About Our Cause

Over 20 years ago, the Three Cups was closed by Palmers Breweries on the premise that it was not 'financially viable'. This despite having a regular throughput of visitors, particularly those who wanted to stay in the same room as was used in the filming of "The French Leiutenant's Woman" and a bar that was full of both locals and holidaymakers. Indeed, the bar was a focal point of local life, being the place that the Lyme Regis Society was formed in 1930.
Since then, the building has been allowed to fall into disrepair. So much so that the owners were asked to do something about the tiles falling from the roof, potentially onto people walking below. Their response? Ugly galvanised steel barriers!
It seems that, whenever the owners have been asked their plans for the building, they have hidden behind the excuse that, due to the unstable land behing the hotel, they could not make firm plans. Now that the instability has been rectified and the pressure is back on them, Palmers have come forward with their plans for the site.
What it basically boils down to is the complete re-development of the site, to turn it into flats and retail outlets. This would involve demolishing all but the front wall of the building and re-building everything else.
So why are we against this, you may ask?
Simple, this building is part of the history and heritage of our town. It has exisited, in one form or another, on this site, for at least 200 years (see the History tab). Many notables (see Famous Guests tab) have stayed in this building and, by rights, it should be covered in 'Blue Plaques' celebrating it's history and acting as an international attraction for tourists and historians. The inside of the building, whilst neglected, is still in good condition, including the beautiful old oak staircase (take a look at the Photoalbum).
Heritage aside, Lyme Regis is woefully short of hotel accommodation, since many of the private hotels were sold off as flats/apartments over the last 10-15 years. Our two main hotels believe that they are currently turning away up to 75% of bookings in the summer! These are people who will only try the once, if they find accomodation elsewhere, they are unlikely to come back to the town. In terms of revenue, this is costing the town up to £1500 per week in lost tourism. Over 20 years, that's a lot of revenue!
We would like to see the hotel re-opened as a hotel, as an asset to the town and to celebrate the heritage of the town. The will is there to do it, we just need the owners to either see sense, or to sell the building to someone who is willing to support that cause! We have supporters who are willing to do just that!