Ashcombe is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the Teignbridge district of

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England, about eight miles south of the city of

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of

Kenton Kenton may refer to: Places Canada *Kenton, Manitoba South Africa *Kenton-on-Sea United Kingdom *Kenton, Devon *Kenton, London **Kenton station, Kenton Road, Kenton, London *Kenton, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear *Kenton, Suffolk **Kenton ra ...

Mamhead Mamhead is a rural village and civil parish near Dawlish and Kenton in Devon, South West England, in the Teignbridge local authority area. Current community venues includMamhead Village Halland The Church of England parish church, dedicated t ...

Dawlish Dawlish is an English seaside resort town and civil parish in Teignbridge on the south coast of Devon, from the county town of Exeter and from the larger resort of Torquay. Its 2011 population of 11,312 was estimated at 13,355 in 2019. It is t ...

, Bishopsteignton and

Chudleigh Chudleigh () is an ancient wool town located within the Teignbridge District Council area of Devon, England between Newton Abbot and Exeter. The electoral ward with the same name had a population of 6,125 at the 2011 census. Geography Chudl ...

. In 2001 its population was 77, down from 125 in 1901. The village lies at a height of about 100 m (330 ft) on the south-eastern side of the Haldon Hills, in the valley of the stream known as

Dawlish Water Dawlish Water is a minor coastal stream which flows through Devon, England. Dawlish Water, also known as, “The Brook”,rises on the eastern slopes of Haldon Forest in the Haldon Hills by the A380 road and the B3192, (largely heathland and co ...

. It is on a minor road about 1.2 km (3/4 mi) east of the junction on the

A380 road A38 or A-38 may refer to: * A38 (dairy product), a fermented dairy product sold in Denmark * A38 (ship), a party boat on the Danube in Budapest, Hungary * A38 motorway (Netherlands) * A38 road (England) * A38 (Sydney), an arterial route in Sydney, ...

known as Ashcombe Cross, which is at the centre of several areas of woodland and heathland, including Grammarcombe Wood, Haldon Forest and Ideford Common. Past Ashcombe, the minor road continues to the coastal town of

. The village is recorded in

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

(1086), when it was held by Ralph of Pomeroy. Before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

it was held by Aelfric, who was identified in the

Exon Domesday The ''Liber Exoniensis'' or ''Exon Domesday'' is the oldest of the three manuscripts originating with the Domesday Survey of 1086, covering south-west England. It contains a variety of administrative materials concerning the counties of Cornwa ...

with the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

byname of 'pig'. St Nectan's Church, Ashcombe, Devon

The church, which has an uncommon dedication to Saint Nectan, was dedicated in 1259 by Bishop Bronescombe and it has a continuous record of rectors from 1280. It was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

in 1824–26 by Anthony Salvin who was at the time also working on the nearby

Mamhead House Mamhead House, Mamhead, Devon, is a country house dating from 1827. Its origins are older but the present building was constructed for Robert William Newman, an Exeter merchant, in 1827–1833 by Anthony Salvin. The house is Grade I listed as Daw ...

. Some older features remain in the church: the bench-ends and

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It can ...

arches carry heraldry related to the Kirkham family, lords of the manor at the time, and there is some medieval and 17th-century

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

The

Rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...

was built in 1810 by the Rector J.M Wade, probably also designed by Salvin. Also within the parish is Ashcombe Tower (1935), built for Ralph Rayner, MP by Brian O'Rorke; the only major country house that he designed. Ashcombe has a few diverse businesses from traditional farming to holiday cottages and outdoor activity centre which employ many local people. The Ashcombe Village Club is a not-for-profit

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

for the village which donates profits to charity.

References

External links

Devon Local Studies - Ashcombe community page

Ashcombe at GENUKI
* {{authority control Villages in Devon Teignbridge