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Combe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. The parish is situated on the top of the North Hampshire Downs near Walbury Hill and Combe Gibbet, overlooking the village of Inkpen and the valley of the River Kennet. In Walbury Hill, it includes the highest natural point in South East England.[1][2][3]

Combe
Intersection at Combe
Combe Location within Berkshire
Population	38 (2001)
OS grid reference	SU370608
Civil parish	Combe
Unitary authority	West Berkshire
Ceremonial county	Berkshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HUNGERFORD
Postcode district	RG17
Dialling code	01488
Police	Thames Valley
Fire	Royal Berkshire
Ambulance	South Central
UK Parliament	Newbury
List of places UK England Berkshire 51.3455°N 1.4694°W / 51.3455; -1.4694

Administratively, the civil parish lies within the unitary authority area of West Berkshire, and within the ceremonial county of Berkshire. Historically part of Hampshire, Combe was transferred to Berkshire in 1895.[1][2]

History

Bronze Age people in this part of Europe constructed communal long barrows to bury their important dead and one is a Scheduled Ancient Monument in the civil parish beneath Gibbet Hill's peak which forms part of the same escarpment as larger Walbury Hill which is mostly in Combe, in the North Wessex Downs, altogether the highest point in South East England. Both male and female bodies of the dead may have been left in the open to be reduced to skeletons by carrion before being collected and buried. In many cases the corpses were carefully assembled with the head to the south, men facing east, women facing west. It is unknown whether this was the case in the so-called Inkpen long barrow (named after the village to the north but within Combe), though it is on an east–west alignment.[4]

St Swithun's Church

The Church of England parish church of Saint Swithun is Norman, with the nave dating from the second half of the 12th century.[5][6] The interior has additions from the 17th century, such as the chancel roof. The bell tower is made of wood on flint, and the bell chamber above holds three bells; one pre-reformation, one dated 1616 and one dated 1831.[7] The church is a Grade I listed building.[8]

Geography

Combe has a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) just to the south west of the village, called Combe Wood and Linkenholt Hanging.[9] The civil parish includes the summits of Walbury Hill and Combe Hill, and parts of Inkpen Hill and Pilot Hill. Combe Gibbet stands on Gallows Down, in the civil parish between Inkpen and Walbury Hills.[2]

References

External links

Media related to Combe, Berkshire at Wikimedia Commons

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