Coombes Valley (Hell Hole?).
I have written about the Coombes Valley previously on this website, although it is difficult to unearth new information regarding this wooded valley that can be found close to the village of Bradnop in the Staffordshire moorlands, I have come across new information which hopefully will fill some of the gaps in its history.
Sharpcliffe hall, which can be found above the eastern side of the valley and which dates back to 1673 is inextricably linked to the heavily wooded Coombes valley, in the past there must have been problems supplying the hall with water and it would have been the reason that they built the Spirithole which can be found in a meadow at the southerly end of Spirithole woods. Although there are many legends attached to this small body of water, the truth of the matter is that it is man made and was created around the time that the hall was constructed in 1673 to provide a source of water for the hall. The water I would assume would have been collected in barrels and transported by horse and cart to the hall. I have in fact found evidence of an old track leading from the location of the Spirithole and which climbs up through the woods before exiting close to the public footpath which leads to the Woodcock trail. Where it emerges is only a short distance to to the top of the ridge and Sharpcliffe Hall.
It seems that at a later date a spring was located in the grounds of the hall and a similar castellated design to the one found at the Spirithole was built to mark the spot. At a much later date a pump was installed at Clough Meadow pond at the bottom of the valley and the concrete structure which housed the pump can still be seen, this would have pumped water out of the valley to the hall. After talking to one of the workers at the hall he informed me that there is now a bore hole which now provides water to the hall and which has finally solved the water issue.
Returning once more to the Spirithole, probably not many people realise that it was dregded and expanded by the territorial army sometime in the 60s or 70s. In fact you can still see a raised embankment on the western side of the pool which I assume is where the dregded material was placed. The reason behind this was to attract more birds and wildlife to the Coombes valley which is now an R.S.P.B reserve.
Returning to Sharpcliffe hall it is believed its name is taken from the shape of the ridge which leads down into the valley and can be seen in this grainy photograph.
Many years ago, before Sharpcliffe existed, going back all the way to the year 1280 there would have been a house at this spot along with two british encampments, the following extract is taken from a rare book, ‘ The Tales of Ipstones’, by Rev F Brighton and is as follows, “That deep and mysterious hollow, with its Spirithole, Hell hole, Butter-milk stream and Horsley’s stone, then yielded up some of its secrets.
Amongst other things earthworks were found running into the hollow from the western side, so that bands of men could glide up and down without being seen.
It was concluded that a fierce struggle had taken place there when the Saxons first got into England.
After a bloody struggle in those days, a place was often left desolate and blasted with a bad name. The bad name “Hell Hole” still goes on but some old records have lately come to hand which show that our conclusions then were true, and that the solitude lasted about 500 years.”
It would appear that a large battle took place in this valley between the Anglo Saxons and the British troops who had their encampment above the eastern side of the valley. What I disagree with as regards to the Rev F Brighton’s statement is that the earthworks or natural topography of the side of the valley to which he refers too is on the eastern side and not on the western side which is very steep and contains little in the way of concealment.
One has to ask does the battle which took place here and where so many people lost their lives, perhaps have left some sort of pyschic stain on the valley, after all it would be 500 years before anyone ventured back into the valley for any extended amount of time, also we have what is known as the ghost ridge which may have provided access for the troops to enter the valley, does the term ghost ridge refer to sightings of the long dead soldiers over the years? Not only this we have black phantom dog sightings in close proximity to this valley, one over at Bradnop where there is two grave sites which are said to contain the bodies of some of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s soldiers, there has been a sighting at the egg well, another at the Indefont well at Ipstones and another at the hermitage at Ipstones.
I have previously spoken to the owner of Apesford farm which is close to the northern outskirts of Spirithole woods, she went on to relate to me the unusual animals she had seen in the area and also some of her sheep had strayed into Spirithole woods and had been in there a number of months, eventually she sent her father down to round them up and bring them back, whereupon according to her, they rushed out of the woods and started biting her father! Also an interesting fact is that the name Apesford means Harpsford, which is said to relate to a harp player who played music next the the Coombes brook, a requiem to the fallen soldiers perhaps?
And finally one last thing, the proper spelling for this valley is Combes and not Coombes, this was down to a spelling error by the R.S.P.B., the word Combes means steep sided valley running north to south in the welsh language.
Footnote.
I am unsure whether the Territorial Army dredged and widened the Spirithole, or whether it was Clough Meadow pond which they altered to attract more birds to the area. It makes more sense if it was Clough Meadow as that is situated in the actual reserve, whereas the Spirithole is located on its outskirts.
ludchurch 