Stambourne

{{Short description|Village in Essex, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}} {{Use British English|date=March 2017}} __NOTOC__ {{Infobox UK place | static_image = St. Peter and St. Thomas Becket church, Stambourne, Essex - geograph.org.uk - 153202.jpg | static_image_caption = Parish church of St Peter and St Thomas Becket | official_name = Stambourne | civil_parish = Stambourne | country = England | coordinates = {{Coord|52.020|0.510|display=title}} | os_grid_reference = | post_town = HALSTEAD | postcode_area = CO | postcode_district = CO9 | dial_code = |shire_district = Braintree | shire_county = Essex | region = East of England | hide_services = Yes | population = 421 | population_ref = (Parish, 2021)<ref name=2021census>{{cite web |title=2021 Census Parish Profiles |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/census_2021_pp |website=NOMIS |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=31 March 2025}} (To get individual parish data, use the query function on table PP002.)</ref> }}

'''Stambourne''' is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District in north Essex, England. It lies {{convert|8|miles|km|0}} north-west of Halstead, its post town. Stambourne's closest neighbouring villages are Ridgewell, Toppesfield, Cornish Hall End and Great Yeldham. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 421.

thumb|Cottages at Stambourne

== History == The name Stambourne derives from the Old English term for 'stony brook'.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stambourne |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Essex/Stambourne |website=Key to English Place-Names |publisher=University of Nottingham |access-date=16 November 2025}}</ref> A part of the British 17th-century witchcraft trials, the spinster Sarah Houghton of Stambourne, in 1663, was charged by the authorities with causing John Smyth to become "consumed and made infirme." A jury, including John Levett and Matthew Butcher, found Houghton guilty, and she was ordered to be hanged. She was reprieved after the jury had rendered their judgment.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=GlmSvzw4yO8C&dq=levett+stambourne&pg=RA1-PA270 Witchcraft in Tudor and Stuart England, Alan Macfarlane, James Anthony Sharpe, published by Routledge, 1999] {{ISBN|0-415-19612-4}} {{ISBN|978-0-415-19612-3}}</ref>

Dame Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, a stage actress of the early- and mid-20th century, lived in Stambourne in later life, dying in 1992 at the age of 101.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

== Community == The parish church of St Peter and St Thomas Becket dates from the 11th century and is a Grade I listed building.<ref>{{NHLE|num = 1317130| desc= PARISH CHURCH OF ST PETER AND ST THOMAS |accessdate = 20 April 2014}}</ref>

Every year a bonfire and fireworks display is held in the village playing field. The event attracts people from surrounding areas (including Great Yeldham, Hedingham and Halstead).{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

==See also== *Stambourne Hall

== References == {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Stambourne}} *[http://www.stambourne.com/ Main website for Stambourne, with a brief history of Stambourne and access to its history document] *[http://www.ucvp.org/churches/stambourne/ Website for St Peter & St Thomas’ Church, Stambourne, part of the Upper Colne Valley Parishes]

Category:Villages in Essex Category:Braintree District Category:Witch trials in England