![River Synderford - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/River_Synderford_-_geograph.org.uk_-_478843.jpg)
Thorncombe 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 authorit ...
in the
English county of
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
. It was
historically, until 1844, an exclave of Devon. It lies five miles (8 km) south east of the town of
Chard in neighbouring
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
. Thorncombe is situated close to the borders of both Somerset and
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. Devo ...
. In the
2011 census the population of the civil parish was 687.
[
]
Description
Approximately half of the population of the parish live in the village of Thorncombe, the rest are divided between the hamlets of Holditch, Hewood and Synderford, and outlying farms and houses. The layout of Thorncombe village consists of three roads which meet at a "T" in the middle of the village. These roads are Chard Street, Fore Street and High Street.
Chard Street heads north to the Somerset town of Chard. Chard Street is probably the busiest road with the Village Hall, St Mary's Primary School and the housing estates of Gribb View and Tansee Hill. Gribb View breaks from the tradition of most of the village in being mostly brick or rendered buildings, the traditional build of the village being flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and sta ...
-faced cottages, as this stone was readily available from the local area. Tansee Hill, of more recent build, is more in keeping with the village as it consists of both flint-faced and rendered buildings.
Fore Street heads to the east towards Venn and is a more traditional looking part of the village with flint-faced cottages and terraced housing down its length. Along Fore Street are many of the buildings which previously housed village amenities and services such as the village store, a bakery and two pubs; these are all now used for housing.
High Street heads west and towards Sadborrow and Holditch. The housing in High Street presents a traditional appearance. Halfway along High Street is the recent development of Orchard Lane. This development, like Tansee Hill, is in keeping with the look of the village with traditional-looking buildings, some of which are thatched
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
.
Geography
The parish of Thorncombe lies within the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is over in extent and is principally agricultural land. To the east, across the valley of the River Synderford, is the ridge of Blackdown Hill (215 m), traversed by the Jubilee Trail, from which there are extensive views of the village and the area. About 4 kilometres to the southeast is Pilsdon Pen
Pilsdon Pen is a 277-metre (909 ft) hill in Dorset in South West England, situated at the north end of the Marshwood Vale, approximately west of Beaminster. It is Dorset's second highest point and has panoramic views extending for many m ...
(277 m), formerly thought to be Dorset's highest point but now recognised as its second highest.
History
The original church at Thorncombe was dedicated to St Mary by William Brewer, Bishop of Exeter, in 1239. The building of the church, as well as nearby Forde Abbey
Forde Abbey is a privately owned former Cistercian monastery in Dorset, England, with a postal address in Chard, Somerset. The house and gardens are run as a tourist attraction while the estate is farmed to provide additional revenue. Forde Abbey ...
(founded in 1136), was superintended by Cistercian monks from Waverley Waverley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott
** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel
* Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...
, Surrey. Thomas Chard, alias Tyblis, the last Abbot, was Suffragan Bishop to the Bishop of Exeter from 1508 and was appointed Vicar
A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...
of Thorncombe in 1529, 10 years before he left Forde Abbey
Forde Abbey is a privately owned former Cistercian monastery in Dorset, England, with a postal address in Chard, Somerset. The house and gardens are run as a tourist attraction while the estate is farmed to provide additional revenue. Forde Abbey ...
at the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539.
Local legend has it that Rev. John Bragge, Vicar of Thorncombe from 1644 to 1647, was deprived of his living, probably because he was involved in a royalist plot against Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
, and was transported to Barbados. Although this statement appears on several websites, it is incorrect. The truth is less dramatic: Thorncombe’s parish register records John Bragge's burial in the churchyard on 5 April 1647. The ''Journal of the House of Lords'' for 3 November 1647 records the presentation of a ‘Petition of the Inhabitants of Thornecombe’. Now in Lambeth Palace Library
Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the oppos ...
, it confirms the date of John Bragge's demise. Signed by 62 parishioners, it states that parishioners 'have suffered above these twelve months last past their want of a preaching minister of the Gospel, by reason that John Bragge the last Incumbent by his delinquency agt State was sequestrated unto the time of his death which happened about half a year since'.
