Monkton Combe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Monkton Combe | |
  Monkton Combe shown within Somerset |
|
| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| Unitary authority | Bath and North East Somerset |
| Ceremonial county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Bath |
| Postcode district | BA2 |
| Dialling code | 01225 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Avon |
| Ambulance | Great Western |
| European Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Wansdyke |
| List of places: UK • England • Somerset | |
Monkton Combe is a village in north Somerset, England, 6 miles south of Bath. According to Rev. John Collinson in his History of Somerset (1791), the town's proper name is Combe Monkton, or really just Combe with the Monkton being attached as an adjective to differentiate it from neighbouring Combe Down and Combe Grove. The village was originally owned by the monks of Bath Abbey, hence Monkton Combe. It was on the route of the (now disused) Somerset Coal Canal. The parish church of St Michael was thought to have been Norman but was razed in the early 19th century. The more or less Early English Period 1865 structure that currently stands with significant 1886 additions was constructed on the site of the 1814 one.
A significant proportion of the village is taken up by Monkton Combe School. This is an independent Christian school with 350 students - most of whom board. The village featured in the 1953 film The Titfield Thunderbolt, one of the Ealing comedies. The film's plot centred on efforts by villagers to preserve their local railway line. Monkton Combe's station was on the short-lived Camerton branch line of the Bristol and North Somerset Railway which went from Limpley Stoke to Camerton and had closed to passenger traffic in 1925, though the line was used for freight traffic from the Somerset coalfield until 1952.
The village has one public house, the Wheelwrights Arms, and has two mills, one of which is still in working order. There is also a lock-up (a old jail) built in the 18th century, which, in 1953, was accepted as an ancient monument.
[edit] Gallery
 The church |
 The main street, with the school on the left |
 Part of the village, looking south west. The unusual pitched-roof church tower can just be seen in the centre of the view |
 Part of the main street, from the fields above |
