Coombs
From Lacey Green History
Coombs or Coombes was a cluster of cottages on the
ridge above Loosley Hill Road, now disappeared.
The Forgotten Hamlet of Coombs by Rita Probert.
Introduction
Many people use the footpath via Gomme's Forge's ornamental iron stile at the junction of Little Lane, Foundry Lane and Lower Road in Loosley Row to cross the hillside know locally as The Grubbin. They exercise their dogs and stop to admire the beautiful views of Lodge Hill, Wain Hill and beyond to the Vale of Aylesbury.
After a heavy snowfall the area is particularly popular with children and adults alike for sledging down the hillside. The area once again resounding with voices that, in fact, echo the past.
New residents are perhaps unaware that at the top of the hill and to the left of the footpath, stile and beyond, now farmland, there once stood a small hamlet called Coombs. This consisted of a farm and three or four cottages housing over the years in its heyday an average of twenty men, women and children. By 1911, however, the number had drastically reduced to seven residents and signified the eventual decline of the hamlet.
This Coomb does not fit the dictionary description of a small valley with steep sides. It has been suggested however that the hamlet in Loosley Row derived its name from the home, presumably a farm, of one William ate Coumbe who in 1354 left a bequest of one sheep to the church at Bradenham. The Parish boundary of Bradenham sill passes through the area formerly occupied by Coombe.
The date that the farm and cottages were built remains unknown, although ongoing research may reveal the answer. It can only be estimated at the moment as during the 18th century or earlier. The area was certainly mentioned in a will made on 1st March 1704 by one Henry Hawes:
"To my son John ....all lands called Winters and Coombs in the occupation of William Stone with the aforementioned hedgerow at the bottom of the lower side of Coombs now in my occupation ...."
above left <<< This map of the 1700's clearly depicts Coomb Farm.
Location: The hill-side (The Grubbin) and beyond towards Lacey Green was once heavily wooded and variously called Smallden, Smallridge or Smalldean Wood and Common. Trees covered the whole area right down to the current boundary hedge with Little Lane, which was once the main pre-turnpike Wycombe Road via Loosley Row.
Maps of 1811 and 1823 held at the Buckinghamshire Record Office clearly indicate the wooded area and the old Wycombe Road.
At some stage all the woodland was cleared, apart from a small section of mainly beech trees down the far side of the hill, which still remain. The tree roots were grubbed out and the area thus acquired the name of The Grubbin. The current public footpath across the hillside follows the line of an original Carriage Road, which is indicated on the 1823 map and described in the accompanying register (both held at the Buckinghamshire Record Office, Aylesbury) - "XVII: One other private Carriage Road and Public Bridleway of the breadth of 12 feet leading from the Wycombe Road at the south corner of an allotment to Thomas Randall in a southward direction through Smallridge Wood to certain cottages and gardens at Coombs and from thence as a Public Bridleway to a Bridge Gate in the Parish of Horsenden, which said private Carriage Road is set out for the owners and occupiers of the same cottages and gardens for the time being for ever"
A map of the late 1700's shows at least two buildings surrounded by areas of land recorded as Ginger's Coombs, Ginger's Little Coombs and Ginger's Great Coombs indicating an early landowner/occupier.
Currall was also a name which had long associations with the hamlet over the years.
In 1789 a marriage took place at St Mary's Church, Princes Risborough, between a William Currill and a Sarah Ginger of Coombs. suggesting perhaps that the land previously occupied by the Ginger family had eventually passed via marriage to the Currells.
In a survey of the Parish of Princes Risborough 1808-1810 names of owners/occupiers are not recorded, but the survey does describe properties at Coombs as two houses, gardens and closes and a garden in the woods.
The 1821 census although only recording the head of each household does at last give the first recorded names and number of occupants (a total in 1821 of 19) who lived in the hamlet in four properties. All he males being employed in agricultural work with the exception of one other trade in Thomas Randall's household. One unoccupied property was also recorded on the census.
William Currell -------one family ----5 males 4 females
Thomas Randall ----two families --3 males 1 female
Thomas Fox ---------one family ----1 male 2 females
Ann Stone -----------one family ----2 males 1 female
At the time of the 1823 Land Enclosure Act, three of the main influential landowners in the area were John Grubb, Lord of the Manor of Princes Risborough, who resided in Horsenden: Lord George Augustus Henry Cavendish and Sir William Lawrence Young, MP for High Wycombe. The 1823 Register records the following names, presumably the landowners:
Cottage & garden at Coombs ---John Grubb
Cottage & garden ------------------George West the younger
Cottage & garden at Coombs ---William Currell
Coomb Enclosure ------------------Sir William Lawrence Young
The allotment of land allocated to Thomas Randall referred to in the 1823 Carriage Road extract still remains, being the small triangular plot at the junction of Foundry Lane, Lower Road and Little Lane, a few yards from the stile leading to the Grubbin. The plot, numbered '605' can be seen on the map of 1823.
The Randalls were long-established as blacksmiths in Loosley Row: the Thomas Randall listed in the 1821 census at Coombs in one other trade. was possibly the son of the blacksmith that lived at the property still known as Randalls Cottage, plying his trade at the forge next door (Forge Cottage) It is additionally mentioned in the No 17 Footway description. "One other Public Footway leading from the Wcombe Road near the Blacksmith's Shop at Loosley Row in an eastwards direction over an allotment to John Jones, Smallridge Wood and an allotment to Sir William Lawrence Young, Baronet, to the Lacey Green Road.
Coombs in Small Dean Wood 1831. Extract from the census:
Stone Joseph -----1 house --1 family
Randall Thomas--1 house --1 family
Currell William ----1 house --1 family
Gomme James ---1 house --1 family
By 1841 a few additional details were recorded, but it is not until 1851 that more information can be gained from the census returns :-
1851 census. There were four separate families living at Coombs
William Currell, a widower of 86, living with his married daughter, Rhoda Dormer, aged 50, a lace maker, and her husband Henry 48, a sawyer. William is recoded as an agricultural labourer.
Next door was Daniel Currell, ag. lab., aged 45, his wife Catherine 40, lace maker, and their six children: John 19 and William 17 both employed on the land; Daniel 10 as a scholar, and the youngest children Jabez 8, Sarah 5 and Richard 3.
Then came John Williams 30 and his wife Elizabeth 30 -again employed as agricultural labourer and lace maker respectively. The had four children: Caroline 9, Joseph 6, Fanny 3 and baby Ellen. This family was later to experience four bereavements within a short space of time.
James Gomme a 60 year old widower resided in the fourth cottage with his 25 year old unmarried son Jabez - like their neighbours , with the exception of Henry Dormer, sawyer, they were farm workers.
| Coombs | |
|---|---|
| Construction Era | 1700-1822, 1823 Enclosures Record |
| Type of Property | Cottage |
| Use of Property | Residential |
| Locations | Loosley Row, Coombes |