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Risbridge Hundred

Coordinates: 52°06′N 0°36′E / 52.1°N 0.6°E / 52.1; 0.6
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

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Suffolk hundreds
Suffolk hundreds

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

Parish Area (acres)
Barnardiston 1085
Chedburgh 508
Clare 2178
Cowlinge 3000
Dalham 2080
Denham 1990
Denston 1230
Depden 1523
Gazeley 2270
Great Bradley 2204
Great Thurlow 1928
Great Wratting 1330
Haverhill 1817
Hawkedon 1210
Higham Green 2500
Hundon 4000
Kedington 1600
Kentford 800
Lidgate 1957
Little Bradley 958
Little Thurlow 1357
Little Wratting 950
Moulton 3073
Needham 900
Ousden 1490
Poslingford 2300
Stansfield 1850
Stoke-by-Clare 2330
Stradishall 1400
Wickhambrook 4000
Withersfield 2059
Wixoe 600

References

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

52°06′N 0°36′E / 52.1°N 0.6°E / 52.1; 0.6