The Lyme Round House, Flax Drying/Wool Drying Tower, Lyme Regis, Dorset

I first noticed this whilst on a visit with some friends during early 2009. We speculated on what its original use was and when I returned home I tried to find out online, without success. It wasn't until later that I saw it labelled as a Flax Drying Tower on a delightfully illustrated tourist map that I'd picked up from a shop, yet still unable to find any other information.

Fast forward to June 2011, when a visit to Lyme brought me near to the tower again, and when I took these photos. Still unable to find anything about this particular building but further searches provided rather a lot of background information about the flax industry in the area.

The beautiful blue-flowered Flax plant has many properties. As well as the production of linen, the oil from its seeds have been used for oil cake - a cattle feed - and for Linseed which is used to make paint, putty and varnish. However, it is assumed that flax was grown locally for small-scale production of linen or twine. Loom House, near Cannington Viaduct in Uplyme, was found to have flax in the attic. Both flax and hemp was known to have been grown in West Dorset for twine and cordage during the late 18th and 19th centuries.

Another local need was that of sailcloth, ropes and netting for boatbuilding and fishing. Twine and cordage produced from flax is indicated by the names of fields in the area, such as Spinning Yard and Line Walk, which refers to long, narrow and open walkways lined with trees to afford shade and support for holding the yarns off the ground.

After researching the flax industry in the area, I still had no idea about this particular building. However, another fast forward to December 2013, when I received an email from a gentleman who was researching a tower in Ireland. After a few emails back and forth, and further research, I found that it's called The Lyme Round House and was probably a wool drying tower.

Apparently, wool was quite an extensive production in the Lim Valley, involving families, farms, watermills and, later on, two small factories alongside the River Lim; the various processes contributed by the people of Lyme Regis and Uplyme just over the border in Devon. However, there still remains an historical link to flax, therefore I'm hedging my bets by keeping both wool and flax in the title. ;)

I apologise for the lack of photos but this was the nearest I could get to it as it's situated on private ground. There may be another vantage point from the other side but I wasn't sure how to get there and I didn't have enough time to investigate on that day. One that I meant to try again another day!