Combe Down
Encyclopedia
Combe Down is a village suburb of Bath, England
in the Bath and North East Somerset
unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Somerset
. Combe Down sits on a ridge above and about 1.5 miles to the south of Bath city centre. "Combe" or "coombe" is a West Country
word meaning a steep-sided valley. The area encompassing present-day Combe Down includes the original village consisting predominantly of 18th and 19th century stone-built villas and workers' cottages; the post-WW2 Foxhill estate of former council houses; and a range of Georgian, Victorian and more recent properties along both sides of North Road and Bradford Road. Formerly part of the Parish of Monkton Combe
, Combe Down village was incorporated into the city of Bath in the 1950s.
Combe Down village sits above an area of redundant 18th and 19th century stone mines
. In a project which took place between 2005 and 2010, these mines were the focus of major infill and stabilisation works funded by central Government.
imported from Finland
. The nearest state secondary school with sixth form is Ralph Allen School
. A private school for children aged between 2 and 18 (Monkton Combe School
) has its nursery, pre-prep department (Glenburnie) and preparatory school located in the village.
Shops in the centre of the village include a Co-op
, a newsagent, a delicatessen
with coffee shop, an estate agency
and a pharmacy, together with a barber
, two hair salons, a beautician
, a crockery hire business and an art gallery. There is a small branch of Barclays Bank on North Road, adjacent to a second-hand children's clothes shop, and there is a fish and chip shop on Bradford Road. The village post office
closed in 2006 despite much public opposition and the nearest post office branch is now located inside a grocery store in a row of shops serving the Foxhill community on the Bradford Road. There is a car repair garage close to the centre of the village.
There are three local pubs, an Anglican church (Holy Trinity) and an evangelical chapel within walking distance for most residents. There is a Roman Catholic Church (Saints Peter and Saint Paul) on the edge of the village, adjacent to the Foxhill estate. The Church Rooms are available for local groups. Combe Down village includes flourishing rugby union
and cricket
clubs, a children's nursery, a doctors' surgery, a chiropodist and a dentist
as well as an active Cub and Scout Group (10th Bath) with its own Scouts' Hut. There are several societies, including an active local history group (the Combe Down Heritage Society), a branch of the Women's Institute and the Combe Down Art Group.
A large public open space (Firs Field) encompasses the village war memorial
and contains a play area with children's play equipment that was renewed and renovated in 2006. Much of this field was utilised for the headquarters of the mine infill project but was restored to meadowland following the successful completion of the stabilisation works in 2010. A residents' group (The Friends of Firs Field) exists to ensure the representation of local residents' interests in this regard, and that restoration and management of the field is appropriate.
The village pubs are the King William,, the Hadley Arms and the Foresters', re-named the Forester and Flower in late 2006.
There are frequent daily bus services to the village from Bath city centre (service number 1). In the evenings these services are less frequent. The privately-owned Bath 'circular tour' bus route passes along the outskirts of the village and down Ralph Allen Drive. There are additional bus services mainly transporting students to the nearby University of Bath
.
The mines at Combe Down are Oolitic (oolite
) limestone
mines, mainly worked in the 18th and 19th century. Stone was extracted by the "room and pillar" method, by which chambers were mined out, leaving pillars of stone to support the roof. The Bath stone
used for many of the buildings in Bath - as well as for other important buildings around the United Kingdom including Buckingham Palace
- was mined from beneath and around Combe Down. Many of these workings were once owned by the eighteenth century Postmaster General Ralph Allen
(1694–1764). The mines were closed in the 19th century but building work continued above ground, with some roads and houses eventually resting on only a thin crust — in places between only one and two metres deep — above large underground cavities with inadequate support.
A five-year central government-funded project began in late 2005 to stabilise and fill the abandoned mine workings. The Council approved the planning application in June 2003 and approximately 760 village properties were included within its boundary. All mine workings inside the boundary of the planning application were stabilised using foamed concrete to satisfy a 100-year design life while ensuring archaeologically important areas and bat habitats were protected. In some hydrologically sensitive areas, "stowing" - an infill with aggregate limestone — was undertaken. Archaeologically important areas were filled with sand, and new bat caves and tunnels were created.
The £154.6 million grant for the works came from the Land Stabilisation Programme which was set up by the government in 1999 to deal with "abandoned non-coal mine workings which are likely to collapse and threaten life and property" and managed by English Partnerships — the national regeneration agency. The total amount included £22.7m which had already been used for emergency stabilisation work before the approval of the main project.
