Our Projects - Sheepwash, Lyme Regis Undercliff

About 50yds off the Coast Path running through the Undercliffs National Nature Reserve is a historic sheepwash - but as you couldn't see it from the path most walkers passed by without knowing it was there.  

This sheepwash which was built around 1800 is one of very few left in Devon, and one of the best preserved. Prior to the huge landslip in 1839 that created the Undercliffs it was used by local farmers to wash their sheep before they were sheared or taken to  market. It is said that washing the sheep prior to shearing increased the value of the fleece by up to one third.

To enable more walkers to see the Sheepwash, the Association helped fund Natural England to create a link path to it, erecting a fence to protect the structure of the Sheepwash, a new bench for visitors, and a new interpretation panel.