A Spooky Suffolk Walk to Potsford Gibbet

A Spooky Suffolk Walk to Potsford Gibbet

A 6.5 mile circular walk around Wickham Market in Suffolk to take in the spooky sights of Potsford Gibbet

Jonah Snell was reputedly the last man to be 'hung in chains' at Potsford Gibbet in 1699 as decreed by the cracked plaque that is afixed to the decaying post. His ghost is said to haunt the area and the hill up to the location of the Gibbet is still locally known as Dragarse Hill after he was dragged by his arse up the hill to the gibbet for his part in the grizzly murders carried out at Leveringham Mill.

• Notes
• Directions
• Pubs
• Features
• Images
• Maps

Essential Information

Walk Statistics:

Start point: Wickham Market View in OS Map | View in Google Map

End Point: Potsford Gibbet View in OS Map | View in Google Map

Total Walk distance: 6.5 miles

Walk difficulty: Easy

Obstacles: There is approx 400 metres of road walking along the B1078 where there is no pavement. Caution is advised.

Maps:

OS Map: OS Explorer Map Sheet 212 Woodbridge & Saxmundham

OS Route Map: Full screen plot of route on an OS map

Google Route Map: Full screen plot of route on a Google map

Map My Walk Map: Available here

GPX file for walk: Downloadable GPX coordinates of walk

Transport:

Bus Service
Operator: First Group
Service Number: 64, 64A and 65
Timetable: Suffolk On Board Website
First Group 64, 64A and 65 service forms a circular route from Ipswich to Saxmundham via Wickham Market(64), Saxmundham to Aldeburgh via Leiston (64A) and Aldeburgh to Ipswich via Rendlesham(65) runinng in both directions. Through tickets are available throughout although many drivers seem unaware of this. You should not need to need more than one ticket between any two points on the route. This has been clarified by First Group and if in doubt ask the driver for a through ticket.

Walk Data

Date of Walk: 2011-12-17
Start Time: 10:30:00.0Z
End time: 14:00:00.0Z
Walkers: Griffmonster, Kat
Weather Conditions: A very cold winters day, some sun and blue sky but generally overcast
Equipment: None

Walk Notes ToC  

I had planned to do this walk ever since the summer when I first read about the story of Jonah Snell, the last man to 'hang in chains' at Potsford Gibbet. This had to be a winters walk as the mileage was low which would reflect the lack of light in the day. Also, the previous day had seen a lot of torrential rain which had left the ground pretty much waterlogged and this walk used mainly tracks and country lanes which would be less boggy. Unfortunately I got the wrong mill where the tragic deed was done, which is Letherington Mill rather than Glevering Mill which we walked by. Not that it would really matter as the current Letherington Mill was built in the 1800s which is well over 100 years after the murder took place. I can only assume there must have been a mill on this site prior to this date. Nevermind, that can be included in another walk along the Deben valley!

We really did not know what to expect to see at the site of the Gibbet. I had somewhat expected to see nothing so it was a welcome surprise on finding the decaying post with a small plaque attached to it. There is nothing to doubt that this was this original post and it seems somewhat macabre that us 21st century ramblers come along just to curiously witness the structure. Even so, you could easily imagine way back in 1699 the townsfolk dragging old Jonah up to this spot where they strung the man up in chains as an example of what would happen to anyone who dared to contemplate such a heinous deed as murder. We didn't see any ghostly figures though and the only sound was of birds and the crack of rifles from a nearby game shoot.

Pettistree is a peculiar little village. After taking a couple of photos of the clock on the Clock House the lady of the house came out calling us back from down the road. I returned to confront her, half expecting a remonstration about taking photos of her property but after declaring my intentions she was happy to show us the clock from closer view. She was very informative, saying the the building had originally been stables and a lot of stables originally had clock towers. When it was converted into a house the clock was retained and the large pendulum that hung from the clock is still in position, now hanging down the back of one of the bedrooms. The clock is rarely used these days as the noise generated by its mechanism keeps guests awake at night. She also related that the village is peculiar in the fact that it had three large estate houses, two pubs, a green and very little else.

