The Ale Trail: "Castle Combe"

A Picture Post card (who sends post cards anymore?) setting on the edge of the Cotswolds

Castle Combe is located in Wiltshire approximately 20 miles east from Bristol not all that far from the White Hart Inn at Ford.  Castle Combe has a very low population of which on the day we visited I don't know if we spoke to one resident.  I can understand why as this town is one of "THE" tourist must see places you simply have to put on your Bucket List and not wait 26 years to see.  And if this is to be believed, and I was a resident, I would then have to put up 10 foot high stone walls in the back of my home, top them with glass shards, purchase a pit bull terrier, not answer my door during the day, and not use the rooms of my home adjacent to the street where all the tourists walk until after 23:00 HRS like the rest of the people who live here.  

Evening time across the street from the Market Cross (click to enlarge photos)

The village was fortified by Britons before the Romans came and situated not far from the Fosse Way which stretches from Exeter in the south to Lincoln up north on the coast.  The Normans came after 1066 and they mined the Roman fort  for stone and built a castle (Castle Combe), of which nothing of the original castle remains.  By the Middle Ages Castle Combe enjoyed prosperity from a sort of wool industry. Weavers built stone houses of which many have been preserved in almost original condition to the present day.

Hard to find parking... trust me!

The Castle, which gave the village its name, as I said, was originally a Roman Fort that fell into ruin only to be reused by the Saxons until the invasion of the Normans who re-mined the site and built a castle about 1135. The castle in later years once again fell into ruins and by the middle of the 1400's was again mined by local villagers to build the stone houses we find today.

I did not find the faceless clock

The church of St Andrew is located just off the center or the village, in the tower is a faceless clock made by a local blacksmith in 1380. The church of St Andrew’s dates from medieval times and contains the tomb of Sir Walter de Dunstaville (1270), whose family owned the castle after the Norman Conquest. 

The tomb of Walter de Dunstaville

A carved effigy shows him in full chain armor with angels at his head and a dog at his feet.  I thought this is cool, and then thought to myself he must have owned the town, and the church as how many were buried in a church?  And if so you had to be Heavy Duty Judy, at least at the time.

The church is fairly small, and very picturesque.  I am not certain what has been restored or if anything in there is original, a good look up on the web will sort that out.  I felt welcome and it is peaceful and the effigy of the Knight in chain mail kept pretty much to himself although I would not voluntarily go out of my way to be inside after sunset.

The lion stands for England and the unicorn for Scotland.

In many placed about the United Kingdom you will find "The Lion and The Unicorn," a time honoured symbol of the United Kingdom. The lion stands for England and the unicorn for Scotland and dates from 1603 when King James VI of Scotland became James I of England unifying the Scottish and English kingdoms and thus required a new royal coat of arms which is on display over the door leading out to the churchyard of St. Andrews.

The main entrance

I have received many a good word on this ale trail blogging concerning the churches I have visited and photographed.  I will be the first to tell you I am always intrigued always by the age of these structures and the excellent care often given to preserve them, I for one love a bit of history... in the UK we are talking of centuries and millennium, in the USA save for the centuries old Spanish buildings found in Florida and the great American South West, you often are found calling something old no much more than a few hundred years.  Of course in Boston and along the East coast you will find older, but nothing in general that is thousands of years old save for stone age sites few have bothered to explain or fully investigate, but there is promise that we who love history hold out for.

Hotel road to the village square alongside the Church Yard.

You come out into the graveyard of which it is just like every other church graveyard, I didn't know anyone so I didn't take an photographs and if you are interested in seeing it there are excellent photos to be found on Flickr or Google Images.  This road awaits you when you leave the graveyard.

Almost to the Market Cross

I am certain you can book an overnight here, and I suspect during the off season it would be very relaxing to do an overnight, spendy but relaxing... that said this is a town you will most likely visit by tourist bus unless you have Len and Diane to chariot us about as we did.  Buses park a healthy walk from the village square and I suggest a good pair of trainers for getting about.

I love bitter sweet and isn't it nicely done on this cottage?

Castle Combe is worth the visit, bring your camera, come in the off season if you can, not that it's not beautiful in high season, it's that I suggest you do so out of respect for the residents who must by late September have had enough.  We didn't stop for an Ale here, the pub was open but we had just had a meal and ales back in Ford, and I suggest you do take in the White Hart which is just a few miles back towards the M4.

Next Stop Chipping Sodbury...

All about the Roman "Fosse Way": (Click Here)
More photos & more about Sir Walter de Dunstaville: (Click Here)
The White Hart Inn at Ford - Chippenham: (Click Here)