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Combe Martin | |
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![]() Combe Martin from Little Hangman | |
Location within Devon | |
Population | 2,687 (2011 census) [1] |
OS grid reference | SS5846 |
Civil parish |
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District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Ilfracombe |
Postcode district | EX34 |
Dialling code | 01271 |
Police | Devon and Cornwall |
Fire | Devon and Somerset |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
Website | Combe Martin Parish Council |
Combe Martin is a village, civil parish and former manor on the North Devon coast about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Ilfracombe. It is a small seaside resort with a sheltered cove on the northwest edge of the Exmoor National Park.
Due to the narrowness of the valley, the village consists principally of one single long street which runs 2 miles (3.2 km) between the valley head and the sea. An electoral ward with the village name exists. The ward population at the 2011 census was 3,941. [2]
Evidence of Iron Age occupation includes the nearby Newberry Castle fort. The toponym "Combe" is derived from Old English cumb meaning "wooded valley". It derives ultimately from the same Brythonic source as the Welsh cwm, also of the same meaning. The name was recorded as Comer in 1128.
The 'Martin' suffix on the place name is from the name of the FitzMartin family, feudal barons of Barnstaple, from which large barony the manor of Combe was held. The FitzMartins held the barony following the marriage of Nicholas FitzMartin (d.1260) to Maud de Tracy, heiress of the barony of Barnstaple, until the death of his grandson William II FitzMartin in 1326 who left his two sisters co-heiresses. [3]
There are several disused silver mines on the eastern ridge and evidence of tunnels can still be seen, as well as the remains of a wheelhouse used to lift ore from the mine. There are items in the Crown Jewels made from Combe Martin silver and a large part of the war expenses of Edward III and Henry V were paid for by the sale of silver mined here.
The unusual dedication of the parish church St Peter ad Vincula to St Peter ad Vincula ("St. Peter in Chains") is derived from the ancient Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.
One of the village's unusual features is the Pack o' Cards public house built around 1700 by George Ley. Reputed to have been funded by his gambling successes, it originally had 52 windows, 13 rooms and four floors (matching the numbers from a pack of cards).
In the 19th century, the village name was spelt as Combmartin. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
It is believed that the street is the longest village street in England, but this is actually a myth. It was recently measured at around a mile and a half long. The actual longest street is Stewkley, Buckinghamshire. The myth has several possible origins:
At one time there were nine pubs: The Castle, The Dolphin, the Fo'c'stle, the George and Dragon, the Lion Inn, The London Inn, The Marine, the Pack o' Cards and the Top George. As part of the annual Carnival celebrations, there was a wheelbarrow race over the length of the village, competitors having to stop at each pub and consume a glass of beer before continuing. In 2008 the wheelbarrow race was replaced by a Fun Run and alcohol free wheelbarrow parade. The wheelbarrow race was reinstated in 2009. The carnival, run in the first week of August, also includes a popular parade where Floats travel down the long high street for many onlookers. One float named the Uncle Tom Cobley has been entered into the parade since 1911.
The annual procession "The Hunting of the Earl of Rone" features the rare hobby horse of England and a character called the Earl of Rone. The Hunting of the Earl of Rone takes place over a weekend, finishing with a two-mile procession along the main street, featuring, as well as the 'obby 'oss and Earl of Rone, a Fool, "Grenadiers", drummers and music, a donkey, and hundreds of dancers in festive dress.
The custom was banned in 1837 (due to 'licentiousness and drunken behaviour') as well as the death of a drunken parishioner falling off a wall during the celebrations. The Rone custom was reconstructed in 1970. Legend has it that the Earl of Tyrone fled Ireland in 1607 and was shipwrecked at Rapparee Beach, in Ilfracombe harbour, to the west of the village. However, he actually made it to Continental Europe. It is an interesting and noisy event which takes place over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend each year.
In early June, a traditional strawberry fayre is held, where stalls are set up to sell local farm produce. Combe Martin was a big producer of strawberries in the past, being sold all over Devon and further afield. Whilst they may not produce many strawberries in the present, the tradition of holding a strawberry fayre remains to celebrate their history. However, other stalls such as charities, crafts and children's entertainment are also usually present. A Farmers Market is also held every 3rd Saturday of the month, which only sells food and is smaller, fitting into the village hall.
Just to the east of Combe Martin Bay are the Hangman hills, the Hangman cliffs are made up of Little Hangman and the Great Hangman. The Great Hangman is a hog-backed hill of 1043 ft with a cliff-face of 820 ft, making it the highest cliff in southern Britain, and can be reached by following the South West Coast Path which runs through the village. Combe Martin lies within the North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. [13]
The Wildlife and Dinosaur Park is similar to a normal wildlife park, containing animals such as wallabies, free-roaming macaws, wolves and lions, but there are also models and animatronic dinosaurs. The models are in their own area, Domain of the Dinosaurs, whilst the animatronics ( T. rex , Dilophosaurus , Megalosaurus and Velociraptor ) have an enclosure in the main area of the park. There is also a Dinosaur Museum with a fossilised skeleton and egg nest of some dinosaurs. Other attractions include a train ride with a massive flood of water, shows with sealions and wolves, a light show and a mock Egyptian tomb with hieroglyphics and mummies.
Bideford is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district.
