Wiveliscombe | Everything Exmoor National Park

WIVELISCOMBE is a former borough, market and cloth making town to the west of Taunton and five miles from the Devon/Somerset border. It is situated at the foot of the Brendon Hills and acts as a gateway to Exmoor.

While the population of this rural centre is only about 2,500 persons, its shops and services meet the needs of a much larger population, spread through the western fifth of Taunton Deane, in scattered farms and villages.

A traveller stopping off in the centre of the town gets no idea that this is the hub of a thriving business community. A survey in 1997 revealed that there were are least 300 businesses within a five mile radius of the town; 14 of these were trading internationally and a further 20, nationally.

It has the headquarters of a firm of building motorway service stations and factories in the UK and Europe. A band saw manufacturer Edwards, manufacturer of kitchens, a pig processing factory, builders and specialist IT companies etc.

iveliscombe is also the brewing centre of Somerset with two breweries.

There is a good variety of shops, a post office, one bank, two estate agents, solicitors, accountants, hairdressers, garages, inns and restaurants. There is also a doctors' surgery, a dentist and veterinary practice.

The primary school serves most of the surrounding villages and Kingsmead Community School for pupils aged 11 - 16, rated by the DfEE as one of the top 50 state schools in England in 1998. The school houses a theatre and sports hall and a youth club and playgroup complementing the town's recreation ground where the tennis, rugby, cricket and football clubs have their bases.

Wiveliscombe is an active town, set amidst beautiful countryside with easy access to Exmoor, the Quantocks and the north and south coast resorts. It is a good place to live in and an excellent place to visit in order to explore the West Country.

Wiveliscombe is a former borough, market and cloth making town to the west of Taunton and 5 miles from the Devon /Somerset border.

It is situated at the foot of the Brendon Hills and acts as a gateway to Exmoor. While the population of this rural centre is only about 2,500 persons, its shops and services meet the needs of a much larger population, spread through the western fifth of Taunton Deane, in scattered farms and villages.

Wiveliscombe has been an important site for many centuries as remains from pre-historic, Roman and Saxon times have been traced, including the fortifications of King’s Castle to the east and the Roman fort to the south-east.

Formerly 'The Langley House Hotel', Wiveliscombe which closed around 2003 and is now a home for severely autistic adults

Wiveliscombe is situated at the foot of the Brendon Hills and is the site of this small town has been important for many centuries, as remains from pre-historic, Roman and Saxon times have been traced, including the fortifications of King’s Castle to the east and the Roman fort to the south east.

The medieval bishops of Bath and Wells had a ‘palace’ here, one of several throughout Somerset, and the entrance archway can still be seen on Church Street.

The Market Square is the hub of the town, and several of the buildings around it and along the High Street have their origins in the late medieval period. In 1285 Edward I granted the Bishop of Bath and Wells a market and a three day fair. By 1301 ‘Wivvy’, as it is known locally, is described as a Borough with shops paying rent around the Market Place, then known as the Shambles.

A dominant building on the Wiveliscombe skyline is the former brewery built by the Hancock family during the 19th century. Having moved to Wiveliscombe in 1805, they quickly expanded their brewing business to become one of the most well known breweries in the south west of England. Some of the old brewery buildings are now used by the Exmoor Brewery.

During the Second World War art treasures from London were evacuated to Wiveliscombe.

WIVELISCOMBE - from the personal name Wifla and the Old English cumb 'Wifla's Valley'. Note: Wifel is the Old English for arrow Wivelescome in the Domesday Book (1086).

The unusual red tile-hung, timber jettied building at the top of the High Street, the Court House, was built by the Hancock family in the 1880’s. See the elaborate carvings of figures, stylised fruit, mythical animals and the Hancocks’ initials.

St. Andrew’s Church was built relatively recently, 1827-9, on the site of a medieval church. It was designed by the county architect of the time, Richard Carver. Under the church are extensive vaults in which are buried some of the families of those who purchased the right when the church was rebuilt. These vaults were used during the Second World War to store art treasures from London.

