COMBE MARTIN, or Combmartin, is a decayed market town, in
one long, irregular street, in a deep and picturesque valley, about
a mile from a fine cove of the north coast of Devon, and 4 miles E.
of Ilfracombe. Its parish contains 1399 souls, and about 3900 acres
of land, including 1837 acres of open commons and hilly moorlands.
The manor was given by William the Conqueror to Martin de Tours,
ancestor of the Lords Martin, from whom it passed to the Lords
Audley. It was dismembered by the Pollards many years ago. The
Barton, or Manor House, with a large estate, now belongs to Sir
C.W. Watson, Bart, and the rest of the parish belongs to the
Fursdon, Tregonwell, Cornish, Pyke, Gill, and other families. The
market and fair, granted about 1264, were discontinued last
century. Hemp was formerly grown in the neighbourhood, and
shoemakers' thread was spun from it in the town. Coal vessels and
fishing smacks resort to Combe Martin Cove, where pilots for
the Bristol Channel are generally to be found. The houses extend
more than a mile along the dale, amid woods and ridges of rocks,
tufted with foliage down to the level of the sea. The scenery is
magnificent, and the mines in the parish and neighbourhood have
long been celebrated for their argentiferous lead ore. In
the reign of Edward I., 337 men were brought here out of Derbyshire
to work the silver mines, which are said to have furnished
money for the wars in the reign of Edward III. They were again
worked with success in the reign of Elizabeth, by Sir Beavis
Bulmer. Unsuccessful attempts were made to work these mines with
profit about 1800, 1813, and 1817; and they were reopened in 1837,
and are now worked by a spirited company of adventurers, who have a
smelting-house here. The Church (St. Peter,) is a handsome
structure, with a tower and six bells, and the living is a
rectory, valued in K.B. at £39. 8s. 9d., and in 1831
at £435, in the patronage and incumbency of the Rev. H.W.
Toms, who has a good residence, and 72A. of glebe. The tithes were
commuted in 1844, for about £400 per annum. The Independents
and Wesleyans have chapels here. The Free School has half an
acre of land attached to it, and was founded in 1733, by George
Ley, who endowed it with 35A. 3R., called Waterlake, subject to
20s. a year for the poor parishioners. The school was rebuilt about
1820, and is free for 4 children.
Barnstaple Inn, Ann Watts
George and Dragon, Wm. Conibear
King's Arms, Thomas Harris
New Inn, Thomas Morcom
Ship and Castle, John Lake
BAKERS.
Robins Henry
Wener Wm.
BLACKSMITHS.
Goss Jas. & Wm.
Thomas John
BOOT & SHOE MKS.
Conibear James
Cutcliffe John
Lancey Wm.
Ley Wm.
Sanders Wm.
BUTCHERS.
Berry Richard
Creek John
Huxtable Joseph
CARPENTERS.
Creek Wm.
Delve John
Fleming James
Irwin John
Rock Chas.
FARMERS.
Adams John
Channing J.
Charley James
Charley Richard
Charley Wm.
Crang Walter
Cutcliffe Nicholas
Day James
Draper Benj.
Hole Robert
Irwin Sarah
Irwin Joshua
Knight Richard
Lerwill John
Lovering Maria
Peak Wm.
Pugsley Wm.
Smalridge John
Tucker Wm.
Winzer John
Willis Wm.
LIME BURNERS.
Clogg Nicholas
Dovell Wm.
Harris Joshua
MASONS.
Fleming James
Burgess Wm. and Henry
Sommerville Lws
MR. MARINERS.
Facey John
Irwin John
Lewis Thomas
SCHOOLS.
Groves Eliz.
Lock John
SHOPKEEPERS.
Copp Ann
Creek Edw.
Gubb My. beerhs
Hussell Eliz.
Robins Henry
Sanders John
Turner John
TAILORS.
Benham James
Conibear John
POST from Ilfracombe, and Carriers to Barnstaple,
&c
Brian Randell, 27 Oct 1996
Note: The information provided by GENUKI must not be
used for commercial purposes, and all specific restrictions
concerning usage, copyright notices, etc., that are to be found on
individual information pages within GENUKI must be strictly adhered
to. Violation of these rules could gravely harm the cooperation
that GENUKI is obtaining from many information providers, and hence
threaten its whole future.
Combe Martin 
Contents & Search