A brief overview of Thorncombe’s history

covering the period from the 11^th century to the present day

By Eve Higgs

Forde Abbey & Holditch Manor

Until changes to parliamentary boundaries in 1844, the parish of Thorncombe was an isolated part of Devon inset into ancient maps of Dorset with the Rivers Axe, Blackwater and Synderford marking its boundaries. Writing in 1604, antiquarian Sir William Pole suggests its name comes from the Saxon and refers to the thorns which flourished in profusion across its waterlogged valleys. The Devonshire Domesday and Geld Inquest of 1083 records that Thorncombe and Ford were held by Baldwin the Sheriff of Exeter, a Norman, and consisted of around 1800 acres of which only 91 acres were cultivated with a total population of less than 100. Of Holditch there is no separate mention in Domesday, suggesting that this part of the parish was still an overgrown wilderness at the time of the Norman invasion, so had no value and was of no interest to William the Conqueror for tax purposes.

In 1141 a Cisterican order of monks was given Thorncombe Manor by Adelicia de Brioniis, a descendent of Baldwin, to honour her brother Richard’s intention to establish an Abbey at Brightley and to revere her brother’s memory. The monks built Forde Abbey on the banks of the River Axe. A great religious and cultural centre, the Abbey and its surrounding estate thrived for three centuries until the reign of Henry VIII. Holditch was also given to the monks by William son of Thurold, during the late 12^th century. As a result of these and other gifts, and the buying and selling of land, the monks established the Parish of Thorncombe as we still know it today. In 1313 Edward II granted the Abbot of Forde the right to hold a weekly market in the manor of Thorncombe and also a six day fair beginning on the Tuesday after Easter. Thorncombe’s weekly meat, grain and cattle market ceased trading in 1773. The annual cattle Easter fair at which cloth was also sold, stopped trading during 19^th century. After its dissolution in 1539, the Abbey and the land falling within Thorncombe’s parish boundaries were split up and divided between the Earl of Oxford and Richard Pollard, Esq.

The remains of Holditch’s 14^th century Manor © Eve Higgs

A manor house was built at Holditch during the reign of Edward III. The licence to gentrify it with ornamental fortifications and to enclose 200 acres to make a deer park was granted by Richard II in 1397. Its owner Sir Thomas Brook who died in 1417, is commemorated with a fine brass in Thorncombe parish church. The manor house’s tower still survives as a Romantic ivy clad ruin, close to the farmhouse of Holditch Court, just a mile and a half west of Thorncombe village. The ruin of a Chapel of Ease, an outpost of Thorncombe parish church and dedicated to St Meloris, also survives at Manor Farm in the nearby hamlet. Holditch Manor was forfeited to James I when its owner Henry Lord Cobham , was accused of involvement in the plot against the King which also implicated Sir Walter Raleigh. It was briefly owned by the Bowditch family, then acquired by the Bragge family of Sadborow in the 18^th century.

Civil War, Monmouth Rebellion & Georgian Development

During the English Civil War, Thorncombe was for parliament. Edmund Prideaux (?-1659), Oliver Cromwell’s Attorney General, lived at Forde Abbey. Royalist parish priests, dramatist and poet Robert Gomersall (1628-1644) and John Bragge (1571-1647) both lost their livings for giving succour to the royalists and were fined. Local legend has it that Reverend John Bragge was transported to Barbados for being involved in a Royalist plot. The parish burial register records that he is buried in Thorncombe churchyard. John Bragge’s namesake, a carpenter, was among ten out of 48 Monmouth rebels listed as coming from Thorncombe and transported to the West Indies. Of those also listed, 32 remained at large or unaccounted for, but six were hung, having been found guilty by the infamous Judge Jeffries, including attorney Matthew Bragge of Chaffeigh. Edmund Prideaux (Junior) of Forde Abbey was imprisoned in the Tower of London and subsequently release on payment of a large fine.

The Georgian consumer boom saw the rebuilding of Sadborow Hall, status new builds such as Greenhill and the renovation and extension of other properties in the parish. As well as improving local roads and communications, turnpiking was a tempting investment opportunity for affluent members of the local community. Turnpike was the name for the revolving gate which were installed to prevent free passage. Tolls charged to pass through the turnpikes, paid for the maintenance of turnpike roads with any profits going to turnpike trusts’ investors. Lyme Turnpike Trust turnpiked Thorncombe’s Medieval King’s Highway (running from Venn in the north-east down through Fore Street, and up through High Street to the cross roads at Thorncombe Thorn and thence south-east towards Hawkchurch in the south-east via Shearing Cross and Easthay) in 1770. It was returned to Thorncombe parish for maintenance purposes in 1800. Of Thorncombe’s two tollhouses, that at Stony Knapps has disappeared, but the one at Thorn remains and has been renovated. The possibility of turnpiking the road linking Forde Abbey to Birdsmoorgate was investigated by the Chard Turnpike Trust in 1827 but nothing came of it.