| East Mersea | |
St Edmund's church, East Mersea |
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East Mersea
East Mersea shown within Essex |
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| OS grid reference | TM060150 |
|---|---|
| District | Colchester |
| Shire county | Essex |
| Region | East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Colchester |
| Postcode district | CO5 8 |
| Dialling code | 01206 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament | North Essex |
| List of places: UK • England • Essex | |
East Mersea is a scattered village and civil parish on Mersea Island in the English county of Essex.
The grave of Sarah Wrench (1833-1848), by the North wall of the chancel at St. Edmund's Church in East Mersea is unusual for an English grave because it is covered by a mortsafe,[1] a protective cage used at the time in Scotland to protect corpses from graverobbers.
Richard Jones, in Myths of Britain and Ireland, refers to popular speculation that Sarah Wrench was a witch, and that the cage was designed to keep her from escaping her grave after death. [2] Although East Anglia was at one time known for witch trials, this was in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, not the mid-nineteenth.