 The parish of Coombes existed, with the name "Cumbe", at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, when it supported two manors and their associated settlements.Coombes was the larger at the time but neither it nor Applesham (the other hamlet) was significant.The settlements, high on the South Downs above the River Adur's floodplain, may have had their origins in a pair of Saxon-era estates.