Chapel Cottage

Iron Chapel

Whilst the first reference to Coombe dates back to 1520, the area surrounding the Duckpool valley was lived in long before this. The 1885 Ordinance Survey map of Coombe references a Christian chapel, but it is likely that it stood some 20 years before that. Made from timber, it arrived in Coombe on wheels. These 'iron chapels' were movable and were often bought second hand, something that must have made it possible for the farm-workers, who made up the congregation, to afford it. Once it found its current resting spot the chapel was given a slate roof but fell out of use soon after, eventually being sold to the Tape family who built the bungalow alongside it.

Views of Coombe and the surrounding valley

Chapel Cottage is ideally placed, sitting slightly above the rest of Coombe, with views over the valley and nearby orchards which lead down to the stream that runs through Coombe. There is a watermill and several other Landmarks and the parish lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The beaches at Duckpool and Sandymouth offer stunning walks and great surfing respectively. The surrounding area is steeped in mystery and local folklore whilst nearby Tintagel Castle is reputedly the birthplace of King Arthur.

All of the properties are available to rent either individually or in any combination and we find that many family groups return year after year.

See all our Landmarks at Coombe

The Coombe Meeting Room was also referred to as the Coombe Tabernacle, presumably because it was not only made of wood but also equipped with wheels. The congregation must have felt confident in a degree of permanence, however, since they gave it a slate roof. The chapel was sold in 1922 and the Tapes built the bungalow alongside it.

The first known reference to Coombe is in 1520, but the mile of sheltered valley running inland from Duckpool has been lived in continuously from very early times. A decayed earthwork in Stowe Woods at the head of the valley is an Iron Age fort and the hidden site of the hamlet is typical of ancient habitations in Cornwall. Although the earliest of the existing houses date only from the 17th century, they are likely to stand on older sites. The hamlet stands lies on the southern edge of the parish of Morwenstow. It was until recently divided between two landowners. The land west of the stream belonged from the 1540s until 1922 to the Duchy of Cornwall, as part of the manor of Eastway. The land east of the stream was originally part of the manor of Northleigh, or Lee, which until the Elizabethan period was owned by the Coplestone family, but soon afterwards passed to the Grenvilles of Stowe on the hillside above. It remained part of the Stowe estate until 1949.

Coombe is listed as one of the ‘principal villages’ of the parish of Morwenstow by Daniel Lysons in Magna Britannia Vol. III, published in 1814. This makes it sound quite big and indeed it was once much larger: in the middle of the 19th century there were between twelve and fifteen households here, but by 1891 these had shrunk to just three. By the beginning of the 20th century Coombe had become a favourite stopping place for walkers, gaining a mention in most Cornish guidebooks from the 1890s onwards. Official recognition of its landscape came in 1930 when the Council for the Protection of Rural England recommended that the whole Coombe Valley, along with the coastal path, should be preserved as a place of outstanding natural beauty. It was another thirty years before this hope was realised but in 1960 the National Trust acquired the first of several holdings, on the south side of the valley. Between 1966 and 1969, the hamlet itself was bought by the Landmark Trust, as part of a joint scheme with the National Trust to preserve it and its exceptional setting. 

To read the full history album for Chapel Cottage please click here.

To download a copy of the children's Explorer pack for Chapel Cottage please click here.

Chapel Cottage

1970 saw the completion of work on Chapel Cottage.  After  three summers of letting, its turn for improvement came in the autumn of 1969.  

The idea was to reverse the existing arrangement by putting the bedrooms in the bungalow and making the chapel, restored to one space again by the removal of  partitions, into the living room.  To keep the older building distinct from the  newer one, a bit of the bungalow's front wall was taken down and the present  glass fronted hall put in its place. The old front door became a window.  A small W.C. at the back was enlarged to contain the kitchen and bathroom. 

Much of the weatherboarding on the chapel had to be renewed.  Inside, some old matchboarding survived, but elsewhere had been replaced with plaster.   It was decided that it would be cosier, and more in keeping with its original design, to line the whole room with matchboarding which was then painted and  grained.  In the bedrooms, Landmark's founding trustee, John Smith, insisted on  raising the heads of the windows slightly, to give to the tall as well as the  short the full benefit of the cottage's elevated view of Coombe.