Combe Sydenham

[2] The house is set in a 500 acres (200 ha) estate which contains a deer park and a variety of walks.

Tradition states that on the wedding day as the couple approached the Church of St Mary at Stogumber a loud clap of thunder was heard and a large meteorite crashed through the roof.

The 14 inches (360 mm) diameteriron meteorite, known as "Drake's cannon ball", has remained at the house ever since and has become smooth from being rolled on the ground.

[8] After Drake's death in 1596, Elizabeth Sydenham remarried (as his 2nd wife) to Sir William V Courtenay (1553–1630) of Powderham, Devon.

[28] He employed as his farm manager the young John Edwards (b.1926), recently qualified in agriculture at Seale-Hayne College near Exeter, Devon.

He stated of his time at Combe Sydenham:[29] In 2020, substantial forest land near Combe Sydenham was sold to SMH Woodland Ltd, a UK company believed to be controlled by Lord Hintze an Anglo-Australian landowner, philanthropist and investor while the sporting rights were sold separately to a London-based investment group.

Setting of Combe Sydenham
Combe Sydenham Hall
Arms of Sydenham: Argent, three rams passant guardant sable
Map showing locations of historic seats of the Sydenham family of Somerset: Sydenham ; Orchard Sydenham ; Combe Sydenham; Brympton D'Evercy ; Combe, Dulverton ; Pixton
Arms of Musgrave of Musgrave, Hartley and Edenhall in Cumberland: Azure, six annulets three, two, one, or [ 13 ] These are the arms of Baron Musgrave created 1350, being a difference of the arms of Vipont , the powerful Westmorland family and overlords whose many feudal tenants and followers adopted for arms variants of Vipont