Combe, Oxfordshire

Combe

St. Laurence' parish church
Combe
 Combe shown within Oxfordshire
Population 759 (2001 census)[1]
OS grid referenceSP4116
Civil parishCombe
DistrictWest Oxfordshire
Shire countyOxfordshire
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Witney
Postcode district OX29
Dialling code 01993
Police Thames Valley
Fire Oxfordshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentWitney
WebsiteCombe Parish Council
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire

Coordinates: 51°50′24″N 1°24′11″W / 51.840°N 1.403°W

Combe is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Witney in Oxfordshire.

Church and chapel

The Church of England parish church of St. Laurence was built in 1395 for Eynsham Abbey.[2] Its interior has several 15th century wall paintings, including a Doom over the chancel arch.[3] St. Laurence's is a Grade I listed building.[2]

St. Laurence's bell tower had a ring of five bells, which ranged in date from 1621 to 1629.[4] It had also an historic clock which may also have been early 17th century.[4] In 1918 a fire damaged the tower, the bells and the clock.[4] The remains of the clock were salvaged, restored and installed in the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford.[4] John Taylor & Co of Loughborough recast the damaged bells as a ring of six in 1924.[4][5] John Smith and Sons of Derby supplied a new clock in 1948.[4]

Combe has also a Methodist chapel.

Economic and social history

Combe House was built in the 16th century and extended in about 1800. It used to be the vicarage.[6]

The Duke of Marlborough's Blenheim estate adjoins the village. The estate's former sawmill, Combe Mill, is now a working museum.[7] It has alternative power sources: a breastshot water wheel that used to be powered by the River Evenlode,[8] and a steam powered rotative beam engine that was added in 1852.[9]

Amenities

The Cock Inn public house

Combe has a public house, the Cock Inn, that was built late in the 17th or early in the 18th century.[10] It is controlled by Greene King Brewery.[11] It is beside the village green, which is the setting for four of Combe's seasonal festivals: a children's Maypole dance, a Summer Ball, a funfair in the autumn and a firework display on Guy Fawkes Night. Another tradition that Combe partakes in is the annual pig run, members of the local farm settlements group together and race pigs along the streets of Combe for entertainment purposes. This is why the Combe football team used to have a pig on its badge, common knowledge for anybody who lives in and around the village.

Combe has a Church of England primary school.[12]

Combe railway station is on the Cotswold Line. It is actually nearer Long Hanborough than Combe.

Combe has a Women's Institute.[13]

References

War memorial on the village green
  1. ↑ "Area: Combe CP (Parish): Parish Headcounts". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Church of St Lawrence". National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  3. ↑ Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, pp. 551–552.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Beeson & Simcock 1989, p. 36.
  5. ↑ Davies, Peter (12 December 2006). "Combe S Laurence". Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers. Central Council of Church Bell Ringers. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
  6. ↑ Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, pp. 552–553.
  7. ↑ Combe Mill
  8. ↑ Combe Mill water wheel
  9. ↑ Combe Mill beam engine
  10. ↑ "The Cock Inn, The Green". National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
  11. ↑ The Cock Inn
  12. ↑ Combe Church of England Primary School
  13. ↑ Oxfordshire Federation of Women's Institutes

Sources and further reading