The Victorian Period was an era of major change in Englishcombe. Although the original Coach House

at Barrow Castle pre-dated Victoria, the Castle itself was burnt down in the early 1800s and rebuilt

later in Victoria's reign. In 1846, a similar fate took the barns and ricks of Jacob Cottle's Manor Farm

-- the horse drawn fire engines taking only half an hour to reach Englishcombe from Bath on what was

little more than a cart track.

There was early industrial development with the mining of Fuller's Earth in the east of the Parish, but

otherwise the village and its surroundings were entirely agricultural, with a large part of the population

working the land. In the latter part of Victoria's reign, a specialist business was developed by Walter T Ware

 -- owner of Barrow Castle from 1890 -- at Haycombe Farm, where daily cut flowers including daffodils, roses,

tulips and lilies of the valley were bred for the London market, being transported there by the new

iron railroad of Isambard Kingdom Brunel

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