Lyme Regis Museum

The Lyme Regis Museum is also known as the Philpot Museum as it was commissioned in 1901 by Thomas Philpot, a relative of the fossil collector Elizabeth Philpot. Elizabeth Philpot befriended Mary Anning when Anning was still a child; despite the almost 20-year age difference the two became close and were frequently seen collecting fossils together. Philpot encouraged the young Anning to read about geology and understand the science behind the fossils she collected and sold.

The museum sits in the heart of Lyme Regis with views out over Lyme Bay.

The museum has collections telling Lyme’s local history and includes maritime and domestic objects, paintings, prints and photographs. This area of Dorset is known as the Jurassic Coast and is noted for its fossils, and the town’s literary connections, from Jane Austen to John Fowles, are illustrated in the Writers Gallery.

As well as the displays the Museum also organises fossil walks.