Stephen de Haccombe

Stephen de Haccombe

Stephen stirred from his slumber under a cherry tree in the Cherry orchard of Haccombe. The sun warmed his back as his gaze slowly focused on Haccombe below. He could hear the stream to his left cascading down the hill to Haccombe Mill, its water giving life to Haccombe. Haccombe village was busy now, and people worked the fields on the slopes of the Haccombe combe. When his grandfather Stephen held Haccombe under Baldwin the population was recorded as being 15. The village had grown in the intervening years under his father William de Haccombe. The population was never to be large, but the manor was self contained providing most things that were needed. Stephen looked down to his Hall, as was usual then the village encroached onto the hall were he lived; they all lived and prospered together. There was more activity than normal round the hall today, as everyone prepared for Stephens journey to the Crusades in the morning. Stephen reflected on having to leave Haccombe for the crusade he always felt at home here, happy and content. Haccombe seemed distanced from the rest of the world nestled in the folds of the combe and derived the name Haccombe from being a hidden combe. But now was the time to leave for the crusade, like all young noblemen, Stephen had trained from an early age in the skills of warfare. He had practised with his sword each day, he had lifted the logs above his head and ran with boulders to improve his strength and endurance, he had filled out, was fighting fit and eager to prove himself.

The Church by preaching, prayers and processions had set another crusade on the road to the Holy Land. Stephen set out on his journey with men from the village and the surrounding area. He was a young man of twenty seven or twenty eight and must have been excited by the prospect of his journey to the Holy land buoyed up by the noise of the villagers waving him off. It is probable that he left for the crusade in 1228. We do not know from which port he left for the crusade, but it is possible that it was Teignmouth. His descendants the Carews held West Teignmouth and Shaldon either side of the Teign estuary and leased fishing boats and ships to local people. They also had fishing rights to the Teign which would have provided fresh fish for Haccombe. However it was more than likely that Stephen met up with Bishop Briewere of Exeter and his cousins and kinfolk and made his way to Dartmouth the more usual port for leaving for the crusades. We can only imagine that Stephen and his party joined up with the forces of the Emperor Frederick II who had sailed from Italy to take back Jerusalem. The Sultan of Egypt surrendered Jerusalem in 1229.

In 1233 Stephen and his men returned from the Holy Land making his way up the track between the meadow and the Oak woods. After five years his heart must have lifted when he saw Haccombe and the villagers must have thronged around them with excitement. Stephen’s return must have been tinged with sadness as his father had died in the intervening years. Stephen was now Lord of Haccombe.
Stephen like many crusaders resolved to build a church on his return. The church he built in 1233 was dedicated to St Blaise. Perhaps because of wool and sheep being important to the economy of Haccombe or perhaps due to the cult of St Blaise and a shrine he may have visited in Ragusa (Dubrovnik). Stephen called his son Jordan a reminder of his travels.