A
Roman villa once stood about from the village, indicating Roman occupation of the area. The site has been excavated on at least three occasions, the first by George Poulett Scrope in 1852 and the most recent in 2010. Some reports refer to the site as the
North Wraxall or the Truckle Hill villa. Evidence of a bath house and corn drying ovens were found, the latter from the 4th century. The villa itself apparently contained 16 rooms, and there were additional buildings and a cemetery. Neolithic flint tools and Iron Age brooches were also discovered not far from the villa, in 1985. The settlement was listed in the
Domesday Book of 1086, with 33 households; the Lord was Humphrey de l'Isle. The village takes its name from the
12th-century castle which stood about to the north. The site where the castle once stood now only contains the old earthworks and masonry, which are estimated to date from the 12th century. It is believed that the castle was constructed as the seat of the Barony of Combe under
Reginald de Dunstanville either during the reign of
Henry I or
Henry II. Reginald was thought to support
Empress Matilda during
the Anarchy, and the castle was constructed during the wave of castle buildings of the Anarchy period. The 14th-century
market cross, erected when
the right to hold a weekly market in Castle Combe was granted, stands where the three principal streets of the lower village converge. The Market Cross, a
scheduled monument, reflects "the significance of the cloth industry in this area". Next to the cross is one of Castle Combe's two
village pumps. Small stone steps near the cross were for horse riders to mount and dismount, and close by are the remains of the
buttercross, built in the late 19th century from old masonry. This structure, also known as Weavers' Steps and 'the stone', is another scheduled monument. confirming the importance of wool by that time. Scrope promoted the woollen industry, supplying his own troops and others for
Henry V's war in France. The parish was in the ancient
hundred of Chippenham. By the 17th century,
John Aubrey stated that a market was held on the site of the old castle. Notable houses include the Dower House, from the late 17th century is now Grade II listed. The village was owned by the Scrope family for over five centuries, until 1866 when it was sold to the Gorst family and Edward Chaddock Lowndes (who was previously also known as Gorst). The latter spent a great deal of money on improving the manor house and the estate. During the Second World War, the
RAF Castle Combe airfield was built east of the village, with runways, hangars and a control tower. Between 1946 and 1948 the airfield buildings were used as temporary housing for former military from Poland. The property was sold in 1948, and was later modified for motor racing; the tower is still used during races at
Castle Combe Circuit. For decades the village had a number of gristmills and sawmills but all went out of business;
Nettleton Mill closed before 1916 and Gatcombe Mill closed circa 1925; both are Grade II listed. The Long Dean Mill shut down in 1956; the Lower mill is now Grade II listed; Colham Mill was demolished in 1962. The last remaining stone tower of the castle stood for centuries, but it too was demolished, in 1950. == Listed buildings ==