Challacombe

Village in Devon, England

Human settlement in England

Devon

Region

South West

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townBarnstaplePostcode districtEX31Police Devon and Cornwall Fire Devon and Somerset Ambulance South Western UK Parliament

North Devon

List of places: UK; England; Devon

51°09′11″N 3°52′08″W / 51.153°N 3.869°W / 51.153; -3.869

Challacombe is a small village on the edge of the Exmoor National Park, in Devon, England. The village has a small general shop/Post Office and a single pub, the Black Venus. The village is on the B3358 road and is 5 miles west of Simonsbath.

Landmarks

Believed to be the only inn in England bearing this name, The Black Venus Inn is an old stone-built pub, a historic 16th century building with low ceiling and original beams.^[1]

West Challacombe Manor is a medieval manor house in the area. It is described as a "white-washed house with rendered walls and Georgian framed windows on the south slope of Little Hangman Hill and looks like an archetypal Devon farmhouse rather than a medieval manor house."^[2] It was restored between 1993-1999. Also of note is the historic Packhorse Bridge and Challacombe Church.

The nearby Shoulsbury castle is an Iron Age hill fort.

Etymology

The name 'Challacombe' literally means 'cold valley'. The name derives from the Old English words ceald ('cold') and cumb ('valley'). The village was recorded as Celdecomba in the Domesday Book.

References

^ Bradt, Hilary (13 July 2010). Slow Devon & Exmoor. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 246. ISBN 978-1-84162-322-1. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
^ Emery, Anthony (9 March 2006). Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300-1500: Volume 3, Southern England. Cambridge University Press. p. 679. ISBN 978-0-521-58132-5. Retrieved 30 September 2012.