Coombe

Morwenstow, near Bude, Cornwall

Coombe hamlet consists of a watermill, the mill house and several cottages, built among orchards round a ford on a shallow stream. It is at the junction of two wooded valleys and is half a mile from the sea at Duckpool, where a sandy beach is exposed at half tide.

Although a small and humble place, Coombe has notable connections. On the hill to the south is Stowe Barton, where the Grenville family lived for 600 years. Interesting traces remain of their great house, demolished in 1739. From soon after 1600 they owned part of Coombe, and its mill was sometimes called Stowe Mill.

Coombe is partly in the parish of Morwenstow, and its most famous vicar, the Revered Stephen Hawker, lived here for a short time. He was the inventor (or perhaps reviver) of harvest festivals, and a moving spirit in the saving of life at sea. The Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould ('Onward Christian Soldiers') wrote a life of Hawker. We have managed to get enough copies of this book, by one famous and unusual parson about another, to put one in most of the cottages at Coombe.

We acquired the whole hamlet as part of a joint scheme with the National Trust to preserve it and its exceptional setting. It is a sheltered place, lying well back from the sea.

Almost all the surrounding land, including must of the coast (geologically one of the most impressive in Britain), belongs to the National Trust. There are long and excellent walks in both directions. The Mill itself, still with all its machinery, is a handsome and interesting stone building with a fine wheel.

• 8 cottages, one for 3, four for 4, one for 5 and two for 6
• Solid fuel stoves
• Small gardens
• Adjacent parking
• Dogs allowed

Hawkers Cottages

Hawkers Cottages are a pair of stone, cob and thatched cottages, named after the famous Vicar of Morwenstow, who lived here briefly. The bedroom in No.1, with a window in the form of a cross, is said to have been his study. No.2 is slightly larger and has a handsome living-room with a slate floor and a particularly splendid old cupboard made by the carpenter at Coombe. The small gardens in front of both cottages are sheltered and pretty.

• No.1 for up to 5 people
• No.2 for up to 6 people
• Solid fuel stoves
• Small gardens
• Adjacent parking
• Dogs allowed