Death and a Steaming Pile of Horse Manure

Two hundred years ago a tragic death occurred in the wide-open fields between Whittlesea and Thorney. It was around 4pm on Monday 28^th May 1821, and three men were working out in the fields shovelling manure onto the ground (you can make your own jokes there!) from their horse-drawn carts to fertilise the crops. This was, of course, a very undesirable job, and the men were described as poor men, probably scrabbling for any work to put food on their table.

One man, John Smith, was working alone, far from the other two. He’d shovelled half his load onto the field and was determined to finish his work as quick as he could. He would have seen the oncoming storm, which was described as ‘dreadfully alarming’, with violent winds and a barrage of thunder and lightning. On the expansive snooker table flat fields, it would have looked spectacular, if a little concerning. There would have been nowhere for him to hide, so John carried on shovelling, hoping it would soon pass.

The other men in the field had seen the storm approaching and decided they could sit it out under their carts, which were decisions that saved their lives. With no other high point for the lightning to hit as it passed over the fields, it aimed for John, who was mercifully killed instantly. His horse bolted, dragging his cart, still half-full of manure, and ran towards the two other men in the field. They managed to stop it with great difficulty but were then able to use the horse to lead them back to their colleague, who they very much suspected was dead.

When they arrived they were taken back by the horror of the scene. John Smith was no more. His body lay burnt and lifeless next to his burning pile of manure which had been ‘set on fire by the electric fluid.’ John was largely naked, his clothes being torn to shreds by the impact of the lightning and scattered around him in the field. His shoes were described as ‘high shoes’ – presumed to mean high-heeled – were also affected by the blast. One shoe had its ‘laces torn to atoms’ and the other was blown from the body and could not be found, which was the same outcome for his hat. He also suffered a broken leg and there was a considerable indent in the ground where his head had hit the earth, despite the ground being dry at the time the storm arrived.

Once the men had overcome their initial shock at the scene before them, they conveyed the man home to his family in the manure cart. An inquest took place the following day and the cause of death was given as ‘killed by lightning’.

What lesson can we learn from this tragic tale? If you’re shovelling manure and you see a storm approaching, put your shovel down and take shelter. You can take this literally and figuratively!

If you want to read about another fascinating death involving lightning only a few miles west of this event, please check out my friend Sophie's blog and her story about ball lightning in Helpston here.

References:

Stamford Mercury, 8 June 1821, p.3

Awful Tempest, Sun (London), 1 June 1821, p.3

Image by Terry McGraw from Pixabay

Sibberton: Peterborough’s Lost Medieval Village

Situated in the far west of the Soke of Peterborough, Sibberton was once a thriving medieval village. Nothing remains of the village now, but the first written reference to the village was in 1189. It was located just north of what is now the A47, northwest of Wansford and southwest of Thornaugh. The village was supposedly deserted following the great plague in the 14^th century which killed a large proportion of the population and created many deserted medieval villages around the country.

The only remaining fragment of the village is Sibberton Lodge, a large 17th century house with a 13^th century wing purported to have once been a chapel (and potentially the oldest domestic building in Peterborough, if you haven’t read my previous post). The 17^th century addition features a datestone of 1657, which does beg the question what happened to the chapel between the 14^th and 17^th centuries? It’s very possible that the 17^th century lodge replaced an earlier building on the site and the 13^th century building was in continuous use either as a chapel or domestic building before being subsumed into the new build.

The core of the village was located north of Sibberton Lodge in fields that are currently used for grazing. Peterborough HER records indicate evidence of a church and coffin have been found there, as well as earthworks including an infilled moat. Lidar images suggest the location contains a lot of buried features, some of which can be seen on aerial images of the site. The evidence of a chapel and church so very close together suggests that the chapel was in private hands rather than a site of communal worship, which would explain its survival when the rest of the village decayed.

An online search of the records at The National Archives sheds a little more light on Sibberton, with the names of a few inhabitants jumping out of the records. Stephen de Siberton (sic), son of Henry Wynter of Sibberton appears in a dispute with the Prior and convent of Fineshade somewhere between 1100 and 1600. And we learn that the rector of Sibberton Church (written Sybirton) in 1338 was Thomas de Overton who was present at a debt hearing with the clerk John le Garlickmonger! By far the largest number of records relate to nearby Thornhaugh Manor, which was also known as the manor of Thornhaugh, Walmseford (Wansford) and Sibberton. The records are part of the Russell family archives and it is possible that more information about the inhabitants and homes of Sibberton are sitting amongst the boxes in Bedfordshire Archives, waiting to be discovered.

There are also records in The National Archives relating specifically to Sibberton Lodge, with John Bullock ‘Farmer, grazier and flour dealer’ taking out insurance for the lodge in 1792. The will of William Death of Sibberton in 1685 had the potential to reveal a great deal about the house and lands, but unfortunately the will makes no specific mention of Sibberton, referring largely to his lands in Balderton.

South of the deserted village site and A47 are enormous quarries, stripping away the land that the medieval inhabitants of Sibberton would have known well. Prior to quarrying, a number of assessments were carried out which identified a number of early medieval features including evidence of metalworking, ditches, pottery, and animal bones. It is very possible that these items related to the inhabitants of Sibberton as they worked the land around the village.

One last feature of the village (I’ve saved the best for last) is now kept in Wansford: the font from Sibberton Church. Dated to the early 12^th century, the font features a range of characterful people under arcading that runs around the font. If these people in anyway represent the people of Sibberton then it must have been quite an entertaining place to live! Apparently the font was found at Sibberton Lodge which, as we know, supposedly had its own chapel. So was the font made for the church and moved to the chapel on its demise, later being removed from the chapel as it was enveloped into a home? Or had it always lived at the Sibberton Lodge chapel? Future research may reveal these answers, but if you know more, please do get in contact to solve the mystery.

Although it is not possible to visit the site of the medieval village, Sibberton font can be viewed in Wansford Church when it is open, and Sibberton Lodge can be seen via Bunny Guinness’ National Garden Scheme webpage.

 

References and links: 

Great English Churches entry for Wansford with pictures of Sibberton font                           http://greatenglishchurches.co.uk/html/wansford.html

National Garden Scheme: https://ngs.org.uk/bunny-guinness-sibberton-lodge/

Historic England Listing: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1331255

Peterborough Interactive Mapping: https://www.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=1e47538c3218418e86741bf13a33a04b

The image is of the font from Greatford Church and is a placeholder until I am able to visit it in person