Lying north of the Carboniferous rocks of central Devon, there is an east-west belt of Devonian rocks which extends from the coast at Ilfracombe and embraces Exmoor and the Brendon Hills, and occurs as an inlier in the Quantock Hills. The Brendons are characterised by rolling hills deeply dissected by wooded valleys. They rise to over 400 metres at Wiveliscombe Barrow, and to the west they merge into Exmoor. The sandstones, mudstones, siltstones and slates are overlain generally by fine loamy reddish soil, the land being used principally for dairying and stock rearing.

There are a number of mixed forest plantations, particularly to the north of the area, and some of these have open access. During the 19th century a number of small mining settlements grew around local deposits of iron ore, and many buildings and features from this industry remain.

With the advent of motorised vehicles, the number of so-called green lanes has diminished rapidly. These tracks, here known as Greenway Lane, Jew’s Lane and Kit’s Lane, have great cultural and historical value. They may represent routes that have been in use since pre-historic times, perhaps trodden by Roman legions, pilgrims, medieval travellers or miners, or etched out by primitive sledges and cart wheels. The antiquity of the hedgerows and banks that often enclose these lanes makes them important wildlife habitats.

Abbotsfield - this has a distinctive pyramid roof to the staircase tower of this mansion, built for the piano manufacturer Lacey Collard in the 1870’s. It was designed by Owen Jones, an influential Victorian design theorist, and is the only building of his surviving.

Archaeologists excavating a previously unknown Romano-Celtic settlement near Wiveliscombe have discovered a stash of 2000 Roman coins placed in a pot and hidden under the floor of an ancient round house in a Roman settlement dating to 50AD to 400 AD on the hills above Wiveliscombe. The coins were almost all bronze in different sizes and denominations, but all were low value.
They mostly date from the late 3rd Century AD

What made this discovery more fascinating is that examinations show that Romano-British villagers at the Wiveliscombe settlement may have been living in round houses much longer than is commonly recorded. Archaeologists believe a site of this age should show signs of square, Roman houses, but the existence of only pre-Roman Iron Age style round houses shows our Somerset ancestors may have been behind the times in terms of their property style.

Evidence of metal working taking place on-site also suggests that this site has close links to a large Roman iron working settlement, which was discovered at nearbyClatworthy Reservoir .

Also unearthed was a large amount of Roman pottery, including an item believed to be a knife blade.

Situated at the foot of the Brendon Hills, the site of this small town hasbeen important for many centuries, as remains from pre-historic,Roman and Saxon times have been traced, including the fortifications of King’s Castle to the east and the Roman fort to the south east. The medieval bishops of Bath and Wells had a ‘palace’ here, one of severalthroughout Somerset, and the entrance archway can still be seen onChurch Street. The Market Square is the hub of the town, and several of the buildings around it and along the High Street have their originsin the late medieval period.

In 1285 Edward I granted the Bishop ofBath and Wells a market and a three day fair. By 1301 ‘Wivvy’, as it is known locally, is described as a Borough with shops paying rent around the Market Place, then known as the Shambles. A dominant building onthe Wiveliscombe skyline is the former brewery built by the Hancock
family during the 19th century. Having moved to Wiveliscombe in 1805,they quickly expanded their brewing business to become one of the most well known breweries in the south west of England. Some of the old brewery buildings are now used by the Exmoor Brewery.The unusual red tile-hung, timber jettied building at the top of the High Street, the Court House, was built by the Hancock family in the 1880’s.Note the elaborate carvings of figures, stylised fruit, mythical animalsand the Hancocks’ initials.

Winston Churchill is reputed to have said "…Where in the World is Wiveliscombe…"

The famous Hancocks brewery dominated it and regional economy. Formed in 1807, its vast array of buildings crests the hilltop, known as Golden Hill, and forms the skyline of the town visible for miles around.

At one time the Hancock’s employed half the town’s workforce, and owned the best of the 36 town pubs! After the War, Hancock’s, as many other regional breweries, fell to the consolidation of the many by the few. Eventually in 1959 the site was abandoned.

Exmoor Ales "Golden Hill Brewery" occupied a modest part of the Hancock site in 1980, where it has remained since acquiring more land and buildings as it has grown, continuing something of the history of Wiveliscombe Brew Town, along with a neighbouring local brewery, Cotleigh, situated close by on the local industrial estate.