# Englishcombe

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**Englishcombe** is a village and [civil parish](/source/Civil_parishes_in_England) in [Bath and North East Somerset](/source/Bath_and_North_East_Somerset) just south-west of [Bath](/source/Bath,_Somerset), England. The parish, which also includes the hamlets of [Inglesbatch](/source/Inglesbatch) and **Nailwell**, had a population of 318 at the 2011 census.[1]

## History

A [Neolithic](/source/Neolithic) axe has been found in the parish, and [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age) pottery was discovered during the construction of [Culverhay School](/source/Culverhay_School). There is some evidence of two [barrows](/source/Anglo-Saxon_burial_mounds).[2]

The southeastern boundary of the parish follows the route of the [Fosse Way](/source/Fosse_Way) a [Roman road](/source/Roman_roads) that linked [Exeter](/source/Exeter) (*[Isca Dumnoniorum](/source/Isca_Dumnoniorum)*) in [South West England](/source/South_West_England) to [Lincoln](/source/Lincoln,_England) (*[Lindum Colonia](/source/Lindum_Colonia)*) in the [East Midlands](/source/East_Midlands), via [Ilchester](/source/Ilchester) (*[Lindinis](/source/Lindinis)*), [Bath](/source/Bath,_Somerset) (*[Aquae Sulis](/source/Aquae_Sulis)*), [Cirencester](/source/Cirencester) (*[Corinium](/source/Corinium_Dobunnorum)*) and [Leicester](/source/Leicester) (*[Ratae Corieltauvorum](/source/Ratae_Corieltauvorum)*).

The village lies on the route of the [Wansdyke](/source/Wansdyke_(earthwork)) (from *[Woden](/source/Odin)'s Dyke*) an [early medieval](/source/Early_Middle_Ages) or [Roman](/source/Ancient_Rome) series of defensive linear [earthworks](/source/Earthwork_(archaeology)), consisting of a ditch and a running embankment from the ditch spoil, with the ditching facing north. Its construction is attributed to the [Saxons](/source/Saxons), probably in the late sixth century.[3] The parish of Englishcombe was part of the [Wellow](/source/Wellow_(hundred)) [Hundred](/source/Hundred_(county_subdivision)).[4]

The [Domesday Book](/source/Domesday_Book) of 1086 records that Englishcombe was held by Nigel de Gournay, who would have won his lands in Englishcombe, [Twerton](/source/Twerton), [Swainswick](/source/Swainswick) and [Barrow Gurney](/source/Barrow_Gurney) by fighting for [William I of England](/source/William_the_Conqueror). His original home may have been [Gournay](/source/Gournay-le-Gu%C3%A9rin), which was halfway between [Dieppe](/source/Dieppe,_Seine-Maritime) and Paris.

Thomas de Gournay was involved with the murder of [Edward II](/source/Edward_II) at [Berkeley Castle](/source/Berkeley_Castle) in 1327.[5] The earthwork remains of the Gournay family castle, just north of the village of Englishcombe, are known as [Culverhay Castle](/source/Culverhay_Castle), built in the 12th century and now a [Scheduled Ancient Monument](/source/Scheduled_monument).[6]

The [tithe barn](/source/Tithe_barn) attached to Rectory Farmhouse was built by [Bath Abbey](/source/Bath_Abbey) in the early 14th century.[7] It was restored in the 1990s[8] and has been designated as a Grade II* [listed building](/source/Listed_building).[9] Rectory Farmhouse itself was built onto the barn in the early to mid 17th century.[10]

The Manor of Inglescombe, as it was previously called, was acquired by the [Duchy of Cornwall](/source/Duchy_of_Cornwall) in 1421. Along with the Duchy's more recent acquisition of the neighbouring village of [Newton St Loe](/source/Newton_St_Loe) in 1941, they form the Duchy's largest estate outside [Dartmoor](/source/Dartmoor).[11]

The mining of [Fuller's earth](/source/Fuller's_earth) started in the parish in the 19th century but expanded around the time of [World War I](/source/World_War_I) with pits in Middle Wood and Vernham Wood. It continued until the 1960s when small underground springs made the extraction too expensive to continue.[12]

## Governance

The [parish council](/source/Parish_councils_in_England) has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and [neighbourhood watch](/source/Neighbourhood_Watch_(United_Kingdom)) groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, such as the [village hall](/source/Village_hall) or [community centre](/source/Community_centre), [playing fields](/source/Playing_field) and [playgrounds](/source/Playground), as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matters (including trees and listed buildings) and environmental issues are also of interest to the council.