The old church stood about to the south of the present church, where the Wellingtonia tree now stands. In 1770, the church at Thorncombe was not large enough to contain 'the fourth part of the inhabitants'. Thorncombe's population grew from around 885 in 1676 to 1,308 in 1851 and 1,189 in 1871. The present church dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, was built in 1866 to seat 400. There was a significant community of non conformists living in the parish from the late 17th century onwards. In 1689 clothier Robert French registered his Synderford home as a "Protestant Dissenting Meeting Place" and by 1723 there was a Quaker Meeting House and burial ground at Laymore, just outside the parish boundary.
Historically Thorncombe's main industries were spinning, weaving and sheep and cattle breeding. Other small industries included leather production, shoe making and flax processing. During the 18th century there was a weekly market selling 'grain and meat' and serving 'other wants' and an annual Easter fair where 'sheep and other horned cattle' and locally woven 'narrow cloth' were traded.[ odlieian Milles Devonshire MSS AD1843/ref> The market ceased trading in 1773 and the last recorded fair took place in 1885. Following the national decline in small scale weaving during the 19th century due to industrialisation, Thorncombe reverted to agriculture, but this has decreased in recent times. There are still a few farms which survive around the village but most residents work in the local towns of Chard, Crewkerne and Bridport.
Famous past inhabitants of Thorncombe include the Puritan Sir Henry Rosewell; the poet, dramatist and Royalist sermoniser Robert Gomersall; the Commonwealth Attorney General, Edmund Prideaux; Queen Anne's Secretary of War Francis Gwyn; the artist ]Lucien Pissarro
Lucien Pissarro (20 February 1863 – 10 July 1944) was a landscape painter, printmaker, wood engraver and designer and printer of fine books. His landscape paintings employ techniques of Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism, but he also exhi ...
; the ethnologist Sir Raymond Firth; the anthropologist Rosemary, Lady Firth; and the art-historian Cecil Gould
Cecil Hilton Monk Gould (24 May 1918 – 7 April 1994) was a British art historian and curator who specialised in Renaissance painting. He was a former Keeper and Deputy Director of the National Gallery in London.
Life
Born in London in 1 ...
.
Boundary changes
Until 1844, the parish of Thorncombe was an exclave of Devon, at which time it was transferred under the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844
The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 61), which came into effect on 20 October 1844, was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which eliminated many outliers or exclaves of counties in England and Wales for civil purposes. ...
, to Dorset. It was part of Axminster Hundred.
In 1836 the parish, which had been part of the Deanery of Honiton, was transferred ecclesiastically from the Diocese of Exeter
The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is part of the Provinc ...
to the Diocese of Salisbury. In 1982, the ecclesiastical parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
was transferred to the Diocese of Bath and Wells
The Diocese of Bath and Wells is a diocese in the Church of England Province of Canterbury in England.
The diocese covers the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells is located in the ...
, at which time it became a 'united benefice' sharing a vicar with the neighbouring (Somerset) parishes of Winsham and Cricket St Thomas
Cricket St Thomas is a parish in Somerset, England, situated in a valley between Chard and Crewkerne within the South Somerset administrative district.
The A30 road passes nearby. The parish has a population of 50. It is noted for the historic ...
. In 1999, the parishes joined with others to form the Chard and District Team Ministry. In 2006 Thorncombe together with Winsham was linked with Tatworth, Chaffcombe and Cricket Malherbie with Knowle St Giles to form the Two Shires Benefice.
Church
The present church, incorporating a number of items from the old church, was built in 1866–1867 at a cost of £4,000. The foundation stone was laid on 26 April 1866 by Margaret Bragge, widow of Colonel Bragge of Sadborow, and was dedicated by the Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...
on 15 October 1867. It was built in Perpendicular style
Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...
, the windows being modelled on those of the cloisters
A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...
of Forde Abbey. Inside the church is a memorial brass commemorating Sir Thomas (died 1419) and Lady Brook (died 1437) of Holditch Manor. This is one of 500 brass memorials recorded in the Lancastrian period 1400–1453.
References
External links
Thorncombe Village website
Thorncombe School website
Forde Abbey website
{{authority control
Villages in Dorset
Civil parishes in Dorset