Coombe is a small hamlet at the forgotten junction of two wooded valleys in North Cornwall. Mill, millhouse and anciently picturesque cottages cluster in orchards around the ford of a shallow stream, just half a mile from the sea at Duckpool, where half tide exposes a sandy beach. The hamlet once belonged in part to the Grenville family of the long-demolished Stowe Barton, and it souls were later under the care of the Reverend Stephen Hawker, celebrated Vicar of Morwenstow. Landmark’s presence at Coombe (and only our visitors populate it today) preserves the hamlet and its exceptional setting in a joint scheme with the National Trust, who own most of the surrounding land and coastline.

Chapel Cottage takes its name from the former Bible Christian meeting room, which is now its living-room. Made of timber, it arrived in Coombe in about 1860 on wheels, which are still there under the front. These movable ‘iron chapels’ as they were known could be bought second-hand, which must have suited the pockets of the farm workers who made up the congregation. Once here, it was given a slate roof but fell out of use soon after 1900 and was later divided up and a bungalow added at one end. We restored the chapel itself, putting back its sash windows and timber lining, and improved the appearance and interior of the addition. It is very well placed – a little above the rest of Coombe, looking across the valley over the top of one of the orchards.

Sleeps: 4