Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, 25 miles (40 km) west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site and heritage coast. The harbour wall, known as The Cobb, appears in Jane Austen's novel Persuasion, the John Fowles novel The French Lieutenant's Woman and the 1981 film of that name, partly shot in the town.
The Battle of Sedgemoor was the last and decisive engagement between the Kingdom of England and rebels led by the Duke of Monmouth during the Monmouth rebellion, fought on 6 July 1685, and took place at Westonzoyland near Bridgwater in Somerset, England, resulting in a victory for the English army.
The Monmouth Rebellion, also known as the Pitchfork Rebellion, the Revolt of the West or the West Country rebellion, was an attempt to depose James II, who in February 1685 succeeded his brother Charles II as king of England, Scotland and Ireland. A group of dissident Protestants led by James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, eldest illegitimate son of Charles II, opposed James largely due to his Catholicism.
Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, 2 miles (3.2 km) inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and within the town's boundary is West Bay, a small fishing harbour also known as Bridport Harbour.
General Thomas Erle PC of Charborough, Dorset, was a general in the English Army and, thereafter, the British Army. He was also a Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons of England and of Great Britain from 1678 to 1718. He was Governor of Portsmouth and a Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance.
Richard Townesend was a soldier and politician in England. He was born in 1618 or 1619. Much research has been undertaken by various members of the Townsend family to trace Richard's origins but nothing is known about him before 1643 when he was appointed to command a company, as a captain, in Colonel Ceely's Regiment, which had been raised to garrison Lyme Regis. Richard was engaged in several skirmishes, most notably on 3 March 1643 when he surprised and routed 150 Royalist cavalry at Bridport. Later, he was present during the defence of Lyme Regis 20 April – 13 June 1644 where he distinguished himself and was promoted to Major. In 1645 he assumed command of Colonel Ceely's Regt when Colonel Ceely was returned to Parliament as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bridport.
The Battle of Weymouth and the associated Crabchurch Conspiracy occurred in 1645, during the First English Civil War, when several royalist plotters within the twin towns of Weymouth and Melcombe on the Dorset coast conspired to deliver the ports back into the control of King Charles I.
John Poulett, 1st Baron Poulett, of Hinton St George, Somerset, was an English sailor and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1610 and 1621 and was later raised to the peerage.
The Liberty Trail is a 28-mile (45.1 km) trail between Ham Hill in Somerset and Lyme Regis in Dorset, England.
Sir John Strangways of Melbury House, Melbury Sampford, Somerset, and of Abbotsbury in Dorset, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1614 and 1666. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War.
Giles Strangways of Melbury House in Somerset, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1640 and 1675. He fought on the Royalist side during the Civil War
The siege of Lyme Regis was an eight-week blockade during the First English Civil War. The port of Lyme Regis, in Dorset, was considered to be of strategic importance because of its position along the main shipping route between Bristol and the English Channel. Thomas Ceeley and Robert Blake commanded the town's Parliamentarian defences during the siege, which was laid by Prince Maurice between 20 April and 16 June 1644.
Thomas Strangways (1643–1713) of Melbury House in Melbury Sampford near Evershot, Dorset was an English landowner and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1673 and 1713. As a militia colonel he was active in opposing the Monmouth rebellion. For his last nine years in Parliament, he was the longest sitting member of the House of Commons.
The River Yarty is a river in east Devon, England, near the boundary with Somerset and Dorset.
The Dorset Militia was an auxiliary military force in the county of Dorsetshire in South West England. From their formal organisation as Trained Bands in 1558 until their final service as the Special Reserve, the Militia regiments of the county carried out internal security and home defence duties. They saw active service during the Second Bishops' War and the English Civil War, and played a prominent part in suppressing the Monmouth Rebellion. After being the first English militia regiment to reform in 1758, they served in home defence in all of Britain's major wars, including service in Ireland, and finally trained thousands of reinforcements during World War I. After a shadowy postwar existence they were formally disbanded in 1953.
The Devon Militia was a part-time military force in the maritime county of Devonshire in the West of England. From their formal organisation as Trained Bands in 1558 until their final service as a Special Reserve unit of the Devonshire Regiment in World War I, the Militia regiments of Devonshire served in home defence in all of Britain's major wars.
The Somerset Militia was an auxiliary military force in the county of Somerset in South West England. From their formal organisation as Trained Bands in 1558 until their final service as the Special Reserve, the Militia regiments of the county carried out internal security and home defence duties in all of Britain's major wars. They saw active service during the Second Bishops' War, the English Civil War, the Monmouth Rebellion and the Second Boer War, and finally trained thousands of reinforcements during World War I. After a shadowy postwar existence they were formally disbanded in 1953.
The Somerset Trained Bands were a part-time military force in the county of Somerset in South West England from 1558 until they were reconstituted as the Somerset Militia in 1662. They were periodically embodied for home defence, for example in the army mustered at Tilbury during the Armada Campaign of 1588. They fought of the Battle of Newburn in the Second Bishops' War and their units saw considerable active service for both sides during the English Civil War.
The Battle of Norton St Philip was fought on June 27, 1685, during the Monmouth Rebellion in the village of Norton St Philip, in Somerset, England. The battle was the last victory for the rebel forces.
The Devon Trained Bands were a part-time militia force recruited from Devonshire in South West England, first organised in 1558. They were periodically embodied for home defence and internal security, including the Spanish Armada campaign in 1588, and saw active service during the First English Civil War. They were reformed into the Devon Militia in 1662.
Dorset Militia 
Monmouth Rebels 