Luccombe, Somerset
| Luccombe | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 Church of St Mary, Luccombe | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SS910445 |
| Location: | 51°11’22"N, 3°33’33"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 157 (2011) |
| Post town: | Minehead |
| Postcode: | TA24 |
| Dialling code: | 01643 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Somerset West and Taunton |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Bridgwater & W. Somerset |
Luccombe or Luckham is a village on Exmoor, in Somerset. It stands at the foot of the moor's highest hill, the 1,750-foot Dunkery Beacon, Somerset's county top, and is to be found about one mile south of the A39 road between Porlock and Minehead.
The wider parish includes the hamlets of Stoke Pero (Stoche in 1086 Domesday Book) and Horner.
History
The name 'Luccombe' is believed to mean either 'Lufa's valley' or 'counting valley'.[1] It appears as Locumbe in the Domesday Book of 1086.
There is evidence of Iron age field systems on the top of Great Hill,[2] and the Sweetworthy Iron Age hill fort.
At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 East Luccombe was held by Ralph de Limesy passing by the 13th century to the Luccombe family, and later to the Arundell family. Along with West Luccombe these passed to the Acland family
In 1944 Sir Richard Acland gave the Holnicote Estate, which includes Luccombe, to the National Trust.
Luccombe is the location of the annual St Albans Cathedral Choir Camp, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2008.
Hamlets
Horner
Horner is on the eastern bank of Horner Water on which there is a restored, but non-working, water mill and which is crossed by a packhorse bridge, and on the route of the Coleridge Way. Horner is also home to two tearooms which boast a loyal patronage and also a campsite field owned by the scouting association. Burrowhayes Farm is a nearby campsite that shares its patronage with the tearooms.
Stoke Pero
Stoke Pero was an ancient parish in the hundred of Carhampton. In the Domesday Book it was mentioned as Stoche. It became a civil parish in 1866, but in 1933 the parish was abolished and absorbed into the parish of Luccombe.[3]
About the village
There are two mediæval packhorse bridges.[4] One is known as Hacketty Way Bridge,[5] which is 50 inches wide and has a span of 18 feet.[6] The other at West Luccombe has a shallow pointed arch. The cobbled roadway is 39 inches wide and has a span of 15 feet.[7]
Church
The parish church, St Mary's, has a chancel dating from about 1300, with the nave and tower being added around 1450. In 1530 the aisle was added, and in 1752–1756 a gallery added which was removed in 1840 when the church was further restored and the vestry added. It has been designated as a grade I listed building.[8]
Stoke Pero Church has a 13th-century tower.[9]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Luccombe, Somerset) |
References
- ↑ Bush, Robin: 'Somerset: The Complete Guide' (The Dovecote Press, 1994) p 133, ISBN 1-874336-26-1
- ↑ Havinden, Michael (1981). The Somerset Landscape. The Making of the English Landscape. London: Hodder and Stoughton. p. 54. ISBN 0-340-20116-9.
- ↑ Vision of Britain website
- ↑ Images of England — details from listed building database (265350) Packhorse Bridge at NGR SS89874608
- ↑ Images of England — details from listed building database (265326) Hacketty Way Bridge
- ↑ Hinchliffe, Ernest (1994). Guide to the Packhorse Bridges of England. Cicerone. p. 150. ISBN 978-1852841430.
- ↑ Hinchliffe, Ernest (1994). Guide to the Packhorse Bridges of England. Cicerone. p. 153. ISBN 978-1852841430.
- ↑ Images of England — details from listed building database (265328) Church of St Mary
- ↑ Images of England — details from listed building database (265341) Stoke Pero Church