Several public art projects celebrated the completion of the stabilisation works.
One working quarry (Upper Lawn Quarry) still remains on the edge of the village, located off Shaft Road. This supplies high quality Bath stone to the city and more widely across the UK.
(now disused) emerges below the southern slopes of the village. It was once the UK’s longest railway tunnel (1,829 yards) without intermediate ventilation. It is planned that the tunnel will form part of the £1.8 million Two Tunnels Greenway
walking and cycling path. Its custodian is Wessex Water
. The fourth and final £100,000 tranche of Council funding is due in financial year 2011/12 when the tunnel will be given a cycle-friendly surface, mobile phone coverage and lighting via motion detectors. Bat-friendly LED technology is being considered as an alternative to high-pressure sodium lamps.
was situated on the southern slopes of the village somewhere below Belmont Road, the site of which was discovered in the 1850s. An inscription on a stone recovered from the area reads "PRO SALVTE IMP CES M AVR ANTONINI PII FELICIS INVICTI AVG NAEVIVS AVG LIB ADIVT PROC PRINCIPIA RVINA OPRESS A SOLO RESTITVIT". This can be translated as: "For the health of Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Felix Invictus Augustus, Naevius the imperial freedman, helped to restore from its foundations the procurator's headquarters which had broken down in ruins." It is thought to date from AD 212-222. Finds from the site were taken to the Somerset County Museum at Taunton
.
gave it a Grade II listing in 2006. The site contains two chest tombs and some fifty gravestones, dating from between 1842 to 1921, with both Hebrew and English
inscriptions. Funds to restore the Prayer House, conserve the grave stones, repair the boundary wall, replace the gates and develop interpretation of the site have been sought in partnership with the Combe Down Heritage Society and the World Heritage Enhancement Fund.
stood on the southern slopes of the village during the 19th century; it gradually fell into picturesque ruin until it was converted into housing during 2007. The mill was probably built by the second Baron De Montalt, Viscount Hawarden
in the early 19th century and was owned by John Bally, (a bookseller in Milsom Street
in Bath), William Allan or Ellan and George Steart (d.1837), all trading as paper-makers under the name of John Bally & Co.
A print dating from the 1820s shows the mill which then possessed the largest water wheel
in England, measuring 56 feet in diameter. It has subsequently been discovered that most of the coloured papers used by J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851) for a good number of his approximately twenty thousand drawings and watercolours were made at De Montalt Mill. The collection is now housed in The Turner Bequest at the Tate Gallery
, London
. The paper was of a very high standard and the watercolour boards were made without being pasted together which ensured they remained free from mildew
; however, despite the early success of the business, it failed in 1834. The premises were later used for a variety of purposes including the possible (but unconfirmed) manufacture of Gutta-percha
(a natural rubber-based material used in picture frames and golf balls); market gardening
(1871); and cabinet making
from (1875) until the lease expired in 1905 and it closed. In the 20th century cows and pigs
were being reared on the site.
Various parts of the mill have grade II listed building status, including the southern range which consisted of the apprentice shops and stores, the main east block which was the printing works, used to print notes for Bank of England
, and later converted to cabinet manufacturing, and the chimney. An Italianate
villa set in the grounds is also grade II listed.
The Mill and its associated buildings were converted to residential use during 2007, with the main mill building being converted into four apartments. Elements of the conversion featured in the Channel 4
television programme Grand Designs
.
). The flowers appear in June after the leaves die; the leaves resemble bluebell leaves but are a softer green and not as glossy. The flowering spike is up to one metre high. At the unopened stage the flowers used to be gathered in small quantities as a fresh vegetable by local people; it was also occasionally sold in local markets. However, picking the flowers today is not encouraged as wild asparagus is becoming rare. According to research carried out by Avon Wildlife Trust
the plant is found throughout Europe
but has only a limited UK distribution. It is possible that the flower was first brought to the Bath area as seeds carried on the wheels and hooves of Roman
vehicles and animals.
(better known as Harry Patch) was born in Combe Down in 1898; both his father and grandfather were local stonemasons. His family home is still in existence in Gladstone Road. Patch was briefly the third oldest man in the world and the last trench
veteran
of World War I
. He died in July 2009, aged 111, by which time he was the last soldier to have fought in the trenches, the second last surviving British war veteran and one of four surviving soldiers from the conflict worldwide. His memoir, The Last Surviving Tommy, records his Combe Down childhood in some detail.
