Odcombe

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book when it was owned by Robert, Count of Mortain. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the Barony of Odcombe was given to Ansgar de Brito (formerly Ansgar de Montacute/Ansgar Deincourt) for valor in battle. Along with the Odcombe Barony, Ansgar de Brito acquired multiple additional holdings within Somersetshire, at which point the Count of Mortain became his overlord. In the 1860s, the village church was redeveloped, during which time the preserved shoes of Thomas Coryat were lost. The village is built predominantly out of the local hamstone still quarried on Ham Hill, two miles to the west. The parish was part of the hundred of Houndsborough.