Timberscombe

The pub and store at the village's centre

Boris the pub dog is part of the welcome at The Lion Inn, Timberscombe's dog-friendly village pub. It has hosted curry, kebab, pizza and pie nights, and diners have singled out homemade kebab, roast beef, cheesecake and brownie. One visitor summed up the atmosphere: "All local pubs should be like this one!" The pub gives the village a sociable centre.

The other place that holds the village together is the Post Office and Store, which doubles as the spot where you find out what is going on. It carries Produced in Exmoor goods — local bread, honey, jam, pork, eggs, pickles, sausage rolls, soap and crafts — takes orders for Glenmore Bakery cakes, keeps walks and maps by the counter, and runs a used-book and puzzle exchange.

River, stone and connections

Timberscombe sits on the River Avill, in a wooded Exmoor valley that gave it its name, and its buildings include ironstone and red-sandstone rubble. Dunster is 2.5 miles away and Minehead 5.5 miles. The A396 follows the Minehead–Dulverton corridor, while the AtWest 198 bus links the village with Minehead, Dunster, Wheddon Cross, Exford, Winsford and Dulverton. Exmoor Community Bus's 678 provides another connection via Brompton Regis.

At the top of the village stands St Petrock's, a Grade I church built principally in the 15th century, with a west tower dated 1708. Its late-15th-century wooden rood screen has five fan-vaulted bays, and the stair and door to its loft remain. Inside are a Perpendicular octagonal font, a Jacobean pulpit and eight bells; in the churchyard stands a yew reckoned at over 440 years old. A Tudor south doorway uncovered in 1955 revealed a wall painting of King David playing a harp.

Trails into Timberscombe's past

The Timberscombe Heritage Trail makes a 1.5-mile, roughly one-hour circuit through village history. Developed by volunteers led by Paul Sheldon, it has gates and stiles, and parts can be muddy. A footpath climbs to the wooded Timberscombe hill fort, about 25 minutes from the church's north porch. South of the village, footpaths lead through a secluded valley to Clicket's ruined settlement. Its mill had ceased work by 1900, while ruined buildings, bridges and two nearby lime kilns survive.

Domesday counted fifteen households here, thirty sheep and ten goats, and valued the whole place at £2 5s.

Family play and nearby heights

For families, the John Arlott Playing Field sits centrally beside Bemberry Bank, with play equipment, benches and a picnic table; there are no public toilets in the village. Dunster Castle and its working watermill are 2.5 miles off, and Dunkery Beacon, Exmoor's highest point, is a gentle stony climb nearby.

J. P. Martin and the Uncle books

Between 1948 and 1960 the Methodist minister at 8 Willow Bank was J. P. Martin, who served as vice-chairman of the cricket club and wrote the Uncle books — six of them, illustrated by Quentin Blake, about a millionaire elephant.