Steeple Bumpstead
| Steeple Bumpstead | |
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 The footbridge on the corner of Church Street, Steeple Bumpstead |
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 Steeple Bumpstead
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| Steeple Bumpstead shown within Essex | |
| Population | 1,627 (2011) |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | HAVERHILL |
| Postcode district | CB9 7 |
| Dialling code | 01440 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament |
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Steeple Bumpstead is a village and civil parish 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Haverhill in Braintree district, Essex, England.
The parish church does not have a steeple, however the Congregational Church has a small Victorian one. It is believed that the steeple referred to was located on the A1307 close to what is now the Wixoe Pumping Station.
Bumstead or Bumsted is Anglo-Saxon for "place of reeds". The Moot Hall is recorded in the Domesday Book. In feudal times it was called Bumstede ad Trim, from "ac-Turrum" or "with the tower" The Knights Templar positioned themselves on the river. The town is notable for its Lollard connections.
There has been a long history on non-conformist belief in the village which continues to this day in the Congregational Church. A Bumpstead man was burnt to death in the parish for his beliefs. Along the Blois Road, leading from Bumpstead to Birdbrook, is a field that has been called the ‘Bloody Pightle’, and that is where he is believed to have been martyred. In 1527 John Tibauld and eight other village residents were seized and taken before the Bishop of London, charged with meeting together in Bower Hall to pray and read a copy of the New Testament. Although the non-conformists in the village were encouraged by the powerful Bendyshe family that lived at Bower Hall, even their influence could not save Tibauld. He was burned at the stake.
Having fallen into ruin after use as a ‘concentration camp’ in the First World War, Bower Hall was finally demolished in 1926 and the materials sold off. The great staircase found its way to the United States.
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Wikipedia