History of Lymington and New Milton
That was the subject of a fascinating talk given by Steven Marshall, the curator of St Barbe's Museum to the members and wives of Barton on Sea Probus club at their recent joint luncheon.
Steven introduced us, via the use of artifacts and photos from the museum's collection, to the history of Lymington and its involvement in smuggling; how this influenced the development of fast admiralty cutters needed to out run the smugglers; and how this in turn spawned a thriving new yacht building industry as rich gentlemen commissioned their own, smaller private cutters to sail and race against their friends. He also took us on a tour of historic Lymington, through the use of old photos and drawings.
He than moved to Old and New Milton and once again gave us a history of the town
and its development, explaining mysteries as to why the church was not in the centre
of town, where the ‘New’ came from and the development of Barton-
He was also able to share with us the news that the recent successful exhibition
Seaside Home in the Country would be re-
