Volume Twelve - Pre-Victorian to the Present Day - further aspects - The Bristol Channel District Guide - selected articles - [1934 Edition] . . . .

According to a story current among the inhabitants of the village of Combe Martin, which lies just inland, the Hanging Hills take their name from the Hanging Stone, which marking the parish boundary, was so called from " a thief, who, having stolen a sheep and tied it about his neck to carry it on his back, rested himself for a time on this rock. The sheep struggling, slipped over the side and strangled the man. "

In ancient times silver mines were worked at Combe Martin, giving the Lord Mayors of London one of their most treasured articles of plate, a massive silver " loving cup, " weighing 168 ounces.

Crossing Combe Martin Bay we pass the celebrated Smallmouth and Briary Caves, and then catch sight of one of the " stately homes of England, " Watermouth Castle, standing on rising ground a short distance from the shore.