Monkton Combe is a village and civil parish in north Somerset, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Bath. The parish, which includes the hamlet of Tucking Mill, had a population of 554 in 2013.[1] It was formerly known as Combe, owing to its geography, while it was also known as Monckton Combe and Combe Monckton until last century.
History
The pre-Saxon history of Monkton Combe is poorly recorded. It lay close to the Roman road from Bath to London, which has prompted the construction of a Roman villa in Combe Down. More activity is noted in the sub-Roman period, when it formed the end of the western section of the protective Wansdyke, which had been designed to protect Somerset from Saxon invasion.
Combe was settled and cultivated by the Anglo-Saxon period, when it formed part of the hundred of Bath Forum.[2][3]
It was probably given to Bath Abbey, along with other surrounding villages, in the early 1060's by either Edward the Confessor or Harold Godwinson. The Abbey had been impoverished, and Bishop Gisa made use of patronage to expand its lands. In 1086, Combe was assessed in the Domesday Book as having around twenty families, and supporting a range of agricultural activities. During the medieval period, it acquired the additional name 'Monkton', noting its ownership by the Abbey and disambiguating it from other nearby 'Combes'.
The village's industry diversified in the late 18th century, with the opening of local mines and the Somerset Coal Canal in 1800. This prompted the expansion of the village's population, and the construction of new housing to accommodate workers, built in the local Bath stone. The canal was converted to a railway in 1910, giving the village a short-lived railway station of its own. The closure of the line encouraged the further de-industrialisation of the village, with the neighbouring flock mill closing the following year, although not before the village, and its station, featured in the popular Ealing comedyThe Titfield Thunderbolt.
Governance
The parish council 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 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 car park and playgrounds, 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 Village Hall and Village Green are the responsibility of the Village Hall Committee and not of the Parish Council.
The parish falls within the 'Bathavon South' electoral ward. The ward starts in the north east at Monkton Combe and stretches south west through Wellow to Shoscombe. The total population of this ward at the 2011 census was 3,052.[6]
The parish church of St Michael, thought to have been Norman, was razed in the early 19th century and rebuilt in 1814. The 1814 church was soon found to be too small, and was rebuilt in 1865 at the initiative of the first Vicar of Monkton Combe, the Revd. Francis Pocock. It was designed by ecclesiastical architect C. E. Giles of London, and the builder was Mr. S. G. Mitchell. It was extended within just a few years to accommodate the growing number of pupils from nearby Monkton Combe School, founded by Revd. Pocock in 1868. The church is a Grade II listed building.[8]
The village has one public house, the Wheelwright's Arms, which was built as a private house in the mid-late 18th century and later converted to an inn.[9] It gained its name from the wheelwrighting business that worked from its yard until 1934.
A village lock-up in the 18th century, probably circa 1776, and is located conveniently near the Wheelwrights Arms. This is now one of the village's many Grade II listed buildings, and was last used in 1905 by errant pupils to lock up the school's unpopular bursar.[10]
There were two mills from the time of the Domesday Book, which were rebuilt in the early 19th century and have survived to this day, although neither are in working order.[11]
Monkton Combe School
Much of the village and the surrounding fields are owned and occupied by Monkton Combe School, including the majority of the historic houses along Church Lane. Monkton is a prominent public school which was founded in the village in 1868 by the first Vicar of Monkton Combe, the Revd Francis Pocock, and is today a member of the Rugby Group of major British independent schools.
