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Challacombe

{{Short description|Village in Devon, England}}

{{About|the Devon village|the Thoroughbred racehorse|Challacombe (horse)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox UK place

| country = England

| static_image = Challacombe Post Office and Telephone kiosk - geograph.org.uk - 629755.jpg

| static_image_width = 240px

| static_image_caption =

| coordinates = {{coord|51.153|-3.869|display=inline,title}}

| label_position = top

| official_name = Challacombe

| population =

| shire_district =

| shire_county = Devon

| region = South West England

| constituency_westminster = North Devon

| post_town = Barnstaple

| postcode_district = EX31

| postcode_area = EX

| dial_code =

| os_grid_reference =

}}

Challacombe is a small village on the edge of the Exmoor National Park, in Devon, England. The village has a small general shop/Post Office and a single pub, the Black Venus. The village is on the B3358 road and is 5 miles west of Simonsbath.

Landmarks

Believed to be the only inn in England bearing this name, The Black Venus Inn is an old stone-built pub, a historic 16th century building with low ceiling and original beams.{{cite book| last = Bradt| first = Hilary| title = Slow Devon & Exmoor| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Vdmqli-PYo4C&pg=PA246| access-date = 30 September 2012| date = 13 July 2010| publisher = Bradt Travel Guides| isbn = 978-1-84162-322-1| page = 246}}

West Challacombe Manor is a medieval manor house in the area. It is described as a "white-washed house with rendered walls and Georgian framed windows on the south slope of Little Hangman Hill and looks like an archetypal Devon farmhouse rather than a medieval manor house."{{cite book| last = Emery| first = Anthony| title = Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales, 1300-1500: Volume 3, Southern England| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=g7EXvaDEYioC&pg=PA679| access-date = 30 September 2012| date = 9 March 2006| publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 978-0-521-58132-5| page = 679}} It was restored between 1993-1999. Also of note is the historic Packhorse Bridge and Challacombe Church.

The nearby Shoulsbury castle is an Iron Age hill fort.

Etymology

File:Challacombe, Simonsbath road at the Black Venus - geograph.org.uk - 58598.jpg

The name 'Challacombe' literally means 'cold valley'. The name derives from the Old English words ceald ('cold') and cumb ('valley'). The village was recorded as Celdecomba in the Domesday Book.

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

{{Commons category-inline|Challacombe}}

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