| Combwich | |
Combwich Harbour |
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Combwich
Combwich shown within Somerset |
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| OS grid reference | ST255425 |
|---|---|
| District | Sedgemoor |
| Shire county | Somerset |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BRIDGWATER |
| Postcode district | TA5 |
| Dialling code | 01278 |
| Police | Avon and Somerset |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | Bridgwater and West Somerset |
| List of places: UK • England • Somerset | |
Combwich (pronounced "Cummidge")[1] is a village in the parish of Otterhampton within the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, between Bridgwater and the Steart Peninsula.
The village lies on Combwich Reach as the River Parrett flows to the sea and was the site of an ancient ferry crossing.[1] In the Domesday book it was known as Comich which means 'The settlement by the water' from the Old English cumb and wic. It was here, or in the immediate vicinity, that Hubba, the Danish raider, was defeated and killed by Earl Oddune of Devon in 878.[2]
It served as a port for the export of local produce and the import of timber from the 15th century. It also served the local brick and coal yard until the creek silted up in the 1930s.[1] Brick and tile making was first recorded in the village in 1842.[3]
The Steart peninsula has flooded many times during the last millennium. The most severe recent floods occurred in 1981. By 1997, a combination of coastal erosion, sea level rise and wave action had made some of the defences distinctly fragile and at risk from failure. As a result in 2002 The Environment Agency produced the Stolford to Combwich Coastal Defence Strategy Study to examine options for the future.[4]