Lyme is where Anne, her sisters, and Captain Wentworth visited and where Louisa fell off of the sea wall in Persuasion. Lyme Regis was named this because it received a royal charter in 1284. It is a small town on the south coast of England and in the County of Dorset, which was rescued from decay in the mid-eighteenth centry by the new popularity of sea-water for medicinal bathing and drinking. It developed quickly as a spa and social centre. Austen had visited Lyme herself in 1804, when she wrote to Cassandra in September. She records her attending a ball at the Assembly Rooms, walking on the Cobbs, and indulging in "delightful" bathing. It was often popular with those recuperating from the vacationing in Bath. Therefore, as Bath seemed to be more popular during the spring and summer, the season for Lyme ran from September to November.

Austen, Jane. Persuasion, edited by Linda Bree, Broadview Press, 2004. pp. 137.