Sible Hedingham

Sible Hedingham (/ˌsɪbəl ˈhɛdɪŋəm/ SIB-əl HED-ing-əm^[2]) is a large village and civil parish in the Colne Valley in the Braintree District of Essex, in England. It has a population of 3,994 according to the 2011 census.^[1] Sible Hedingham lies in the northern corner of Essex, close to both the Suffolk and Cambridgeshire borders. The village covers some 2,123 hectares (5,246 acres).

The Domesday Book of 1086 lists the village together with Hedingham Castle amongst the lands given to Roger Bigod by the king.^[3]^[4] The land included woodland for 70 pigs that was in total valued at £4.

A variation on the village name is "Hengham Sybyle".^[5]

In 1863, Sible Hedingham was the site of one of the last 19th-century witchcraft accusations in England. The victim is now known as "Dummy, the Witch of Sible Hedingham".

The village is twinned with the French commune of Choisy-au-Bac,^[6] located in Picardy region, Oise department (c. 80 km north of Paris, near Compiègne).

Notable people associated with Sible Hedingham

J. Redwood Anderson (1883–1964), poet died here^[7]
Rachel Barrett (1874–1953), suffragette and newspaper editor
Savitri Devi (1905–1982), prominent proponent of Nazism, animal rights and deep ecology, who died here
'Dummy' , an unnamed elderly deaf mute man murdered by a mob in 1863 after he was accused of witchcraft.
Sir John Hawkwood (1320–1394), English mercenary (or Condottiero) who was active in 14th-century Italy^[8]
John Hilton (surgeon) FRCS, FRS, FZS (1805–1878), Surgeon Extraordinary to Queen Victoria and greatest anatomist of his time^[9]
Joan Prentice, a woman living in an almshouse here who was accused of witchcraft and she was hanged in Chelmsford in 1589.^[10]
Samuel Wilbore (1595–1656) – a founder of Portsmouth Colony (Rhode Island, US; 7 March 1638) as a religious dissenter from the Plymouth Colony of Boston, Massachusetts

References

^ a b UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Sible Hedingham Parish (1170213791)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
^ jimmyw74 (25 March 2011). "Illegal Landbanking". YouTube. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ Domesday Book: A Complete Translation. London: Penguin, 2003. p. 1036 ISBN 0-14-143994-7
^ Roger Bigod held a number of manors including a massive number in Suffolk and Norfolk given to him by the King. These obviously included Sible Hedingham, but also included Pebmarsh, Ovington and the area of Belchamp.
^ Plea Roll of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP 40/647; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no647/bCP40no647dorses/IMG_0761.htm; third entry, second line residence of John Ekefeld, yeoman
^ "A French connection: Twinning teams mark 25 years together". Halstead Gazette. Retrieved 30 January 2019.
^ "Death of Poet". Birmingham Post. No. 32893. 30 March 1964. p. 22. Retrieved 17 February 2019 – via British Newspaper Archive.
^ Fowler, Kenneth (8 October 2009). "Hawkwood, Sir John (d. 1394), military commander". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/12693. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Kirkup, John (23 September 2004). "Hilton, John (1805–1878), anatomist and surgeon". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/13327. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Gibson, Marion (2004). "Essex witches (act. 1566–1589)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/70257. ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8. Retrieved 20 March 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

External links

Media related to Sible Hedingham at Wikimedia Commons