Lymington facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lymington
From the air: yachts in the yacht basin can be seen on the left and the two other marinas; the New Forest fills most of the background.
Lymington
Population	15,726 (2015 Projection)
OS grid reference	SZ3295
Civil parish	Lymington and Pennington
District	New Forest
Shire county	Hampshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LYMINGTON
Postcode district	SO41
Dialling code	01590
Police	Hampshire
Fire	Hampshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	New Forest West
List of places UK England Hampshire 50°45′N 1°33′W / 50.75°N 1.55°W / 50.75; -1.55

Lymington is a port town in Hampshire, England. It sits on the west bank of the Lymington River, which flows into the Solent. The town is part of the New Forest district.

Lymington faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, across the water. You can take a car ferry, run by Wightlink, between the two towns. Lymington is a popular place for tourists because it's close to the beautiful New Forest and has a busy harbour. It's also a major centre for yachting, with three marinas where boats can dock. In 2015, about 15,726 people lived in Lymington and the nearby area of Pennington.

A Look Back: Lymington's History

Cobbled streets in Lymington town centre

The town quay, a busy spot for centuries.

The very first people to settle in the Lymington area lived in an Iron Age hill fort. This fort is known today as Buckland Rings. It was built around 600 BC. You can still see the hills and ditches of the fort today.

Lymington itself started as an Anglo-Saxon village. The Jutes, a group of people from the Isle of Wight, arrived in the 6th century. They created a settlement called Limentun. The name Limentun comes from an old English word for a farm or hamlet, and an ancient British word meaning "elm tree."

The town is mentioned in the Domesday Book from 1086. Around 1200, a local lord named William de Redvers created "New Lymington" near the quay and High Street. He gave the town its first special permission, called a charter, and the right to hold a market.

For many years, from the Middle Ages until the 1800s, Lymington was famous for making salt. There were many salt-making areas along the coast.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Lymington had a military base. During the Napoleonic Wars, soldiers from other countries, like Germany and France, were based here.

From the early 1800s, Lymington also had a busy shipbuilding industry. Thomas Inman, a famous builder, built the schooner Alarm here. This ship raced against the American yacht America in the famous 1851 America's Cup. Much of the town centre still has buildings from the Victorian and Georgian eras, with narrow, cobbled streets near the quay.

Lymington has many interesting stories about smuggling. People say there were secret tunnels running from old inns under the High Street to the town quay, but these stories are not proven.

Over the years, Lymington's local government changed. In 1974, the borough of Lymington was changed, and the area became part of the New Forest district. A new library was built in 2002.

Lymington Today: What's It Like?

Looking down Quay Hill, a charming street in Lymington.

Lymington has changed a lot recently. Some older houses have been replaced with new flats and retirement homes. A TV show on Channel 5 even called Lymington the "best town on the coast" in the UK for living. They liked its scenery, transport, and low crime rates.

The Lymington New Forest Hospital opened in 2007. It has a unit for minor injuries, but not a full emergency room. The main church in town is St Thomas's on the High Street. The Lymington Town Hall, where local decisions are made, opened in 1966.

Neighbourhoods Around Lymington

The northern parts of Lymington are called Buckland and Lower Buckland. Some people just call these areas Lymington to avoid confusion with another place called Buckland in Hampshire.

Pennington is a village close to Lymington. It's separated from the town by several schools and their playing fields. Upper Pennington is a more rural area to the north, surrounded by heathland and farms.

The area of the former docks, with the yacht basin and mudflats, is known as Waterford.

All Saints Church, a beautiful building in Lymington.

Lower Pennington and Woodside are next to Woodside Park. This is a large public park, about 20 hectares in size, given to the people of Lymington in 1925. The park has gardens, a playground, a cricket ground, and a sports field. This area also has All Saints' Church, built in 1909.

Normandy is a small coastal hamlet with a tiny dock, salt-making areas, and an estuary.

Shopping in Lymington

The bustling High Street in Lymington.

St Thomas Street and St Thomas's Church, a popular area for shopping.

The High Street in Lymington has changed a lot, with more well-known shops and coffee places opening. There's a local market held once a month at the Masonic hall during the game season. You can also find several shops selling boating gear on the cobbled street leading to the quay.

