Thorncombe has a long history. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book and it was already a flourishing place in the Middle Ages. In early times it was much connected with Forde Abbey, the Cistercian Monastery founded in the 12th century, which was a great religious centre, thriving for three centuries until in the reign of Henry VIII when it passed into private hands. In 1312 Edward II granted the Abbot of Forde the right to hold a market in the manor of Thorncombe on Wednesday and also a six day fair beginning on the Tuesday after Easter. In the reign of Edward III the Manor of Olditch was built. Today the old tower still stands close to the farmhouse of Holditch Court, just a mile and a half west of Thorncombe village. Olditch was forfeited to James I when its owner was accused of involvement in the plot against the King which also implicated Sir Walter Raleigh.

During the Civil War the Vicar of Thorncombe was exiled to the West Indies for his royalist sympathies. In the same century thirty-three of the men of the village were known to have been active on behalf of Monmouth but could not be apprehended. In Georgian times a great house was built at Sadborow and another at Greenhill. By this time Thorncombe was served by two turnpikes, one ran east-west and the other north-south. Of the two tollhouses the one at Venn has disappeared, but the one at Thorn remains and has been renovated.

In the 19th century the demand for flax for the hemp and rope industry based at Bridport caused a number of mills to spring up in the parish. The overgrown ruins of Chaffeigh Mill, which may have employed as many as thirty people, can still be seen on the banks of the Synderford. A disaster struck Thorncombe in the late 19th century when a great fire swept through the top of the village destroying many houses. The population climbed and peaked at about 1,500 in the middle of the last century after which it began to fall. In the second half of the century, when much of the cloth trade moved to the north, there was unemployment and groups of houses, for instance at Shedrick and Maudlin, fell into decline as people left the area. Thereafter dairy farming became the principal means of livelihood in the parish.

The old church at Thorncombe (dedicated 1239) stood for 600 years on a site just south of the new building. The new church (built at a cost of £4,000) contains several monuments removed from the old church, and its five bells were rehung and augmented by three new ones.
A Gospel Hall was built in 1881. Before that date there had been two Dissenting Chapels in the immediate neighbourhood. One was Venn
Chapel, built in 1816, at present being adapted, internally, by its owners to live in. The other was at Stony Knaps, an Ebenezer Chapel, but now a private house.

Until the 1950s there were two primary schools in the parish, one in Thorncombe, the other at Holditch. The Thorncombe school was opened in 1876 but was destroyed by fire in 1974. A new school was built on a site close to the Village Hall. The school at Holditch closed earlier in the 20th century, since the parish could not support both.

Since the 1950s there have been changes in the parish. There is a new Village Hall, a Social Club and a new housing estate. On the loss side there is no longer a baker, cobbler, policeman, district nurse or doctor. Also the village has lost its pubs: The Crown, The Golden Lion and The Royal Oak, have all reverted to private houses. Thorncombe parish is fortunate in possessing many attractive period houses, farmhouses and cottages. In this context mention should be made of the hamlet of Hewood whose houses are “group listed”, as are some in Thorncombe village.This is only meant as a brief note on the history of Thorncombe. Much more can be learned about the village and the surrounding area. Reference for instance can be made to The Book of the Axe by G. P.R. Pulman, which has a whole chapter on Thorncombe, and to the County Record Office in Dorchester.