Historic harbour wall set for £6.2m investment

An authority is expected to put forward £6.2m of funding to safeguard the long-term future of an eroding harbour wall.

The Community Infrastructure Levy is set to be approved for The Cobb in Lyme Regis in a Dorset Council cabinet meeting later.

The funds have been collected from new developments to help pay for local infrastructure, which includes coastal defences and heritage structures.

Jon Andrews, cabinet member for place services at the council, said: "The Cobb is incredibly important to Lyme Regis, not just as a historic landmark, but as a working harbour structure that protects the town."

The Cobb was also built as a breakwater to protect ships and is thought to date back to the 14th Century. .

The Grade I structure was partly closed in March after separate incidents in which a man died and a woman was rescued from the sea.

Emergency work to fill a "car-sized" void at its base was carried out in 2025, but repairs were paused after 1.5m (4.9ft) of shingle blocked access to the site.

Repairs will resume in May during the next suitable low tide.

The council said the funding would support "essential stabilisation and repair works" while preserving The Cobb's "historic character and vital role in sheltering Lyme Regis harbour".

It has formed a joint working group with Historic England, Natural England and the Environment Agency to formulate plans for immediate repairs and longer term solutions.

Andrews said the levy funding was a "clear signal of how seriously we take our responsibility to protect it for future generations".

"This is about making sure development across Dorset helps safeguard the places people care about most," he said.

"The recent repair attempts to the void show just how challenging repairing The Cobb can be.

"This is why it's so important that all the organisations involved in protecting The Cobb are working together on the right long term solution."

The Cobb has been a popular filming location, featuring in 1981's The French Lieutenant's Woman, starring Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep, and 2023's Wonka, starring Timothée Chalamet.

Its steps also feature in a pivotal scene in Jane Austen's novel Persuasion, when one of the characters falls and suffers a concussion.