Branscombe

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map sources for Branscombe at grid reference SY1988

Coordinates: 50°41′N 3°08′W

Branscombe is a village in the East Devon district of the English county of Devon. The parish covers 1,392 hectares (3,440 acres). Its permanent population in 2005 was estimated at 523 by the Family Health Services Authority. It is located within the East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its principal industries are farming and tourism, although a significant number of permanent residents are retired. Over half the estimated population in 2005 were over 50. The village straggles along about 3Km of a narrow road down a steep-sided valley which leads eventually to a shingle beach, Branscombe Mouth, which forms past of the East Devon and Dorset Jurassic Coast. To either side of the beach, the coast rises steeply to cliffs, which are in the ownership of the National Trust. It is a popular point for starting short walks on the South West Coast Path; it is a short walk eastwards to Beer (with two alternative routes, one at the top of the cliffs and the other along an interesting landslip area called the Undercliff) and a longer walk westwards towards Sidmouth.

From the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, Branscombe was a source of hand-made lace, and Branscombe Point is a style that is still practised by lacemakers world-wide. Fishing was also a traditional industry, as well as source of food. The manufacture of flints for early guns and the cooking of limestone to make fertiliser were short-lived but important local enterprises, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The church of Saint Winifred dates from the Norman era, but there is some archaeological evidence suggesting there may have been a former Saxon building, on the site.

There is a small primary school, which had 68 pupils in 2005. It is owned and operated by the Church of England with grant assistance from the Devon County Council. The original building dates from 1878.

There are two public houses in the parish, the Fountainhead and the Mason's Arms. The Fountainhead is sited at the source of a spring in the hamlet of Street. The Mason's Arms sign is a reminder that stone quarrying in the nearby Beer stone caves was once a major employer in the village; from the undercliff path east of Branscombe Mouth, an adit to the former Beer stone mine can be seen.. The Mason's Arms is also an hotel. A village brewery, Branscombe Vale, has won many awards for its beer.

The village contains National Trust property called Branscombe — The Old Bakery, Manor Mill & Forge, which have been restored by the Trust; the Trust has owned them since 1965.

The name of the parish is probably Celtic in origin. It is made up of two words, "Bran" and "cwm". Bran is a well established Celtic personal or tribal name that may also mean "black" or "crow black". Cwm is a topographical term still in use in English as well as modern Welsh to describe a steep-sided hollow or valley. So the name probably records the first Celtic family to take possession of the land, probably from the Dumnonii tribe, sometime between 2000-2700 BP.