Combe Fields
Aerial view from west looking east over Coombe Abbey and the Combe Fields parish
Combe Fields is located in Warwickshire
Combe Fields
Combe Fields
Location within Warwickshire
Population131 (2021)
Civil parish
  • Combe Fields
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom

Combe Fields is a civil parish in the Rugby district, in the county of Warwickshire, England. The parish has no village, but contains Coombe Abbey, after which it is named, and a few isolated houses. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 114, increasing to 126 at the 2011 census, and 131 at the 2021 census.[1]

The parish also contains Ansty Park,[2] a business park where Cadent Gas and the London Electric Vehicle Company have their headquarters. The business park is on the former site of Ansty Aerodrome, a military airfield in operation from 1936 until 1953 and primarily used for training.[3][4] To the south of Ansty Park is a Rolls-Royce factory that manufactures components for aircraft engines.[5] Between 1946 and 1971, rocket motors were developed and tested at the site.[6]

At the time of the Domesday Book the parish was called Smite,[7] which contained two settlements of Upper and Lower Smite; these were both deserted in the 12th or 13th century when Monks from Coombe Abbey enclosed the fields to create sheep pastures. The old parish name is retained in Smite Brook, Smeeton Lane and Smite Hill.[8][9][10] The remains of the medieval church of St Peter of Lower Smite was converted into a house called Peter Hall in the 16th century.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Combe Fields Parish in West Midlands". City Population. Retrieved 1 January 2024.
  2. ↑ "House of Lords Select Committee on the Rural Economy Collated Written Evidence Volume" (PDF). 26 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "Ansty (Coventry)". Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  4. ↑ 'Parishes: Combe Fields', in A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 6, Knightlow Hundred, ed. L F Salzman (London, 1951), pp. 72-74. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/warks/vol6/pp72-74 [accessed 31 December 2023].
  5. ↑ Williamson, Jonny (9 November 2017). "Rolls-Royce to build £250m hub in Coventry". The Manufacturer. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Historic England. "Rolls Royce Ansty (1009794)". Research records (formerly PastScape). Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  7. ↑ "Parishes: Combe Fields". British History Online. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  8. ↑ "LOWER SMITE DESERTED MEDIEVAL VILLAGE". Our Warwickshire. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  9. ↑ "UPPER SMITE DESERTED MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENT". Our Warwickshire. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "Coombe Abbey". Historic England. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  11. ↑ "CHURCH OF ST PETER, SMITE (PETER HALL), COMBE FIELDS". Our Warwickshire. Retrieved 2 September 2020.


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