Abbas Combe, or Abbas and Temple Combe, Somerset

(Templecombe)

Historical Description

Combe-Abbas or Abbas and Temple-Combe, a parish in Somerset, adjacent to the river Cale and the boundary with Dorsetshire. It has a station at the junction here of the L. & S.W. and Midland joint railways, 112 miles from London, and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Bath. Acreage, 1910; population, 632. A preceptory of the Knights Templars was at Temple-Combe. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Bath and Wells; value, £330. The church, dedicated to St Mary, is in the Perpendicular style, though portions of it date from the 13th century. It consists of chancel, nave, aisle, and side chapel. The tower contains a peal of six bells. There is a Congregational chapel and some large dairies in the parish.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Ancestry.co.uk, in association with Somerset Archives & Local Studies, have images of the Parish Registers for Somerset online.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Abbas Combe, or Abbas and Temple Combe from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Abbas-Combe, or Temple-Combe (St. Mary))

Maps

Online maps of Abbas Combe, or Abbas and Temple Combe are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Somerset papers online:

• Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette
• Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser
• Western Gazette
• Wells Journal
• Somerset County Gazette

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Somersetshire, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.