Location
Close to the Dorset border of
south east Somerset, Templecombe is located on the A357 approximately 5 miles
south of Wincanton. Situated in the heart of the Blackmoor Vale the
village is surrounded by open countryside, and farm land, with many fine
views. Numerous public footpaths criss-cross the local area offering fine
walks.
Yeovil (15 miles), and the
Abbey town of Sherborne (8 miles) lay to the west with the historic town of
Shaftesbury approximately 10 miles to the east, all situated on the A30.
The A303 trunk road is approximately 4 miles to the north and Templecombe is
also accessible by train, served by the Exeter to London (Waterloo)
mainline.
Village
history
- The modern parish of ABBAS AND
TEMPLECOMBE was formerly two separate estates and villages. The more
northerly one was held from Saxon times by Shaftesbury Abbey and thus
known as Abbascombe. The other manor was owned by Earl Leofwine,
brother of King Harold who died at Hastings, but after 1066 was given to
William the Conqueror's half-brother, Bishop Odo of Bayeux. His descendent,
Serlo FitzOdo, granted it in 1185 to the Knight's Templar who established a
preceptory here. This would have been a regional centre for their
Order, admitting new members and training them for the Crusades. Originally known as Combe ('valley') it became
Templecombe during this period. The Templars were suppressed in the
early 1300s with many brought to trial in 1314. The four knights
arrested at Templecombe were Warwick, Engayne, Grandcombe and Collingham.
Their estate here being granted to the Knight's of St. John, known as The Hospitallers, who converted the preceptory to their commandery, which in
turn was dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1540. After the dissolution
the patronage passed to the new Lord of the Manor, Richard Duke, and from
1819 to Rev Thomas Fox. He and hie descendents held the living from
1785 until 1921, with a sequence of five rectors of that same name.
During World War II the church was badly damaged by German bombs, along with
the school and several houses in the village. An important rail
junction, Templecombe, became a target for enemy bombers and 19 villagers
were killed or mortally wounded in the raid. In 1945 a medieval
panel painting was found above the ceiling of an outhouse in West Court off
the High Street. It depicts a head which bears an uncanny
resemblance to that of the Turin Shroud. Carbon date testing has given
a date of c1280 and has led to much speculation
linking it with the Templars. Since 1956 the panel has been on display
in St Mary's parish church. (click
here for image)
Templecombe's
railway history
- In more recent times
Templecombe became an important railway intersection, linking the London
& South Western and the Somerset & Dorset railway companies.
The village had two stations (Upper - L&SWR) and (Lower - S&D) which
were linked by a spur line. During the war an ambulance train was kept
in the Lower yard, ready to leave at a few minutes notice. Templecombe's railway link
also made it a
popular venue for releasing racing pigeons. Both stations were closed
in 1966 after the Lord Beeching report and the S&D track bed ripped
up. The upper station remained, however, and was
eventually re-opened in 1983 and although a shadow of it's former self is
still in use today.
