We took a drive through Englishcombe, a small village of about 200 people just south-west of Bath. It was very picturesque, dotted with cottages and farmhouses amongst lush green fields and farmland. There were many narrow hedge roads, conjuring up images of villagers walking between properties going about their daily business.

Evidence of people living in the area dates back to Neolithic times (10,000 BC – 2,000 BC). In 1066 the village belonged to Nigel de Gournay, a Frenchman who was believed to have won the lands through battle. The mound from the Gournay family’s castle, built in the 12th century, can still be seen.

Family history connection

We specifically visited Englishcombe because ancestors from my husband Julian’s father’s family lived here. We found the home that the family lived in up until as recently as the 1940s (photo 3). Julian’s grandfather immigrated to Australia as a young man in the mid 1920s and settled in regional Western Australia.