Brockley Combe is a wooded

combe A combe (; also spelled coombe or coomb and, in place names, comb) can refer either to a steep, narrow valley, or to a small valley or large hollow on the side of a hill; in any case, it is often understood simply to mean a small valley through wh ...

near the village of

Brockley Brockley is a district and an electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. History The name Brockley is derived from "Broca's woodland clearing", a wood where badgers are seen (' ...

North Somerset North Somerset is a unitary district in Somerset, South West England. Whilst its area covers part of the ceremonial county of Somerset, it is administered independently of the non-metropolitan county. Its administrative headquarters is in the ...

, England. The combe cuts into the western edge of the

Lulsgate Plateau Lulsgate Plateau is the name given to the Carboniferous Limestone hills which form a northern outlier of the Mendip Hills, southwest of Bristol, England, approximately above sea level, which has been occupied since prehistoric times. The major f ...

, the

Carboniferous limestone Carboniferous Limestone is a collective term for the succession of limestones occurring widely throughout Great Britain and Ireland that were deposited during the Dinantian epoch (geology), Epoch of the Carboniferous period (geology), Period. T ...

hills which form a northern outlier of the

Mendips The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills ...

, south west of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Bristol International Airport Bristol Airport , at Lulsgate Bottom, on the northern slopes of the Mendip Hills, in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England, and the surrounding area. It is southwest of Bristol city centre. Built on t ...

lies at the top of the combe. A minor road runs along the length of the combe, meeting the A370 at the lower end, near the village of Brockley. The name arises as a very rare co-joining of two Brythonic words; combe meaning 'a small deep dry valley, easily defended', and Brock meaning '

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...

'. Combe is spelt differently in other part of the United Kingdom as ''Coombe'' and ''Coomb'', but the meanings are the same. The ''National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland'', published in 1868, describes Brockley Combe as follows: ''"Near the village, on the south-east, is Brockley Coomb, a deep narrow glen, of singular beauty, sunk between steep rocks, rising at some points to the height of 300 feet. It is adorned with many noble trees, and all the fissures and ledges of the cliffs are enriched with a great variety of mosses and other forms of vegetation. Lead ore is found here, and there are masses of columnar basalt."'' Two identically named poems were written about the combe. ''Brockley Coomb'' by British Romantic poet

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

, which is subtitled ''Lines composed while climbing the left ascent of Brockley Coomb, May 1795''; and ''Brockley Coomb'' by British poet Arthur Hugh Clough.

John Marius Wilson John Marius Wilson (c. 1805–1885) was a British writer and an editor, most notable for his gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographical index or directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.Aurousseau, 61. It typically contains informati ...

said that Brockley Combe was a "favourite resort of Coleridge". To the south is another, more undisturbed, combe,

Goblin Combe Goblin Combe is a dry valley in North Somerset which stretches for approximately 3½ km from Redhill, Somerset, Redhill, near Bristol International Airport on the A38 road, A38, through to Cleeve, Somerset, Cleeve on the A370 road, A370. The combe ...

Brockley Hall

Forestry is carried out in the surrounding woodland. Down from the A370 is a Georgian manor house called Brockley Hall, this was inhabited by the Smyth Pigott family until later in its life. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

it was inhabited by American soldiers who have inscribed their names in the surrounding trees and even the large stone gate posts. After the war the hall was lived in by squatters. In the 1960s and early 70s, it was let out as flats, with houses being built in the grounds. Around 35 years ago, it was bought and refurbished, then resold as 4 separate apartments, each worth nowadays around £900,000 In the woods are the remains of a

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

which was used in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It is surrounded by large mature yew trees, one of which was painted by

Samuel Hieronymus Grimm Samuel Hieronymus Grimm (18 January 1733 – 14 April 1794)''The Gentleman's Magazine, 1794, p399 was an 18th-century Swiss landscape artist who worked in oils (until 1764), watercolours, and pen and ink media. Grimm specialised in documenting h ...

in 1773.

References

External links

Brockley & Chelvey parish

{{coord, 51.3951, -2.7540, format=dms, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title North Somerset Forests and woodlands of Somerset