There will be sloe gin for Christmas!

Saturday saw us in the small village of Combe which adjoins the Blenheim Estate. The village name 'Combe' means 'a valley' but the village is actually on high ground overlooking the River Evenlode. Apparently though the original settlement was nearer to the Evenlode where Combe Mill now stands. Usually a quiet tranquil place it was bursting with life as a large wedding was underway.

 

 The parish church is St. Laurence's which was built in the 12th century. Its interior includes several 15th century wall paintings, including a Doom over the chancel arch.

About a mile south-east of the village on the other side of the railway line, and opposite Combe Station, is the Mill Museum. A working museum it is described as the original ‘power house’ of the adjoining old Blenheim Palace Estate timber mill and workshops.

We set off on a circular walk that was to take us:

 

Down country lanes

Over the River Evenlode, a tributary of the Thames, and through a copse -

 

 

Through East End Village

Then down to the remains of North Leigh Roman Villa, considered one of the largest of its kind in Britain,now an English Heritage site. North Leigh Roman Villa was a Roman courtyard villa in the Evenlode Valley about half a mile north of the hamlet of East End. Significant finds of pre-Roman Iron Age pottery and other features beneath the former south-west range show evidence of earlier occupation, and it is known that the development of the site was lengthy and complex.  

The most important feature of the site is a nearly complete mosaic tile floor dating to the 3rd century.

 

 

Significant finds of pre-Roman Iron Age pottery and other features beneath the former south-west range show evidence of earlier occupation, and it is known that the development of the site was lengthy and complex.   

The Iron Age settlement was superseded by the first Roman development in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. This phase consisted of three buildings along the line of what was to become the north-west range, one of which was a bath-house. Another structure served as a linking corridor. 

Early in the 3rd century were added the south-west and north-east wings, partially enclosing the courtyard. These wings were later extended and the original north-west range entirely rebuilt, probably in the early 4th century. At this stage the villa incorporated 4 bath suites, 16 mosaic floors and 11 rooms with under-floor heating. Aerial photographs have revealed that there were further buildings beyond the south-west range – perhaps including an aisled barn or hall – which may have formed a home farm for the villa.

The villa was abandoned when the Romans withdrew from Britain in the 5th century.  

 

Under a disused railway bridge. Combe bridge existed pre 1258 when Henry III granted three oaks towards its repair. It was rebuilt in 1772 as a plank bridge with a single stone pier. It was destroyed by floods in 1822 and was rebuilt by the county, in 1825, as a stone bridge with two arches over the river flanked by a land arch at each end. 

 

 

From here there is a steep climb up Chatterpie Lane back into Combe, passing this somewhat typical unwelcoming sign:

This is myne - no plebs allowed!

But we were not yet finished. Not far from the start we passed some sloe bushes laden with ripe fruit and ready for picking. Put this together with the gin and, yes, there will be sloe gin for Christmas :-p