Risbridge Hundred

Risbridge is a hundred of Suffolk, consisting of 58,468 acres (236.61 km2).[1]

Risbridge Hundred forms the south western corner of Suffolk extending 15 miles (24 km) from north to south and between 4 and 9 miles (14 km) in breadth. It is bounded on the west by Cambridgeshire on the south by Essex, on the east by Babergh and Thingoe Hundreds and on the north by Lackford Hundred. It is in the Franchise or Liberty of St Edmund, in the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, Deanery of Clare and Diocese of Ely.

The southern boundary with Essex is formed by the River Stour and the hundred is crossed by a number of streams. It is generally a fertile agricultural area with predominantly clay soil. The major towns in the hundred are Clare and Haverhill.

Listed as Risebruge in the Domesday Book, the meaning of the name is not fully understood but probably "Hrisa's bridge" or a similar personal name. The bridge in question would almost certainly have crossed the Stour, an important crossing at a time when bridges were rare.[2] However similar place-names (ex: Ricebridge near Leigh in Surrey, Risbro in Sweden) are believed to have been bridges with a causeway over marshy land made from brushwood (ris) held by wooden pegs.

Parishes

Suffolk hundreds
Suffolk hundreds

Risbridge Hundred consisted of the following 32 parishes and hamlets:[1][3]

Parish Area (acres)
Barnardiston1085
Chedburgh508
Clare2178
Cowlinge3000
Dalham2080
Denham1990
Denston1230
Depden1523
Gazeley2270
Great Bradley2204
Great Thurlow1928
Great Wratting1330
Haverhill1817
Hawkedon1210
Higham Green2500
Hundon4000
Kedington1600
Kentford800
Lidgate1957
Little Bradley958
Little Thurlow1357
Little Wratting950
Moulton3073
Needham900
Ousden1490
Poslingford2300
Stansfield1850
Stoke-by-Clare2330
Stradishall1400
Wickhambrook4000
Withersfield2059
Wixoe600

References

  1. William White (1844). History, gazetteer, and directory of Suffolk. p. 721.
  2. Walter Skeat (1913). The Place-names of Suffolk.
  3. 1841 Census

52.1°N 0.6°E / 52.1; 0.6

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