Picture of the Month – Luccombe Mill

Luccombe Mill is the subject of July 2020’s ‘Picture of the Month’. I have no picture-postcard images of Luccombe Mill in my collection, the two images used here being loaned to me a long to me ago by the late Jeane Harris, a granddaughter of the Prescotts who farmed there in the early 20^th Century and another copied from an original belonging to the late Fred Partridge, whose brother, Bill, farmed there during the late 1940’s, 50’s & 60’s until he moved to East Luccombe Farm and the lands were transferred at the same time.

Originally two separate dwellings, they were converted into one around 1840. The 1841 census lists only one family living there, William & Elizabeth Hole with their six children. William’s occupation was given as an agricultural labourer, but by the 1851 census he was described as a pauper, former miller and blind, indicating that the mill had been active into the 19^th century; it was not mentioned in the Domesday Book.

The mill itself was located in a building on the left of the track to the farm. It was fed by a leat which began in Luccombe Allers. The point where it crossed the road can still be detected by an undulation in the road surface, it then passed along the edge of a field to the mill.

Believed to be Charles and Lizzie Priscott in front of Luccombe Mill

By 1901, Charles Priscott, his wife Lizzie and their family were living there, together with Ida Davis, a general domestic servant. By the time of the 1939 National Survey, Charles W. (Bill) Prescott had succeeded his father and was residing there with his wife Margaret. Mr. Strong was farming at Luccombe Mill during WW2 and photographs can be seen in the book ‘Exmoor Village’ (1947)

Mr & Mrs Strong at Luccombe Mill c.1944

THE FOLLOWING EXTRACT IS TAKEN FROM THE LUCCOMBE PARISH MAGAZINE, FEBRUARY 1972:

“……The legacy of £500 left to Luccombe PCC by the late Mr. C.W.Prescott, calls to mind events of 50 or so years ago when the family farmed at Luccombe Mill. Bill, as he was known, was an enterprising young man who owned a char-a-banc in the 1920’s and hired it out for tours and outings. It wasn’t very big by today’s standards, about a 20 seater if I remember correctly and the hood came down to make it an open tourer. It was kept in the garage at Luccombe Mill, which Bill built himself and which remained standing until a couple of years ago.*

Bill Prescott and his lorry/char-a-banc with a party of boy scouts and their camping gear in Huish Ball Lane.

He was the first farmer around here to own a tractor, a “Bristol” crawler which was almost a toy compared with present-day machines. His father, Charles along with his uncle William from Culver Cottage, were largely responsible for the condition of the roads when they were made up of stones quarried locally, hauled by horse and cart to heaps where they were cracked to a suitable size to be eventually rolled into the road by the giant steam rollers then in use…..”

. The crawler tractor. Bill Prescott is standing. The driver is believed to have been a representative from the suppliers.

* Later note: The char-a-banc had a split identity. During the week it was actually a lorry used for general haulage, but when required to carry passengers, the ‘lorry’ section could be removed and replaced by the passenger-carrying section. Careful examination of the photo of the ‘lorry’ shows a hackney carriage plate licensing it for 14 passengers. The family name is given as Prescott in some sources and Priscott in others.

Check out all of our previous pictures of the month and read more about Luccombe’s history.