other town in the county, to be imprisoned seven years, and pay a fine of one hundred marks.  He petitioned to be hanged, and was pardoned.  But these poor men were avenged three years later when William of Orange landed a number of his troops on the same spot.  A few days afterwards that narrow, dull, conscientious, well-intentioned and wholly religious Roman Catholic, James II, fled from his throne and country.

During early Hanoverian days Lyme seems to have languished.  Privateering; the trade with France and Spain; the industries of the town, weaving and lace making; all dwindled to vanishing point.  Half the houses became ruinous, and the population had decreased to an alarming extent when that saviour of half the old coastwise towns of England—­the valetudinarian—­came upon the scene about 1770, and by the commencement of the Victorian era Lyme had embarked upon a time of modest but steady prosperity which still continues.  Its fine air and superb situation would, if the town were fifty miles nearer London, result in “developments” that would soon ruin its character.

[Illustration:  LYME BAY.]

Lyme church is Perpendicular, though the tower is far older, the vestry room being part of the ancient church.  Of much interest is the tapestry on the west wall representing the marriage of Henry VII.  On the front of the gallery (1611) and on the Jacobean pulpit (1613) are inscriptions setting forth the names of their donors and the dates.  The rood-screen is modern but the old double lectern is interesting; chained to it is a “Breeches” Bible and Erasmus’ “Paraphrase.”  One of the stained-glass windows is a memorial to that celebrated daughter of Lyme—­Mary Anning, who with the enthusiasm of a greybeard hammered and chipped at the cliffs around in a most ungirlish style, but to such good purpose that she unearthed the Ichthyosaurus that now astonishes the visitor to the Natural History Museum in Kensington.

In Pound Street is an auxiliary church that in 1884 was converted out of a stable into the present beautiful and uncommon little building.  Of particular merit are the fine tapestries and the altarpiece of Venetian mosaics.  In Church Street stands an old house once belonging to the Tuckers, merchants and benefactors of the town.  It is now named Tudor House and is really of that date, although its exterior hardly looks its age.  The Assembly Rooms at the end of Broad Street mark the time when Lyme was starting