Herbert Lambert
FRPS, 1881–1936, Bath portrait photographer and harpsichord and clavichord maker.
Charlie McDonnell
, the most subscribed YouTube
vlogger in the United Kingdom
, grew up in Combe Down before moving to London in 2010.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in the Bath and North East Somerset
Bath and North East Somerset
Bath and North East Somerset is a unitary authority that was created on 1 April 1996 following the abolition of the County of Avon. It is part of the Ceremonial county of Somerset...
unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. Combe Down sits on a ridge above and about 1.5 miles to the south of Bath city centre. "Combe" or "coombe" is a West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
word meaning a steep-sided valley. The area encompassing present-day Combe Down includes the original village consisting predominantly of 18th and 19th century stone-built villas and workers' cottages; the post-WW2 Foxhill estate of former council houses; and a range of Georgian, Victorian and more recent properties along both sides of North Road and Bradford Road. Formerly part of the Parish of Monkton Combe
Monkton Combe
Monkton Combe is a village and civil parish in north Somerset, England, south of Bath. The parish, which includes the hamlet of Tucking Mill, has a population of 356.-History:Monkton Combe was part of the hundred of Bath Forum.According to Rev...
, Combe Down village was incorporated into the city of Bath in the 1950s.
Combe Down village sits above an area of redundant 18th and 19th century stone mines
Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines
Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines is a 6.22 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest in Bath and North East Somerset, notified in 1991 because of the Greater and Lesser Horseshoe bat population....
. In a project which took place between 2005 and 2010, these mines were the focus of major infill and stabilisation works funded by central Government.
Local amenities
The local state primary school is Combe Down CEVC (Church of England Voluntary Controlled) Primary School, housed partly in a unique log cabinLog cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
imported from Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. The nearest state secondary school with sixth form is Ralph Allen School
Ralph Allen School
Ralph Allen School in Combe Down, Bath, England is a non-denominational, co-educational school for 11-18 year olds.The school was built and named in 1957 to commemorate Ralph Allen . It opened in 1958...
. A private school for children aged between 2 and 18 (Monkton Combe School
Monkton Combe School
Monkton Combe School is an independent boarding and day school of the British public school tradition, near Bath, England. The Senior School is located in the village of Monkton Combe, while the Prep School, Pre-Prep and Nursery are in Combe Down on the southern outskirts of Bath...
) has its nursery, pre-prep department (Glenburnie) and preparatory school located in the village.
Shops in the centre of the village include a Co-op
The Co-operative Group
The Co-operative Group Ltd. is a United Kingdom consumer cooperative with a diverse range of business interests. It is co-operatively run and owned by its members. It is the largest organisation of this type in the world, with over 5.5 million members, who all have a say in how the business is...
, a newsagent, a delicatessen
Delicatessen
Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus....
with coffee shop, an estate agency
Estate agent
An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting or management of properties, and other buildings, in the United Kingdom and Ireland. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent...
and a pharmacy, together with a barber
Barber
A barber is someone whose occupation is to cut any type of hair, and to shave or trim the beards of men. The place of work of a barber is generally called a barbershop....
, two hair salons, a beautician
Cosmetology
Cosmetology is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty including hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/pedicures, and electrology....
, a crockery hire business and an art gallery. There is a small branch of Barclays Bank on North Road, adjacent to a second-hand children's clothes shop, and there is a fish and chip shop on Bradford Road. The village post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
closed in 2006 despite much public opposition and the nearest post office branch is now located inside a grocery store in a row of shops serving the Foxhill community on the Bradford Road. There is a car repair garage close to the centre of the village.
There are three local pubs, an Anglican church (Holy Trinity) and an evangelical chapel within walking distance for most residents. There is a Roman Catholic Church (Saints Peter and Saint Paul) on the edge of the village, adjacent to the Foxhill estate. The Church Rooms are available for local groups. Combe Down village includes flourishing rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
clubs, a children's nursery, a doctors' surgery, a chiropodist and a dentist
Dentist
A dentist, also known as a 'dental surgeon', is a doctor that specializes in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity. The dentist's supporting team aides in providing oral health services...
as well as an active Cub and Scout Group (10th Bath) with its own Scouts' Hut. There are several societies, including an active local history group (the Combe Down Heritage Society), a branch of the Women's Institute and the Combe Down Art Group.
