Ilfracombe has been settled since the iron age, its name is a derivative of
the Anglo-Saxon Alfreincoma - by which name it was noted in the Exeter Domesday
Book. Ilfracombe was made up of two communities; a farming community around the
parish church called Holy Trinity, parts of which date from the 12th century;
and the other was a fishing community around the natural harbour beneath the
dominant hill.