Combe Florey, named after Baldwin de Cume who lived in the Manor House in the 12th Century and his successor Hugh de Fleuri, is
a very pretty village 1½ m. N.W. of Bishop Lydeard Station, which gets its name from
the Floreys, the ancient owners of the manor. Its church, Perp. in the
main, contains some interesting memorials.
The noted cleric and wit, Rev Sidney Smith, canon of St Paul's Cathedral (London), lived in the Old Rectory in the early 19th century.
The old manor house, which has a beautiful oratory window and fine plasterwork, was once home to the Rattigan family, of which Terrence Rattigan, the playwright was best known.
Another writer, Evelyn Waugh, author of Brideshead Revisited, moved to Combe Florey in the late fifties, and his son, Auberon, also a writer, continued to live in the village.
The church, which dates from the 13th century has many notable features and is well worth a visit.
There are three effigies in
the N. aisle—a knight (supposed to be one of the Merriet family,
to which the manor passed from the Floreys) and two ladies (perhaps his
successive wives). In the N. wall the heart of a lady, "Maud de
Merriette," who was a nun of Cannington, is recorded to have been
buried. On the floor at the W. end of the N. aisle is a brass to Nicholas
Francis, who possessed the manor subsequently to the Merriets. Sydney
Smith was rector here (1829-45), and the glass in the E. window is in
memory of him. Note also (1) angels on piers of arcade (cp. St Mary's,
Taunton), (2) carved seat ends, (3) restored cross in churchyard. In
the village is a Tudor manor house.
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