Rousdon
Rousdon maps (2 available)
Map of Dorset
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
Create an historic map centred directly on any postcode!
Rousdon books (8 available)
- 3 photos on Rousdon appear in 1 Frith books - View photos of Rousdon
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Rousdon and Dorset
Rousdon memories
Read and share memories of Rousdon and Dorset inspired by Frith photos
Allhallows School
I was a student at Allhallows in the early 1970's... I have many memories of this unique school, Rousdon and Lyme Regis as well as photos of this wonderful estate, for both its architectural beauty as well as its contribution to the local community... I would love to find out how it is today... I did visit Allhallows with my wife about 15 years ago and found that they had fallen into hard times... this is a terrible shame... parts of the especially delicate hallways, with its galleries of stuffed animals and birds were well in disrepair... this was a particular shame and I wondered who was to blame or perhaps responsible for the upkeep... which would be most important for ...read more here
Contributed by clement kohler
Evacuation to Combpyne
My sister Margaret and I (nee Rayner) were evacuated to the home and caring of a friend Olive Tuck who had a cottage next to a farm just out of Combpyne. Across the fields where we were allowed to play, was the path to Landslip Cottage. When mum and dad came to visit a special treat was to have afternoon tea at the cottage. To this day I remember a pathway of bright orange nasturtiums, the wooden tables and seats and the path (forbidden) to the beach which was festooned at that time with barbed wire. I am sure we had afternoon tea but think the adventure made the visits more memorable.
Margaret attended school in the village so may ...read more here
Contributed by Jean McKern
Cream Teas at Landslip Cottage
My Greatgrandmother & Greatgrandfather lived at the Landslip Cottage for many years providing cream teas to visiting locals and tourists alike. My own mother married a Gapper born at the bungalow higher up the cliff. The visitors books, in our possession, for the cottage teas read like a script from PG Woodhouse with very reserved English expletives referencing the wasp population. The cottage was aready a ruin and overgrown when I was a boy although Auntie Lizzie and Annie, born at the cottage, still lived on the estate. Auntie Lizzie gave me a large photograph of greatgrandfather Gapper in front of the cottage doorway that I treasure.
Contributed by Gwyn Gapper
Formerly Whitlands Cottages
The cottage used to be called Whitlands Cottages. In 1881 my great grandparents Mr & Mrs French lived at no 3, next door to Mrs Gapper.
Contributed by The Frith Memory Archivist
Sunday Walks
I was born in Axmouth and most Sundays we would have to walk out to Landslip Cottage. We all knew it as Anne's Cottage because the lady who lived there was called Annie Gapper. She would give my late Mum and Dad a cup of tea. I was one of nine in the family.
Contributed by N I Sweetland
Gamekeeper's house, Rousdon Manor
I did get to see my great-grandparents' house at Rousdon Manor (the gamekeeper's cottage), I stayed there for a few days. I came from Australia with my father. I had a great time there. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. It is an experience I will never forget. I loved the history of Lyme Regis and all of Cornwall. My father was watching the 'Antique Roadshow' one night, it was on Rousdon Manor. I rang to see if I could get a copy of the show, but it is not possible because of the people in it, due to copyrights. But if anyone knows how I could get a copy I would really appreciate it. We love the show here in ...read more here
Contributed by louise Brown
The Gamekeeper at Rousdon Manor Peek Estate
Hi, I am Louise Brown of Australia. My grandmother Ellen Maud Edwards (married name Jefferis) lived with her parents Samuel and Alice Maud Edwards (Searle), at the cliff Cottage on the Peek Estates around the early 1900's, he was the gamekeeper there. I have a early picture of the house, Lady Peek was very interested in my grandmother, as she was partly deaf. She contributed to her learning of sign language. I also have a telegram she sent to my grandmother on her marriage day. I am looking for information about the death of Samuel, I think he died in 1923, but am not sure. I have several letters written to my grandmother from her mother in Cliff Cottage but no ...read more here
Contributed by louise Brown
Extracts From Rousdon & Dorset books
The Gapper family cottage on Dowlands Landslip was approached from
the coast path, after having been detached from the hamlet above to
which it formerly belonged. The crags and chasm to the north date from
December 1839. On Christmas Day, creaks and rumbles were heard,
likened to thunder by farm workers and artillery fire by the veterans of
Waterloo. The ground then shuddered and collapsed on Boxing Day.
Only the remains of ivy-clad walls now survive in the heart of Undercliff
National Nature Reserve, which is managed by English Nature.
An extract from from"Lyme Regis Photographic Memories".
The Peek mansion at Rousdon was built by spice importer Sir Henry William Peek in 1877.
Built on a massive plinth, with balustrades above and cellars below, the high-Gothic lines
of Rousdon House rise above lawns which slope away towards the Undercliff. A museum
was established here by Sir Henry’s successor, the second baronet Sir Cuthbert Edgar Peek,
principally for meteorological information and memorabilia. He travelled to Australia to
measure and monitor an eclipse. The Peeks employed a small army of workers at Rousdon,
of whom thirteen were killed in the First World War. In 1937, All Hallows School moved from
Honiton to Rousdon House, which remained in educational use until 1997.
An extract from from"Lyme Regis Photographic Memories".
Built in the 1870s by Sir Herbert
William Peek, St Pancras’s
Church at Rousdon replaced
a small thatched Norman
building. Kathleen Marian
Peek, who died in 1952, was
the last member of the family
to be buried here. The church
was declared redundant by an
order in council signed by the
Queen on 24 May 1972, and
transferred to the governors
of All Hallows School. This in
turn has since closed, and the
buildings are currently being
converted into homes.
An extract from from"Lyme Regis Photographic Memories".
This view was taken from the building at the very end of Morton Crescent. To the immediate left is the Imperial Hotel,
seen in its original architectural design, changed now after the fire in the 1970s.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".
By the middle of the 20th
century we see something
resembling the modern
scene. There is the more
familiar red telephone
box on the traffic island,
a modern post box, and
Belisha beacons to aid
pedestrians wishing to
cross the road. In the
centre of the photograph
is the white tower of the
Pavilion Theatre. Much of
the street furniture was
removed by the start of
the 21st century, leaving
a more traffic-dominated Esplanade.
An extract from from"Exmouth Photographic Memories".