Lymington has many shops and a big street market on the High Street. There are also three supermarkets: Waitrose, a small Tesco, and a Marks and Spencer Food Hall. Local people once campaigned to stop certain big stores from opening, but a J D Wetherspoon pub called The Six Bells did open in 2013.

Lymington's Climate

Lymington, like the rest of Southern England, has a mild climate. This means it has warm summers and mild winters. The nearest weather station is in Everton, about 2 miles west of Lymington. Because it's on the coast, Lymington gets a lot of sunshine, and it rarely has very cold frosts. The coldest temperature recorded in 43 years was -11.1°C in January 1963. The hottest was 33.5°C in June 1976.

Fun and Games: Sports and Leisure

Lymington has lots of fun things to do! There are several parks, a nine-hole golf course, and a rowing club. You can also visit the community centre, the library, and the St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery. The town has two swimming pools, including the Lymington Open Air Sea Water Baths which were built way back in 1833! There's also a sports centre, a small cinema/theatre, a Skatepark, tennis courts, and youth football pitches. You can even play pétanque near St Thomas's church.

Lymington Cricket Club started in 1807 and plays in local leagues. Because Lymington is so close to the New Forest, it's a great place for walking, cycling, and horse riding.

Sailing Adventures

Lymington is very well known for its sailing history. It has hosted famous sailing competitions like the Royal Lymington Cup. The strong tides in the area make racing exciting and challenging. Even though some big races have moved to other places, Thursday Evening Racing is very popular. Up to 100 boats race every Thursday night during the summer.

There are two main sailing clubs in Lymington. The Royal Lymington Yacht Club has over 3,000 members and organises big boat and small boat events. The Lymington Town Sailing Club hosts a popular winter racing series.

Football Fun

Lymington has a local football club called Lymington Town F.C., which plays at the sports ground. There's also a children's football club, Lymington Sprites, based in nearby Pennington.

Cricket Matches

Lymington Cricket Club is an amateur club that plays at the Sports Ground. Their first team competes in the Southern Premier Cricket League, which is the highest level of club cricket in Hampshire.

Rugby Union

Lymington also has a rugby union club called Lymington Mariners RFC. Their two teams play at Woodside Park. They practice every Thursday evening and play games most Saturday afternoons.

News and Entertainment: Media

You can get local news and TV shows from BBC South and ITV Meridian. These signals come from the Rowridge TV transmitter.

Local radio stations include BBC Radio Solent (96.1 FM), Heart South (96.7 FM), and Capital South (103.2 FM). There's also New Forest Hospital Radio, which broadcasts to patients at the New Forest Hospital.

The local newspaper for the town is Lymington Times and New Milton Advertiser.

Getting Around: Transport

Lymington Town railway station, one of Lymington's train stations.

Buses

Lymington has a bus depot owned by Go South Coast. Many local bus services run from here, and you can also take buses to Bournemouth and Southampton. In the summer, the New Forest Tour uses open-top buses to serve the town, which is a fun way to see the area.

Trains

Lymington has two train stations: Lymington Pier (the end of the line), which is near the ferry terminal, and Lymington Town. Both are connected to the main train network by a line to Brockenhurst. Trains run twice an hour and are operated by South Western Railway.

Roads

The A337 road connects Lymington to Lyndhurst and the M27 motorway to the north. It also links to New Milton and the larger towns to the west.

Ferries

Wightlink's Wight Sun ferry docked at Lymington.

Ferries have travelled between Lymington and Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, since the 1800s. Since 1990, Wightlink has operated these ferries. Their current fleet includes three car ferries, which started service in 2009: Wight Light, Wight Sky, and Wight Sun. The ferry service runs about once an hour from a dock south-east of the old town.

Lymington in Books and on Screen

Lymington appears in several books, including The Children of the New Forest by Captain Marryat. It's also featured in historical novels by local writer Warwick Collins and in The Forest by Edward Rutherfurd.

In Tom Clancy's book Patriot Games, a Wightlink ferry from Lymington is involved in an exciting scene.

The 1980 Christmas special of the children's TV show Worzel Gummidge was filmed in Lymington.

Lymington was also sometimes shown in the 1980s BBC series Howards' Way.

Famous People from Lymington

Town Twins

Lymington is twinned with three towns in other countries. This means they have a special friendship and often arrange visits and exchanges.

• Vitré (France)
• Mosbach (Germany)
• Almansa (Spain)

See also

In Spanish: Lymington para niños