Coombe Bissett 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 English county of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

in the

River Ebble The River Ebble is one of the five rivers of the English city of Salisbury. Rising at Alvediston to the west of the city, it joins the River Avon at Bodenham, near Nunton. Description The Ebble rises at Alvediston, to the west of Salisbury, ...

valley, southwest of

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

on the

A354 road The A354 is a primary route in England which runs from Salisbury in Wiltshire to Easton on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, a total distance of . From Salisbury the road crosses Cranborne Chase. At Woodyates the road follows the route of Acklin ...

that goes south towards

Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this ...

. The parish includes the village of Homington, to the east towards the village of Odstock.

History

Records from Saxon times indicate that the Ebble valley was a thriving area, the River Ebble also being known as the River Chalke. The

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 ...

in 1086 divided the Chalke Valley into eight manors: ''Chelke'' (Chalke –

Bowerchalke Bowerchalke is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Salisbury. It is in the south of the county, about from the boundary with Dorset and from that with Hampshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Mead End, Mi ...

and

Broadchalke Broad Chalke, sometimes spelled Broadchalke, Broad Chalk or Broadchalk, is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about west of the city of Salisbury. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Knapp, Mount Sorrel and Stoke Farthing. ...

), ''Eblesborne'' (

Ebbesbourne Wake Ebbesbourne Wake is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, some south-west of Salisbury, near the head of the valley of the small River Ebble. The parish includes the hamlets of Fifield Bavant and West End. History Records from Saxo ...

), ''Fifehide'' (

Fifield Bavant Fifield Bavant (/'fʌɪfiːld 'bavənt/) is a small village and former civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about southwest of Wilton, midway between Ebbesbourne Wake and Broad Chalke on the north bank of the River Ebble. The small Church of ...

), ''Cumbe'' (Coombe Bissett), ''Humitone'' (Homington), ''Odestoche'' (

Odstock Odstock is a village and civil parish south of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. The parish includes the village of Nunton with its nearby hamlet of Bodenham. The parish is in the valley of the River Ebble, which joins the Hampshire Avon near Bod ...

), ''Stradford'' (

Stratford Tony Stratford Tony, also spelt Stratford Toney, formerly known as Stratford St Anthony and Toney Stratford, is a small village and civil parish in southern Wiltshire, England. It lies on the River Ebble and is about southwest of Salisbury.

and Bishopstone) and ''Trow'' (circa

Alvediston Alvediston is a small village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, about east of Shaftesbury and southwest of Salisbury. The area is the source of the River Ebble and is within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding ...

).Ebbesbourne Wake through the Ages by Peter Meers
/ref> The Domesday Book also recorded ''Cumbe'' as a royal manor with 85 households, while ''Humitone'' had just two households. A medieval

packhorse bridge A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low Parapet#Bridge ...

, now a footbridge, crosses the Ebble close to the current road bridge at Coombe Bissett. Coombe Bissett and Homington were separate parishes, each with its own church, until they were united in a joint benefice in 1885. Homington was absorbed into Coombe Bissett civil parish in 1934.

Religious sites

St Michael and All Angels Coombe Bissett

The two

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

churches below are served by the Chalke Valley team ministry.

St Michael's, Coombe Bissett

The oldest part of St Michael's, the south aisle, is from the 12th century. The chancel was built in the 13th and the tower (with stair-turret) added in the 14th; the nave and north transept are 15th-century.

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

in 1845 by

T.H. Wyatt Thomas Henry Wyatt (9 May 1807 – 5 August 1880) was an Anglo-Irish architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1870–73 and being awarded its Royal Gold Medal for A ...

included the rebuilding of the west front, reducing the length of the building. The church is a Grade I listed building.

St Mary's, Homington

St Mary's is a 14th-century church, possibly with earlier origins. The tower of the present church is from the early 17th century and there was extensive restoration in the 1860s. The church is a Grade II* listed building.

Nonconformist chapels

Primitive Methodist The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primiti ...

chapel was built in 1841 at the west end of Homington village, then rebuilt in 1877. The chapel closed in 1967 and is now a private house. In 1895 a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

chapel was opened at Coombe Bissett, on the road to Homington, and is used by the Coombe Fellowship.

Amenities

*Coombe Bissett has a pub, the ''Fox and Goose'', a village hall, and a shop with a post office. *A primary school was built at Shutts Lane in the 1960s, replacing a small National School on the Homington road which was built in 1845. *

Homington and Coombe Bissett Downs Homington and Coombe Bissett Downs () is a 25.0 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire, SSSI notification, notified in 1971. Coombe Bissett Downs is managed as a nature reserve by Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. Sources Na ...

is a nature reserve on nearby chalk

downland Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is deriv ...

. *There are various clubs within the village, including a tennis club, cricket club and badminton club. *Salisbury and South Wiltshire Golf Course is to the north of the village. * Salisbury Hospital is to the east, north of Odstock village and a 10-minute drive from Coombe Bissett.

Notable people

Tancred Borenius Carl Tancred Borenius (14 July 1885, Vyborg – 2 September 1948, Coombe Bisset) was a Finnish art historian working in England, who became the first professor of the history of art at University College London. He was a prolific author, and recog ...

(1885–1948), Finnish art historian, died at Laverstock House hospital and is buried in Coombe Bissett churchyard.

Bordering areas

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{authority control Villages in Wiltshire Civil parishes in Wiltshire