Village History
The area was inhabited from prehistoric times, with Iron Age and Roman remains found locally. The origins of the village are likely between the 7th and 9th century AD, a period when scattered and ephemeral farmsteads were coalescing into compact villages surrounded by open fields laid out in strips and farmed communally under a feudal lord. This type of landscape, often described as Champion, is characteristic of a band of land broadly from Dorset to the Wash, contrasting with the scattered settlements and older enclosures of the north-west and south-east.
In 972 King Edgar’s Charter describes the boundaries of Pershore Abbey lands and these include Cumbrincgtune, which consisted of 10 manses. The village appears in the Doomsday Book, but we cannot deduce either the area of the parish or the population from the information it lists. The earliest mention of the church is in 1268, but the structure seems to have been almost completely rebuilt in the 14th century, however, the nave has leaning walls which are Norman at the bottom. The church tower houses a set of six bells, some dating back to the 1600s and some cast locally in Evesham. The tower also houses the church clock, which is still working after 150 years, chiming out the hours and which is annually maintained by the same Derby company which made it.
The churchyard contains an enormous English Yew which is probably between 700 – 900 years old.
Great Comberton was notable in having one of the biggest dovecots in England (no longer extant). It was a red brick, square tower with a four-gabled roof and 1425 nesting holes and had been pictured in the Royal Academy. It used to stand near the road in the grounds of Kents Farm.
The first clear map of the village dates from 1809 when the Hanfords of Woollas Hall were lords of the Manor. It shows five open arable fields, areas of meadow, small, enclosed fields immediately around the village, and waste, or rough grazing on the hill. In 1820 all this was swept away, and the land was parcelled up and allocated to those that held strips in preserved as ridge and furrow. Pear trees were prominent in the 1800s with the perry said to have been famous beyond the neighbourhood. With the establishment of tenants’ rights in 1872 orchards proliferated, as shown in early Ordnance Survey Maps and some survive today.
From 1831 to 1931 the population remained relatively stable at around 200 living in between 50 and 58 dwellings. Since then, some of the old cottages have been demolished and piecemeal infill and replacement houses in varying styles and materials have been constructed. In 1950 the first phase of an estate of 39 houses and bungalows was built at Hands Orchard. Today there are 134 dwelling with a population of about 300.