Timberscombe

"TIMBERSCOMBE, a parish in the hundred of Carhampton, county Somerset, 2½ miles S.W. of Dunster, its post town, and 5½ S. of Minehead. The village is situated in a valley, and is traversed by the turnpike road from Dunster to Dulverton. The subsoil consists of red sandstone and limestone, which are quarried. There are two chalybeate springs. The living is a vicarage* in the diocese of Bath and Wells, value £170, in the patronage of the bishop. The church, dedicated to St. Michael and All Angels, is old, with a tower rebuilt in 1714, at the expense of Richard Elsworth, Esq., containing a clock and five bells. The interior contains a carved screen and some stained-glass windows. The register dates from 1656. The parochial charities produce about £197 per annum, of which £187 is the bequest of Richard Elsworth, left in 1714 for founding a school and two scholarships at Balliol College, Oxon, but the schoolhouse was not built till 1824. A revel is held on the Sunday prior to the 10th October." From The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson © 2003