The parish falls within the [unitary authority](/source/Unitary_authority) of [Bath and North East Somerset](/source/Bath_and_North_East_Somerset), which was created in 1996, as established by the [Local Government Act 1992](/source/Local_Government_Commission_for_England_(1992)). Between 1 April 1974 and 1 April 1996, it was the [Wansdyke](/source/Wansdyke_(district)) [district](/source/Districts_of_England) and the [City of Bath](/source/Bath,_Somerset) of the [county of Avon](/source/Avon_(county)).[13] Before 1974 that the parish was part of the [Bathavon Rural District](/source/Bathavon_Rural_District).[14]

The parish is represented in the [House of Commons](/source/House_of_Commons_of_the_United_Kingdom) of the [Parliament of the United Kingdom](/source/Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom) as part of [Frome and East Somerset](/source/Frome_and_East_Somerset_(UK_Parliament_constituency)), which elects one [Member of Parliament (MP)](/source/Member_of_Parliament) by the [first past the post](/source/First-past-the-post_voting) system of election. It was also part of the [South West England constituency](/source/South_West_England_(European_Parliament_constituency)) of the [European Parliament](/source/European_Parliament) prior to [Britain leaving the European Union](/source/Brexit) in January 2020, which elected seven [MEPs](/source/Member_of_the_European_Parliament) using the [d'Hondt method](/source/D'Hondt_method) of [party-list proportional representation](/source/Party-list_proportional_representation).

## St Peter's Church

The [Church of St Peter](/source/Church_of_St_Peter,_Englishcombe), was probably built by Robert de Gournay in the 12th century.[5] The church features [Norman](/source/Norman_architecture) 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.[15] It has been designated as a Grade I [listed building](/source/Listed_building).[16]

## References

1. ["Englishcombe Parish"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140101134932/http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11123229&c=Englishcombe&d=16&e=61&g=6387689&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1388523106590&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2491). *Neighbourhood Statistics*. Office for National Statistics. Archived from [the original](http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11123229&c=Englishcombe&d=16&e=61&g=6387689&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1388523106590&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2491) on 1 January 2014. Retrieved 31 December 2013.

1. [*Historic Survey of the Manor of Englishcombe*](https://web.archive.org/web/20110723115329/http://www.englishcombe.net/pdf/landscape%20survey.pdf) (PDF), Avon County Planning Department, 1983, p. 5, ISBN 0-86063-190-7, archived from [the original](http://www.englishcombe.net/pdf/landscape%20survey.pdf) on 23 July 2011, retrieved 7 March 2011

1. Cyril and Aileen Fox, "Wandyke reconsidered", *Archaeological Journal* (1958)

1. ["Somerset Hundreds"](http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/). GENUKI. Retrieved 22 October 2011.

1. Manco, J. (1995) *The Parish of Englishcombe: A History*, pp. 2, 4.

1. ["Culverhay Castle"](http://www.fortifiedengland.com/Home/Categories/ViewItem/tabid/61/Default.aspx?IID=1405). Fortified England. Retrieved 7 March 2011.

1. ["Englishcombe Tithe Barn, Rectory Farmhouse"](http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/grant-aided-properties/englishcombe-tithe-barn-rectory-farmhouse-ba2-9du/). [English Heritage](/source/English_Heritage). Retrieved 7 March 2011.

1. ["Tithe Barn"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110723120234/http://www.englishcombe.net/tithebarn.htm). Englishcombe.net. Archived from [the original](http://www.englishcombe.net/tithebarn.htm) on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2011.

1. ["Newton Park Estate"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110720134833/http://www.duchyofcornwall.org/aroundtheduchy_newtonparkestate.htm). Duchy of Cornwall. Archived from [the original](http://www.duchyofcornwall.org/aroundtheduchy_newtonparkestate.htm) on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2011.

1. 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.

1. ["The Avon (Structural Change) Order 1995"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080130105206/http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19950493_en_1.htm). *HMSO*. Archived from [the original](http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1995/Uksi_19950493_en_1.htm) on 30 January 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2007.

1. ["Bathavon RD"](http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10173176). *A vision of Britain Through Time*. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 January 2014.

1. ["Tour of Englishcombe"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070929001411/http://www.salem-englishcombe.com/brief_tour_of_englishcombe/index.album/leper-holes?i=5). *Salem Evangelical Centre*. Archived from [the original](http://www.salem-englishcombe.com/brief_tour_of_englishcombe/index.album/leper-holes?i=5) on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007.

## External links

- [Information about Englishcombe, especially its history and nature](https://web.archive.org/web/20070626233557/http://www.salem-englishcombe.com/articles.html)
- [Englishcombe.net](https://web.archive.org/web/20070703112748/http://www.englishcombe.net/index.htm) – parish website, archived in 2007

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Englishcombe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englishcombe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Englishcombe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.