A large public open space (Firs Field) encompasses the village war memorial
War memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in war.-Historic usage:...
and contains a play area with children's play equipment that was renewed and renovated in 2006. Much of this field was utilised for the headquarters of the mine infill project but was restored to meadowland following the successful completion of the stabilisation works in 2010. A residents' group (The Friends of Firs Field) exists to ensure the representation of local residents' interests in this regard, and that restoration and management of the field is appropriate.
The village pubs are the King William,, the Hadley Arms and the Foresters', re-named the Forester and Flower in late 2006.
There are frequent daily bus services to the village from Bath city centre (service number 1). In the evenings these services are less frequent. The privately-owned Bath 'circular tour' bus route passes along the outskirts of the village and down Ralph Allen Drive. There are additional bus services mainly transporting students to the nearby University of Bath
University of Bath
The University of Bath is a campus university located in Bath, United Kingdom. It received its Royal Charter in 1966....
.
Stone mines and quarries
-
- See also Combe Down and Bathampton Down MinesCombe Down and Bathampton Down MinesCombe Down and Bathampton Down Mines is a 6.22 hectare Site of Special Scientific Interest in Bath and North East Somerset, notified in 1991 because of the Greater and Lesser Horseshoe bat population....
.
- See also Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines
The mines at Combe Down are Oolitic (oolite
Oolite
Oolite is a sedimentary rock formed from ooids, spherical grains composed of concentric layers. The name derives from the Hellenic word òoion for egg. Strictly, oolites consist of ooids of diameter 0.25–2 mm; rocks composed of ooids larger than 2 mm are called pisolites...
) limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
mines, mainly worked in the 18th and 19th century. Stone was extracted by the "room and pillar" method, by which chambers were mined out, leaving pillars of stone to support the roof. The Bath stone
Bath Stone
Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England, its warm, honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, England its distinctive appearance...
used for many of the buildings in Bath - as well as for other important buildings around the United Kingdom including Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
- was mined from beneath and around Combe Down. Many of these workings were once owned by the eighteenth century Postmaster General Ralph Allen
Ralph Allen
Ralph Allen was an entrepreneur and philanthropist, and was notable for his reforms to the British postal system. He was baptised at St Columb Major, Cornwall on 24 July 1693. As a teenager he worked at the Post Office. He moved in 1710 to Bath, where he became a post office clerk, and at the age...
(1694–1764). The mines were closed in the 19th century but building work continued above ground, with some roads and houses eventually resting on only a thin crust — in places between only one and two metres deep — above large underground cavities with inadequate support.
A five-year central government-funded project began in late 2005 to stabilise and fill the abandoned mine workings. The Council approved the planning application in June 2003 and approximately 760 village properties were included within its boundary. All mine workings inside the boundary of the planning application were stabilised using foamed concrete to satisfy a 100-year design life while ensuring archaeologically important areas and bat habitats were protected. In some hydrologically sensitive areas, "stowing" - an infill with aggregate limestone — was undertaken. Archaeologically important areas were filled with sand, and new bat caves and tunnels were created.
The £154.6 million grant for the works came from the Land Stabilisation Programme which was set up by the government in 1999 to deal with "abandoned non-coal mine workings which are likely to collapse and threaten life and property" and managed by English Partnerships — the national regeneration agency. The total amount included £22.7m which had already been used for emergency stabilisation work before the approval of the main project.
Several public art projects celebrated the completion of the stabilisation works.
One working quarry (Upper Lawn Quarry) still remains on the edge of the village, located off Shaft Road. This supplies high quality Bath stone to the city and more widely across the UK.
Combe Down Railway Tunnel
Opened in 1874, this mile-long railway tunnel Combe Down TunnelCombe Down Tunnel
Combe Down Tunnel is on the now-closed Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway main line, between Midford and Bath Queen Square, below high ground and the southern suburbs of Bath, England, emerging below the southern slopes of Combe Down village....
(now disused) emerges below the southern slopes of the village. It was once the UK’s longest railway tunnel (1,829 yards) without intermediate ventilation. It is planned that the tunnel will form part of the £1.8 million Two Tunnels Greenway
Two Tunnels Greenway
The Two Tunnels Greenway is a shared use path for walking and cycling under construction in Bath, Somerset, England.-Route:The route will follow the disused railway trackbed of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway from East Twerton through the Bath suburb of Oldfield Park to the Devonshire Tunnel...
walking and cycling path. Its custodian is Wessex Water
Wessex Water
Wessex Water Services Limited, known as Wessex Water, is a water supply and sewerage utility company serving an area of the south west of England, covering 10,000 square kilometres including Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, most of Wiltshire and parts of Gloucestershire and Hampshire...
