Combe Hay - History

History

Combe Hay was known in the Domesday Book as Cumb. The parish of Combe Hay was part of the Wellow Hundred.

The village includes a church with a 15th century tower, the Georgian Combe Hay Manor and Georgian rectory.

Combe Hay was the site of a series of locks, dating from 1805 on the Somerset Coal Canal on which research and restoration is proposed. It is the site of one of the only Caisson locks ever built which was near the current Caisson House. Many of the locks and associated workings are listed buildings. It was also served by the Camerton and Limpley Stoke Railway.

From the 1880s until 1980 mines extracting Fuller's earth were to be found in Combe Hay. During World War II production expanded to supply foundries and in paint production. Work was scheduled under the Essential Works Order 1941 and new equipment installed. The site was bombed on the night of 25–26 April 1942 during the Baedeker Blitz raids on Bath, causing damage to some of the machines. The next night local residents sheltered in the mine. By the end of the war production was up to 250 tins a week. By 1949 the site had been electrified, therefore the Garrett steam engine was sold and the chimney demolished. The Fuller's Earth Union was taken over by Laporte plc. In 1978 a new extension was built making granules for Cat litter, but in 1979 a major customer making cars in the West Midlands closed and production was wound down until closure in 1980.