Lyncombe, Bath
Encyclopedia
Lyncombe is a district and electoral ward
Wards of the United Kingdom
A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...

 in Bath, Somerset and a former parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 in the Diocese of Bath and Wells
Diocese of Bath and Wells
The Diocese of Bath and Wells is a diocese in the Church of England Province of Canterbury in England.The diocese covers the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in the tiny city of...

. In the mid-19th century the parish was formed when the parish of Widcombe
Widcombe, Bath
Widcombe is a district of Bath, England, immediately south-east of the city centre, across the River Avon.Widcombe was part of the hundred of Bath Forum.Widcombe Manor House is a grade I listed manor house built in 1656...

 and Lyncombe was split in two, but it was abolished in the late 1960s. The village of Lyncombe existed since at least the Saxon period prior to becoming part of the City of Bath.

Lyncombe takes its name from the Celtic word cwm
Cwm
cwm may refer to* the geographical term for a rounded, glaciated valley also known as a corrie or cirque* the Welsh word for a valley, sometimes anglicized to Coombe* cwm , a general-purpose data processor for the semantic web...

 meaning valley, with the Lyn being the name of the stream that runs through it. The present day district is approximately centred on the Western part of this valley, known as Lyncombe Vale, and extends down to the more urban area around the River Avon across from Bath Spa railway station
Bath Spa railway station
Bath Spa railway station is the principal railway station in the city of Bath, in South West England.-Architecture:Bath Spa station was built in 1840 for the Great Western Railway by Brunel and is a grade II* listed building...

.

History

The Manor of Lyncombe was ecclesiastical property from the time of Osric, king of the Hwicce in the 7th century to the Norman Conquest. A charter of the City of Bath records that in 970 King Edgar "granted ten hides
Hides
A hide is an animal skin treated for human use. Hides include leather from cattle and other livestock animals, alligator skins, snake skins for shoes and fashion accessories and furs from wild cats, mink and bears. In some areas, leather is produced on a domestic or small industrial scale, but most...

 at Cliftune (i.e. Lyncombe), near Bath, Somerset, to St Peter's church, Bath, in return for 100 mancuses of gold and ten hides at Cumtune (possibly Chilcompton or Compton Dando, Somerset)."

The Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

 showed that in 1066 Sæweald Abbot of Bath, held 10 hides in Lyncombe. In 1086 this land was held by Ælfsige, his successor. Following the death of William the Conquerer the Burgh of Bath, including Lyncombe Manor was sold by his son, William Rufus to John of Tours
John of Tours
John of Tours was a medieval Bishop of Wells in England who moved the diocese seat to Bath. He was a native of Tours and was King William I of England's doctor before becoming a bishop...

, Bishop of Wells who moved the bishopric to Bath.

In 1302 the Priory of Bath obtained a licence for fairs on their manor of Lyncombe on the Feast of the Cross
Feast of the Cross
In the Christian liturgical calendar, there are several different Feasts of the Cross, all of which commemorate the cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus....

 and on the feast of Saint Lawrence
Saint Lawrence
Lawrence of Rome was one of the seven deacons of ancient Rome who were martyred during the persecution of Valerian in 258.- Holy Chalice :...

.

Lyncombe was part of the hundred of Bath Forum
Bath Forum (hundred)
The Hundred of Bath Forum is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England, dating from before the Norman conquest during the Anglo-Saxon era although exact dates are unknown. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which acted as the local defence force and a court which was...

.

When Bath became popular as a spa town
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...

 during the Georgian era
Georgian era
The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...

, Lyncombe Vale was a famous beauty spot often visited by the well-to-do, and Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...

 visited on one of her stays in the city. A mineral spring was discovered in Lyncombe Vale in 1737 by Mr Charles Milsom, a cooper
Cooper (profession)
Traditionally, a cooper is someone who makes wooden staved vessels of a conical form, of greater length than breadth, bound together with hoops and possessing flat ends or heads...

 (after whose son, Milsom Street
Milsom Street, Bath
Milsom Street in Bath, Somerset, England was built in 1762 by Thomas Lightholder. The buildings were originally grand town houses, but most are now used as shops, offices and banks. They have 3 storeys with mansard roofs and Corinthian columns....

 in Bath was named). When attempting to fix a leaking fishpond he noticed a sulphurous odour, and saw water bubbling up from the ground. He then styled himself as a doctor and invited friends and neighbours to drink it. The following year a Dr Hillary wrote a treatise on the health-giving properties of the water, and the two men built a stone edifice over the spring to receive patients. However this weakened the ground and caused the spring to fail.

Lyncombe House, adjacent to the spa, was often called "King James's palace", a name derived from a tradition that James II of England
James II of England
James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

 stayed there with his consort Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena
Mary of Modena was Queen consort of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of King James II and VII. A devout Catholic, Mary became, in 1673, the second wife of James, Duke of York, who later succeeded his older brother Charles II as King James II...

 after abdicating the throne. Although this cannot be corroborated, it is known that Mary made a long visit to Bath in 1687, and later the king joined her at a time when the city would not have afforded them the privacy they sought in the face of great public discontent. Lyncombe, less than a mile from the city, would have been a likely refuge. The house remained a popular destination until the 19th century. A 1792 advertisement in the local newspaper
Bath Chronicle
The Bath Chronicle is a weekly newspaper, first published under various titles before 1760 in Bath, England. Prior to September 2007, it was published daily.-Name changes:...

 proclaims of "A Publick Night, [at] King James's Palace, Illuminations, and far more Brilliant Fireworks that ever were exhibited in the Gardens".

During the industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

 the district of Lyncombe and Widcombe was noted for the manufacture of woolen cloth
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

, with 565 males over the age of 20 being employed in the industry in 1831. The area closest to the river was considered the manufacturing part of Bath, whereas the valley of Lyncombe Vale to the south remained a more secluded area of natural beauty.

In 1835 the Municipal Corporations Act
Municipal Corporations Act 1835
The Municipal Corporations Act 1835  – sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales...

 extended the boundary of the city of Bath to include the entire parish of Lyncombe and Widcombe. Twenty years later in 1855, and following an increase in the population of the area, Widcombe and Lyncombe were split into two parishes, with the church of St Mark's to become the parish church of Lyncombe, and St Matthews
St Matthew's Church, Widcombe
St Matthew's Church in Widcombe is located on Cambridge Place in Widcombe, the southeastern section of Bath, Somerset. Built 1846-1847 principally to designs by Bath City Architect George Phillips Manners, it is situated above the Widcombe Locks of the Kennet and Avon Canal and opposite the Church...

 the parish church of Widcombe:

The boundaries of the new parish of Lyncombe were delineated thus by the Commissioners for Building New Churches:
In 1972 due to a declined population and attendances the parish of Lyncombe was abolished and incorporated into a new parish of Saint Bartholomew based in nearby Odd Down:

External links

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