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

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

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