Englishcombe
| Englishcombe | |
| Somerset | |
|---|---|
 View of Englishcombe | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST717627 |
| Location: | 51°21’47"N, 2°24’26"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 318 (2011) |
| Post town: | Bath |
| Postcode: | BA2 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Bath & NE Somerset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North East Somerset |
Englishcombe is a village in Somerset, sitting just outside Bath, England. The parish, which also includes the hamlets of Inglesbatch and Nailwell, has a population of 318.
History
A Neolithic axe has been found in the parish, and Iron Age pottery was discovered during construction of Culverhay School. There is some evidence of two barrows.[1]
The south eastern boundary of the parish follows the route of the Fosse Way a Roman road that linked Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) in Devon to Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) in Lincolnshire, by way of Ilchester (Lindinis), Bath (Aquae Sulis), Cirencester (Corinium) and Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum).
The village is on the route of the Wansdyke, a Dark-Age earthwork, or possibly one defining a Roman boundary, with a series of defensive linear earthworks, consisting of a ditch and a running embankment from the ditch spoil, with the ditching facing north. Its construction is attributed to the Saxons, probably in the late sixth century.[2]
The Domesday Book of 1086 records that Englishcombe was held by Nigel de Gournay, who would have won his lands in Englishcombe, Twerton, Swainswick and Barrow Gurney by fighting for William the Conqueror. His original home may have been Gournay, which was half-way between Dieppe and Paris.
Thomas de Gournay was involved with the murder of Edward II at Berkeley Castle in 1327.[3] The earthwork remains of the Gournay family castle, just north of the village of Englishcombe, are known as Culverhay Castle, built in the 12th century and now a Scheduled Ancient Monument.[4]
The tithe barn attached to Rectory Farmhouse was built by Bath Abbey in the early 14th century.[5] It was restored in the 1990s and has been designated as a Grade II* listed building.[6] Rectory Farmhouse itself was built onto the barn in the early to mid 17th century.[7]
The Manor of Inglescombe, as it was previously called, was acquired by the Duchy of Cornwall in 1421. Along with the Duchy's more recent acquisition of the neighbouring village of Newton St Loe in 1941 they form the Duchy's largest estate outside Dartmoor.[8]
The mining of fuller's earth started in the parish in the 19th century but expanded around the time of the First World War with pits in Middle Wood and Vernham wood. It continued until the 1960s when small underground springs made the extraction too expensive to continue.[9]
St Peter's Church
The Church of St Peter, was probably built by Robert de Gournay in the 12th century.[3] The church features Norman arches, and leper holes in the porch, which would have enabled lepers to hear the sermon without coming into contact with the rest of the congregation. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building.[10]
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Church of St Peter, Englishcombe -
Leper holes
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Englishcombe) |
References
- ↑ (PDF) Historic Survey of the Manor of Englishcombe, Avon County Planning Department, 1983, pp. 5, ISBN 0-86063-190-7, http://www.englishcombe.net/pdf/landscape%20survey.pdf
- ↑ Cyril and Aileen Fox, "Wandyke reconsidered", Archaeological Journal (1958)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Manco, J. (1995) The Parish of Englishcombe: A History, pp. 2, 4.
- ↑ "Culverhay Castle". Fortified England. http://www.fortifiedengland.com/Home/Categories/ViewItem/tabid/61/Default.aspx?IID=1405. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ↑ "Englishcombe Tithe Barn, Rectory Farmhouse". English Heritage. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/grant-aided-properties/englishcombe-tithe-barn-rectory-farmhouse-ba2-9du/. Retrieved 7 March 2011.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1136116: Tithe Barn attached to south end of Rectory Farm
- ↑ National Heritage List 1129444: Rectory Farmhouse
- ↑ "Newton Park Estate". Duchy of Cornwall. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110720134833/http://www.duchyofcornwall.org/aroundtheduchy_newtonparkestate.htm. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ↑ Macmillen, Neil (2009). A history of the Fuller's Earth mining industry around Bath. Lydney: Lightmoor Press. pp. 95–100. ISBN 978-1-899889-32-7.
- ↑ National Heritage List 1129441: Church of St Peter