Welcombe as a village does not exist but is actually a collection of hamlets. The area near the Church is signed as Welcombe but is in fact a hamlet called Town. This along with the hamlets of Mead, Darracott, Linton and Upcott form Welcombe. The name Welcombe means spring valley and there are a number of springs, the most famous being Holy Well by St Nectan’s church which dates back to Norman times.

Welcombe has a long history and its unspoilt setting makes it easy to imagine the area as it was years ago. First mentioned in the Doomsday Book it was then one of the most valuable villages in the area consisting of 10 acres of meadow, 20 acres of pasture and 1 league of woodland (around 4,000 acres).

Welcombe sits on the wreckers coast, popular with pirates who lured ships on to the rocks by tricking them into believing they had got past the head of the peninsula at Harland. One famous pirate was Cruel Copinger who ran a gang of pirates from Marsland Mouth and lived in a local farmhouse.

There is a long history of farming in the village based mainly around dairy which is traditional in Devon. Over the centuries woodland was been converted to farmland which now forms the majority.

In more recent times, Welcombe has attracted many artists and writers. Ronald Duncan, writer, poet and playwright lived here and wrote some of his most well-known poems from a hut on the cliffs which you can still visit today. Dora Carrington stayed here and it is thought here painting Mrs Box is of one of a Welcombe farmer’s wife.