. The fourth and final £100,000 tranche of Council funding is due in financial year 2011/12 when the tunnel will be given a cycle-friendly surface, mobile phone coverage and lighting via motion detectors. Bat-friendly LED technology is being considered as an alternative to high-pressure sodium lamps.
Site of Roman Villa
It is believed that a Roman villaRoman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
was situated on the southern slopes of the village somewhere below Belmont Road, the site of which was discovered in the 1850s. An inscription on a stone recovered from the area reads "PRO SALVTE IMP CES M AVR ANTONINI PII FELICIS INVICTI AVG NAEVIVS AVG LIB ADIVT PROC PRINCIPIA RVINA OPRESS A SOLO RESTITVIT". This can be translated as: "For the health of Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Pius Felix Invictus Augustus, Naevius the imperial freedman, helped to restore from its foundations the procurator's headquarters which had broken down in ruins." It is thought to date from AD 212-222. Finds from the site were taken to the Somerset County Museum at Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
.
Jewish Burial Ground
The Jewish burial ground is a site of historic value on Bradford Road and is one of only fifteen in the country to survive from the Georgian period. While the burial ground has suffered a period of neglect since its closure in the early 20th century, much remains intact to serve as an important reminder of Bath’s historic Jewish community. Dating from 1812, the last recorded burial was in 1946. The Prayer House (Ohel) which dates from around 1836 is of particular interest as there are few such examples still standing. English HeritageEnglish Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
gave it a Grade II listing in 2006. The site contains two chest tombs and some fifty gravestones, dating from between 1842 to 1921, with both Hebrew and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
inscriptions. Funds to restore the Prayer House, conserve the grave stones, repair the boundary wall, replace the gates and develop interpretation of the site have been sought in partnership with the Combe Down Heritage Society and the World Heritage Enhancement Fund.
De Montalt Mill
The De Montalt paper millPaper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
stood on the southern slopes of the village during the 19th century; it gradually fell into picturesque ruin until it was converted into housing during 2007. The mill was probably built by the second Baron De Montalt, Viscount Hawarden
Viscount Hawarden
Viscount Hawarden is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1793 for Cornwallis Maude, 3rd Baronet, who had earlier represented Roscommon in the Irish House of Commons. He had succeeded his younger brother as third Baronet of Dundrum. He married Mary, a niece of Ralph Allen, through...
in the early 19th century and was owned by John Bally, (a bookseller in Milsom Street
Milsom Street, Bath
Milsom Street in Bath, Somerset, England was built in 1762 by Thomas Lightholder. The buildings were originally grand town houses, but most are now used as shops, offices and banks. They have 3 storeys with mansard roofs and Corinthian columns....
in Bath), William Allan or Ellan and George Steart (d.1837), all trading as paper-makers under the name of John Bally & Co.
A print dating from the 1820s shows the mill which then possessed the largest water wheel
Water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of free-flowing or falling water into useful forms of power. A water wheel consists of a large wooden or metal wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving surface...
in England, measuring 56 feet in diameter. It has subsequently been discovered that most of the coloured papers used by J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851) for a good number of his approximately twenty thousand drawings and watercolours were made at De Montalt Mill. The collection is now housed in The Turner Bequest at the Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The paper was of a very high standard and the watercolour boards were made without being pasted together which ensured they remained free from mildew
Mildew
Mildew refers to certain kinds of molds or fungi.In Old English, it meant honeydew , and later came to mean mildew in the modern sense of mold or fungus....
; however, despite the early success of the business, it failed in 1834. The premises were later used for a variety of purposes including the possible (but unconfirmed) manufacture of Gutta-percha
Gutta-percha
Gutta-percha is a genus of tropical trees native to Southeast Asia and northern Australasia, from Taiwan south to the Malay Peninsula and east to the Solomon Islands. The same term is used to refer to an inelastic natural latex produced from the sap of these trees, particularly from the species...
(a natural rubber-based material used in picture frames and golf balls); market gardening
Market gardening
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. It is distinguishable from other types of farming by the diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre ...
