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Portrait of
a Parish - Page 1
General Description
The rolling hills of Somerset present continual surprises.
Neither high nor dramatic, they are folds created by the streams
that twist and turn to feed into the River Avon. The main roads
carrying heavy traffic north and south across the county bypass,
and even at the turn of the 20th century there are pockets of
tranquillity; secret valleys which shelter many small hamlets
and villages.
To the casual eye, Monkton Combe is just such a hamlet, in
just such a valley. No road of significance leads to it; only
three narrow and winding lanes run down from Combe Down, the
highest and most southerly outpost of Bath. At times no more
than one car's-width, they are still more suited to horse and
cart than the automobile. Pedestrians have to hug the hedge when
a car comes along, and cyclists need to be brave. An oddly
shaped parish, as the plan shows.
Monkton Combe is about two miles from east to west and one
mile from north to south. The main concentration of houses, such
as it is, runs, like the Midford Brook, along the bottom of the
valley. The hamlet itself has no claim to glamour or
distinction; it is not a 'postcard village'. It is simply a
concentration of cottages, houses and a large independent
school, its scatter of outlying houses and farmland intermingled
with pastures that graze sheep and dairy cattle.
The best place
to gain a reasonably comprehensive view of the original village
is a seat placed by the parish council to commemorate the first
one hundred years of the existence of the parish. Thoughtfully
sited at the top of one of the steep footpaths, known locally as
drungs or drongs, it gives welcome relief to those hardy enough
to tackle the one-in-five climb from the village church to a
point on Shaft Road, roughly midway between the village proper
and Combe Down. From this seat you look over green pastureland
and the one through road, to the far side of the Midford brook
and the southerly boundary, with a brick smokestack that stands
sentry over what was once a small flock mill, and the sluice
that originally powered the mill-race. From left to right - or
east to west - runs the main street of the village, and from
this height it seems to be just that; a curving and continuous
row of houses and cottages leading to the church and graveyard.
A closer look gives the game away: to the east the 'cottages'
metamorphose into the more substantial premises of Monkton Combe
School. The 'village' is, in large part, not village at all, but
school. The houses are mainly school houses or houses owned or
occupied by members of the school's staff. This hodgepodge of
buildings, acquired, adapted, or purpose-built over a hundred
years, intrudes less on a village scene than if they had been
planned as a whole initially. The parish, stretching some
considerable distance farther than can be seen from the welcome
seat with its delightful views, also includes feats of
engineering - an aqueduct and two viaducts - hotels, small
businesses, numerous sports facilities, woods, fields and
watercourses. No century has seen more changes than the
twentieth century, but 'history' is the summation of a myriad of
individual lives and minor local incidents.
General Description: page 1 -
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