Edmondthorpe Witch Legend
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Edmondthorpe is a small village and former
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
, now in the parish of
Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. It lies on the River Tiffey, south-west of Norwich and just off the A11 road (England), A11 road to London. The pari ...
, in the Melton district, in the county of
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
, England, close to the border with
Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...
. In 1931 the parish had a population of 195. It has Danish origins. The name ''Edmondthorpe'' is derived from a corrupted form of the Old
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
personal name A personal name, full name or prosoponym (from Ancient Greek ''prósōpon'' – person, and ''onoma'' –name) is the set of names by which an individual person or animal is known. When taken together as a word-group, they all relate to that on ...
'Eadmer', in old records spelled variously, ''Edmersthorp'' (
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
); ''Thorp Edmer''; ''Thorp Emeri''; ''Thorp Edmeer''; ''Edmerthorp''; or ''Thorp''. The most likely origination of the name could be from the Saxon: ED = East; MUND = mound or barrier; THORPE = a street or village. On 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished and merged with Wymondham. The Church of St Michael and All Angels, maintained by
The Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...
, is situated in the centre of the surrounding farms and cottages, close to the ruins of Edmondthorpe Hall. Although in former times a number of households from the neighbouring village of
Wymondham Wymondham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk, England. It lies on the River Tiffey, south-west of Norwich and just off the A11 road (England), A11 road to London. The pari ...
"parished" to Edmondthorpe, St Michael and All Angels' Church now holds services on special occasions, only. There is a
canonical sundial A tide dial, also known as a mass dial or a scratch dial, is a sundial marked with the canonical hours rather than or in addition to the standard hours of daylight. Such sundials were particularly common between the 7th and 14th centuries in Europ ...
on the south wall. The church holds the tomb of Sir Roger Smith, which includes decorative alabaster figures. A fault in the alabaster of the Smith monument helped give rise to the
Edmondthorpe Witch Legend Edmondthorpe is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wymondham, Leicestershire, Wymondham, in the Borough of Melton, Melton district, in the county of Leicestershire, England, close to the border with Rutland. In 1931 t ...
. The legend tells that Lady Ann Smith was a witch who could turn herself into a cat. While a cat, she was wounded in the paw by her butler, and the injury remained on her hand when she became human again. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
the Hall (built by Sir Roger Smith in 1621) was used as a military fuel depot, but was destroyed by fire in the early hours of 10 February 1942. This was due to the unsafe handling of hot ashes from a coal fire, according to Edmondthorpe resident, John Gresham (1923-2011). Buildings from the 19th century stable block, which was designed by R. W. Johnson in 1869, remain, and were used to accommodate, firstly Italian, and then over 80 German prisoners of war, until 1947 (perhaps later), as a satellite to Allington Camp, near Grantham. An avenue of mature trees leads from South Lodge (formerly West Lodge) to the Hall through the park on the southern edge of the village. From the road near South Lodge a set of
bee bole A bee bole is a cavity or alcove in a wall (the Scots language, Scots word ''bole'' means a recess in a wall) for beekeeping. A Beehive (beekeeping)#Skeps, skep is placed in the bee bole. Before the development of modern bee hives (such as the d ...
s, used for keeping bees before the advent of modern hives, may be seen in the wall to the left of the church. An embanked section of the disused Melton to Oakham Canal lies to the west of the village and loops under the road between Edmondthorpe and
Teigh Teigh is a village and civil parish in the county of Rutland in the East Midlands of England. The population of the village was 48 in the 2001 census. At the 2011 census the population remained less than 100 and was included with the civil parish o ...
. There are several families that have lived in Edmondthorpe over many centuries. These include the Veaseys and Extons, which are detailed in the
Census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
transcripts for the village.


See also

*
Erasmus Smith Erasmus Smith (1611–1691) was an English merchant and a landowner with possessions in England and Ireland. Having acquired significant wealth through trade and land transactions, he became a philanthropist in the sphere of education, treading ...
*
Smith Baronets There have been 25 creations of baronets with the surname Smith (as distinct from Smyth and Smythe). * Smith baronets of Crantock (1642) * Smith baronets of Hatherton (1660) * Smith baronets of Edmondthorpe (1661) * Smith baronets of Long As ...


References

{{authority control Villages in Leicestershire Former civil parishes in Leicestershire Borough of Melton