(1871); and cabinet making
Cabinet making
Cabinet making is the practice of using various woodworking skills to create cabinets, shelving and furniture.Cabinet making involves techniques such as creating appropriate joints, dados, bevels, chamfers and shelving systems, the use of finishing tools such as routers to create decorative...
from (1875) until the lease expired in 1905 and it closed. In the 20th century cows and pigs
PIGS
PIGS is a four letter acronym that can stand for:* PIGS , Phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, class S, a human gene* PIGS , the economies of Portugal, Italy , Greece and Spain...
were being reared on the site.
Various parts of the mill have grade II listed building status, including the southern range which consisted of the apprentice shops and stores, the main east block which was the printing works, used to print notes for Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
, and later converted to cabinet manufacturing, and the chimney. An Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
villa set in the grounds is also grade II listed.
The Mill and its associated buildings were converted to residential use during 2007, with the main mill building being converted into four apartments. Elements of the conversion featured in the Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
television programme Grand Designs
Grand Designs
Grand Designs is a British television series produced by Talkback Thames and broadcast on Channel 4 which features unusual and often elaborate architectural home-building projects....
.
Local flora
A local woodland wild flower is the Bath Asparagus, also known as the Spiked Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum pyrenaicumOrnithogalum pyrenaicum
Ornithogalum pyrenaicum, also called Prussian asparagus, wild asparagus, Bath Asparagus, Pyrenees star of Bethlehem or spiked star of Bethlehem, is a plant whose young flower shoots may be eaten as a vegetable, similar to asparagus.The common name "Bath Asparagus" comes from the fact it was once...
). The flowers appear in June after the leaves die; the leaves resemble bluebell leaves but are a softer green and not as glossy. The flowering spike is up to one metre high. At the unopened stage the flowers used to be gathered in small quantities as a fresh vegetable by local people; it was also occasionally sold in local markets. However, picking the flowers today is not encouraged as wild asparagus is becoming rare. According to research carried out by Avon Wildlife Trust
Avon Wildlife Trust
The Avon Wildlife Trust aims to protect and promote wildlife in the area of the former county of Avon — now Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, in England...
the plant is found throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
but has only a limited UK distribution. It is possible that the flower was first brought to the Bath area as seeds carried on the wheels and hooves of Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
vehicles and animals.
Grade II listed buildings in Combe Down village
Notable residents
Henry John PatchHarry Patch
Henry John "Harry" Patch , known in his latter years as "the Last Fighting Tommy", was a British supercentenarian, briefly the oldest man in Europe, and the last surviving soldier to have fought in the trenches of the First World War...
(better known as Harry Patch) was born in Combe Down in 1898; both his father and grandfather were local stonemasons. His family home is still in existence in Gladstone Road. Patch was briefly the third oldest man in the world and the last trench
Trench warfare
Trench warfare is a form of occupied fighting lines, consisting largely of trenches, in which troops are largely immune to the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery...
veteran
Veteran
A veteran is a person who has had long service or experience in a particular occupation or field; " A veteran of ..."...
of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He died in July 2009, aged 111, by which time he was the last soldier to have fought in the trenches, the second last surviving British war veteran and one of four surviving soldiers from the conflict worldwide. His memoir, The Last Surviving Tommy, records his Combe Down childhood in some detail.
Herbert Lambert
Herbert Lambert
Herbert Lambert, FRPS, was a British portrait photographer known for his portrayals of professional musicians and composers. In 1923, he published Modern British Composers: Seventeen Portraits in collaboration with Sir Eugene Goossens, and in 1926, he became managing director of the Elliott & Fry...
FRPS, 1881–1936, Bath portrait photographer and harpsichord and clavichord maker.
Charlie McDonnell
Charlie McDonnell
Charles Joseph "Charlie" McDonnell is a British vlogger and musician from Bath, Somerset, England. , his YouTube channel, charlieissocoollike, is the most subscribed in the UK...
, the most subscribed YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
vlogger in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, grew up in Combe Down before moving to London in 2010.
External links
- Combe Down Heritage Society
- Combe Down CEVC Primary School
- Ralph Allen School
- Monkton Combe School
- Combe Down Rugby Club
- Combe Down Cricket Club
- Combe Down Surgery
- Holy Trinity Church
- Union Chapel
- Jewish Burial Ground
- The Forester and Flower pub
- 10th Bath (Combe Down) Scout Group
- Combe Down Stone Mines Stabilisation Project Update
- Photographs of Combe Down from the Francis Frith Collection
- Combe Down Garage
- Combe Down Liberal Democrat Councillors' blog
- Combe Down Nursery