Castle
Coombe is gorgeous. Whether it is (as some have maintained) the
most beautiful village in England, or whether it is somewhere
in the top 10, seems hardly relevant once you have arrived. There
is barely a sign of modernity to be seen. Do not go in the expectation
of a Merrie Englande theme park, because the commercial life of
this village is so discrete and well-hidden that it is only when
you see people peering into the windows of little stone-tiled
cottages that you realise that there are shops. Traffic signs
are carved out of weathered oak, and parked cars are sprayed with
a moss-and-limestone paste to help them blend in.
Parking is a problem. There is a car park some hundreds of yards outside the village. This is a place best visited on a warm summer's evening just as the dusk is drawing in, and most of the tourists and day-trippers have gone. Large trout come out to feed in the stream, drifting lazily downstream with no concern for the passer-by. The Castle Inn provides tables in the village square where you can sit out and sup Ruddles County, and it is about as peaceful and beautiful a place as one could imagine.
There are those who maintain that Castle Coombe is just a little too far south to be in the Cotswolds. Fiddlesticks. If you visit Bath (and you must), it isn't very far out of your way.
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The tomb of
Walter of Dunstanville, baron of Castle Combe in 1270. His feet are resting on a lion,
his hand is on his drawn sword, and his legs are crossed at the knee,
indicating that he went on two Crusades.
Detail
of Sir Walter. This is a very fine depiction of 13th. century war attire. His tomb is in the church, as interesting as most Cotswold churches are. You can also see on display an
early clock mechanism taken from the church tower.
Castle Coombe.
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