Castle Combe
| Castle Combe | |
| Wiltshire | |
|---|---|
 The main street and Bybrook River | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST848773 |
| Location: | 51°29’41"N, 2°13’11"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 350 (est.) |
| Local Government | |
Castle Combe is a small village in Wiltshire, a small place with a population of about 350.
The village is renowned for its attractiveness and tranquillity (The Times's '30 best villages' ranked it No. 2), with fine buildings, including the mediæval church. The 14th century market cross, erected when the privilege to hold a weekly market in Castle Combe was granted, is situated where the three principal streets converge. Some small stone steps near the cross were for horse riders to mount and dismount and close by are the remains of the buttercross.
The village is near the villages of Grittleton, Ford, Nettleton, Tiddleywink, and the town of Chippenham.
History
The 5-star Manor House Hotel in the village was built in the 14th century. It has 48 rooms and 365 acre of gardens.
The village prospered during the fifteenth century when it belonged to Millicent, the wife of Sir Stephen Le Scrope and then of Sir John Fastolf (1380–1459), a Norfolk knight who was the effective lord of the manor for fifty years. He promoted the woollen industry, supplying his own troops and others for Henry V's war in France. St Andrew's Church is the home of the Castle Combe Clock, one of the very few English mediæval clocks still in use.
The village has twice played host to the Combe Sunday event, a music extravaganza which attracted 4,000 visitors to the village in 2006. Castle Combe is the home of a motor racing venue, Castle Combe Circuit, located on the disused RAF Castle Combe airfield.
In popular culture
The village was also used as a location for the film musical Doctor Dolittle, but its frequently rainy summer climate, and the residents' irritation at the producers' arbitrary modifications of the area for shooting that was severe enough to incite attempted sabotage, frustrated production.[1] Raymond Austin, director/writer, set the action of his book, Find Me A Spy, Catch me a Traitor in the village and at the Manor. Other productions include "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd", an episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot, and the films Stardust and The Wolfman and the 1967 motion picture version of Doctor Dolittle. Throughout September 2010, the village was used as a key filming location for Steven Spielberg's production of War Horse.
Tourist services
Castle Combe has a convenient car park at the top of the hill, as well as toilet facilities over the bridge at the bottom of the village. There are two pubs as well as a recently opened [2] artisan gift shop called Court Cottage Gifts[3] in the middle of the village.
Gallery
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The fourteenth century Market Cross -
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The Manor House Hotel -
The Old Rectory Tea Room -
St Andrew's Church
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Castle Combe) |
References
- ↑ Harris, Mark. Pictures at A Revolution. Penguin Press, 2008, p. 199-202
- ↑ http://www.gazetteandherald.co.uk/news/10623105.Gifted_couple_open_Castle_Combe_shop/
- ↑ http://courtcottagegifts.com
- Stephen Cooper, The Real Falstaff, Sir John Fastolf and the Hundred Years War, (Pen & Sword, 2010)