Coombe Bissett is a village and civil parish in the English county of Wiltshire in the River Ebble valley, 3 miles (4.8 km) southwest of Salisbury on the A354 road that goes south towards Blandford Forum.
Coombe Bissett | |
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![]() A354, Coombe Bissett | |
![]() ![]() Coombe Bissett Location within Wiltshire | |
Population | 675 (in 2011)[1] |
OS grid reference | SU109264 |
Civil parish |
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Unitary authority |
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Ceremonial county |
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Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Salisbury |
Postcode district | SP5 |
Dialling code | 01722 |
Police | Wiltshire |
Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament |
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Website | www |
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The parish includes the village of Homington, to the east towards the village of Odstock.
Records from Saxon times indicate that the Ebble valley was a thriving area, the River Ebble also being known as the River Chalke.
The Domesday Book in 1086 divided the Chalke Valley into eight manors: Chelke (Chalke – Bowerchalke and Broadchalke), Eblesborne (Ebbesbourne Wake), Fifehide (Fifield Bavant), Cumbe (Coombe Bissett), Humitone (Homington), Odestoche (Odstock), Stradford (Stratford Tony and Bishopstone) and Trow (circa Alvediston).[2]
The Domesday Book also recorded Cumbe as a royal manor with 85 households,[3] while Humitone had just two households.[4]
A medieval packhorse bridge, now a footbridge, crosses the Ebble close to the current road bridge at Coombe Bissett.[5]
Coombe Bissett and Homington were separate parishes, each with its own church, until they were united in a joint benefice in 1885.[6]
Homington was absorbed into Coombe Bissett civil parish in 1934.[7]
The two Anglican churches below are served by the Chalke Valley team ministry.[8]
The oldest part of St Michael's, the south aisle, is from the 12th century. The chancel was built in the 13th and the tower (with stair-turret) added in the 14th; the nave and north transept are 15th-century.
Restoration in 1845 by T.H. Wyatt included the rebuilding of the west front, reducing the length of the building.[9] The church is a Grade I listed building.[10]
St Mary's is a 14th-century church, possibly with earlier origins. The tower of the present church is from the early 17th century and there was extensive restoration in the 1860s. The church is a Grade II* listed building.[11]
A Primitive Methodist chapel was built in 1841 at the west end of Homington village, then rebuilt in 1877. The chapel closed in 1967 and is now a private house.[12]
In 1895 a Baptist chapel was opened at Coombe Bissett, on the road to Homington, and is used by the Coombe Fellowship.[13]
Tancred Borenius (1885–1948), Finnish art historian, died at Laverstock House hospital and is buried in Coombe Bissett churchyard.[16]
Neighbouring areas of Coombe Bissett | ||||||||||||||||
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Carl Tancred Borenius (1885–1948) was born at Viipuri, Finland, modern Vyborg, Russia. He died at Coombe Bissett, near Salisbury in Wiltshire, UK.