Barnstaple is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from which it earned great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, but its harbour silted up and other trades developed such as shipbuilding, foundries and sawmills. A Victorian market building survives, with a high glass and timber roof on iron columns.
Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and had a population of 5,922 at the 2011 census. Two electoral wards are based in the town. Their joint population at the same census was 7,500.
Braunton is a large village, civil parish, ecclesiastical parish and former manor in Devon. The village is situated 5 miles (8 km) west of Barnstaple. It is one of the largest villages in Devon with a population at the 2021 census of 10,217 people. There are two electoral wards. Their joint population at the above census was 8,218. Within the parish is the fertile, low-lying Braunton Great Field, which adjoins the undulating Braunton Burrows, the Core Area in North Devon Biosphere Reserve, the largest psammosere in England. It confronts the Atlantic Ocean at the west of the parish at the large beach of Saunton Sands, one of the South West's international-standard surfing beaches.
The A361 is an A class road in southern England, which at 195 miles (314 km) is the longest three-digit A road in the UK.
North Devon is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Selaine Saxby of the Conservative Party.
Alverdiscott is a village, civil parish, former manor and former ecclesiastical parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England, centred 5.5 miles (9 km) south-south-west of Barnstaple.
Blagdon is a village and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Somerset, within the unitary authority of North Somerset, in England. It is located in the Mendip Hills, a recognised Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. According to the 2011 census it has a population of 1,116. The village is about 12 miles (19 km) east of Weston-super-Mare on the A368 between Churchill and Compton Martin.
FitzMartin or Fitz Martin was the surname of a Norman family based in England and Wales between 1085 and 1342.
Tawstock is a village, civil parish and former manor in North Devon in the English county of Devon, England. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Barnstaple, Bishop's Tawton, Atherington, Yarnscombe, Horwood, Lovacott and Newton Tracey and Fremington. In 2001 it had a population of 2,093. The estimated population in June 2019 was 2,372.
James Audley, 2nd Baron Audley of Heighley Castle, Staffordshire, was an English peer. He was the son and heir of Nicholas Audley, 1st Baron Audley (1289–1316) by his wife Joan Martin, who was the daughter of William Martin, feudal baron of Barnstaple, and Marcher Lord of Kemes. She was posthumously the eventual sole heiress of her brother William FitzMartin to Barnstaple and Kemes.
Milton Damerel is a village, parish and former manor in north Devon, England. Situated in the political division of Torridge, on the river Waldon, it covers 7 square miles (18 km2). It contains many tiny hamlets including Whitebeare, Strawberry Bank, East Wonford and West Wonford. The parish has a population of about 450. The village is situated about 5 miles (8.0 km) from Holsworthy, 13.081 miles (21.052 km) from Bideford and 22.642 miles (36.439 km) from Barnstaple. The A388 is the main road through the parish.
From AD 1066, the feudal barony of Barnstaple was a large feudal barony with its caput at the town of Barnstaple in north Devon, England. It was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed in the Middle Ages. In 1236 it comprised 56 knight's fees or individual member manors. The feudal service owed for half the barony in 1274 was the provision to the royal army of two knights or four sergeants for forty days per annum, later commuted to scutage.
The Manor of Combe Martin was a medieval manor estate in Combe Martin, Devon, England.
The feudal barony of Bampton was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed during the mediaeval era, and had its caput at Bampton Castle within the manor of Bampton.
The historic manor of Tawstock was situated in North Devon, in the hundred of Fremington, 2 miles south of Barnstaple, England. According to Pole the feudal baron of Barnstaple Henry de Tracy made Tawstock his seat, apparently having abandoned Barnstaple Castle as the chief residence of the barony. Many of the historic lords of the manor are commemorated by monuments in St Peter's Church, the parish church of Tawstock which in the opinion of Pevsner contains "the best collection in the county apart from those in the cathedral", and in the opinion of Hoskins "contains the finest collection of monuments in Devon and one of the most notable in England".
Bremridge is a historic estate within the former hundred of South Molton in Devon, England. It is now within the parish of Filleigh but was formerly in that of South Molton. It is situated 8 miles north-west of South Molton. Since the construction of the nearby A361 North Devon Link Road direct access has been cut off from Bremridge to Filleigh and South Molton. The surviving wing of the mansion house built in 1654 is a Grade II* listed building. Bremridge Wood is the site of an Iron Age enclosure or hill fort, the earthwork of which is situated on a hillside forming a promontory above the River Bray. In Bremridge Wood survives a disused tunnel of the former Great Western Railway line between South Molton and Barnstaple, much of the course of which has been used for the A361. The tunnel is 319 yards long and was identified as "Bremridge Tunnel" in the 1889 Ordnance Survey map but as "Castle Hill Tunnel" in subsequent editions.
Margaret II Audley was a co-heiress to the feudal barony of Barnstaple in Devon, England.
The Exmoor Group is a late Devonian to early Carboniferous lithostratigraphic group in southwest England whose outcrop extends from Croyde in north Devon east across Exmoor to Minehead in west Somerset. The group comprises the following formations the:
Martinhoe is a small settlement and civil parish in North Devon district of Devon, England. Martinhoe is within the Exmoor National Park, the smallest National Park in England. In the 2011 census Martinhoe Parish was recorded as having a population of 159. Martinhoe is in the Combe Martin ward, for elections to the district council. Martinhoe's local government takes the form of a parish meeting and as such has no parish council nor elected parish councillors.