Luccombe, or Luckham (St. Mary)
LUCCOMBE, or Luckham (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Williton, hundred of Carhampton, W. division of Somerset, 4 miles (W. by S.) from Minehead; containing, with the hamlets of Doverhays and Horner, 580 inhabitants, of whom 40 are in the hamlet of West Luccombe. The parish comprises 3564 acres, of which 1343 are common or waste; the soil of the cultivated lands is richly fertile, the surface is finely undulated, and the lower grounds are watered by the river Horner, which flows through a romantic dell into the sea about a mile to the east of Porlock. The hill of Dunkerry, here, which belongs to the greywacke formation, rises to the height of 1700 feet. The substratum of the parish is chiefly a coarse red sandstone, much of it conglomerate, and in many places intersected with veins of limestone, sometimes in large masses, and frequently containing iron-ore: beautiful specimens of marble are found in the limestone-quarries. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £14. 3. 6½., and in the gift of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Bart.: the tithes have been commuted for £365, and the glebe comprises 60 acres, with a house. The church, an ancient edifice in the later English style, has been completely restored; and contains some monuments to the family of Worth, of Worth, near Tiverton (who have a manor-house near the church), and a monument to the Rev. Henry Bryan, rector of the parish, and chaplain to Charles II.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.