Glevering Mill

Directions ToC  

The route uses country lanes and tracks around to provide an anti-clockwise circuit around Wickham Market

Take the main road northwards out of Wickham Market. Continue past the Mill and a little way up the road there is a track with a bridleway marker on the left. Keep to the track, past Gallows Hill and onto the road. Turn left on the road and follow this through to a junction. Turn left and walk down to Glevering Bridge, a little hump back bridge. Immediately after the bridge turn right and follow the lane through to the road. Turn right and follow the road up the hill. This can be fairly busy but the distance to the entrance to Potsford Wood on the right is not far. Beyond the entrance is the section of road known as Dragarse Hill. The track down the side of the wood has the Potsford Gibbet as it bends to the right.

Continue along the track beyond the woods and through open fields. Keep straight ahead avoiding other footpath markers until it joins a bend in a road at California. Continue straight ahead to the junction. Turn left and follow the lane through to Pettistree. Keep straight ahead at the village green until the Greyhound pub is reached. Turn left and head into the adjoining churchyard. Follow the footpath across the churchyard , then across a couple of fields, over the road and across another field. Turn left at the end of the field, along a track. Keep to this, over a road and down to another road. Keep straight ahead and take the first footpath on the left which leads up to All Saints Church in Wickham Market. Continue onto the road, turn right and this complete the walk.

On the left Potsford Gibbet; On the right Dragarse Hill

Pubs ToC  

The Greyhound, Pettistree
The Street, Pettistree View in OS Map | View in Google Map

Website: www.greyhoundinnpettistree.co.uk/

This timber framed grade II listed building is thought to date from later medieval or Tudor times when it was a thatched Guildhall. The building has an unusual rear which appears to have been built on the churchyard wall. Records show that this was a pub in 1820 when the Smith family lived in the building and were also the village carpenters and coffin-makers.

Today the pub is a friendly community pub offering high quality food made from fresh local produce and a selection of ales. The pub is reputedly haunted by a friendly ghost.

Review

This was a delightful and friendly pub where both barstaff and customers took an interest in our little walk. Woodfordes Wherry and Nethergate Growler were both on tap but we decided to go for the Earl Soham Victoria Bitter. A refreshing hoppy light bitter from down the road at Earl Soham that has a lingering and satisfying taste. This was accompanied by a lunchtime snack of Turkey and Stuffing sandwiches with Cranberry Sauce and a little salad which was pretty special to say the least. Well recommended pub.

On the left Pettistree Clock House; On the right Pettistree

Features ToC  

Potsford Gibbet View in OS Map | View in Google Map

The remains of a medieval gibbet located in Potsford Wood between Wickham Market and Charsfield.

First we must understand exactly what a gibbet is as the term is often confused with the gallows, an apparatus used for executing criminals by means of hanging. Though similar in structure, a gibbet was used to hang the already dead bodies of executed criminals to deter others from committing similar crimes. This practice, often termed 'hanging in chains' or 'gibbeting, entailed placing the body in a metal cage or chains then hanging it from the top arm of the gibbet. The body was then left, sometimes until the clothes had rotted or even until the bodies were almost completely decomposed, after which the bones would be scattered or buried. Gibbeting was most often used for traitors, murderers, highwaymen, pirates, and sheep stealers and was a common law punishment which a judge could impose in addition to execution. This practice was regularised in England by the Murder Act 1752, which empowered judges to impose this for murder. Up until the start of the 17th century what is known as live gibbeting also took place, this involved placing the criminal in chains and then letting them slowly die of thirst as they hung on the gibbet.

Now this has been explained, we can relate the story of Jonah Snell, the last person to hang on the Potsford Gibbet in the year of 1699. It is locally said that Snell was a journeyman, that is to say he had completed his apprenticeship and was fully educated in his trade yet he was not a master. At the time he was in the employ of John Bullard, the miller at Letherington Mill. No-one knows exactly what happened or indeed why, but the story tells us that John Bullard was doing his accounts alongside his son when Snell walked in and slew both of them with an axe. For reasons unknown, he then took their bodies and hanged them upside down to a beam in the mill. Snell was found soon after, the axe still in his hand, and accused of the murderous deed. Some say he protested his innocence but it would appear the general consensus of opinion was that he was guilty and he was eventually executed at Wickham Market six weeks later. I would speculate that the area of Gallows Hill would be the possible site of his execution. However local legend says that his accusers bodily dragged him up the hill to Potsford Gibbet and that hill has ever since been known as Dragarse Hill. In order to have dragged him up the hill, which is now the road to Charsfield, it is logical that they must have approached from Letherington which is the opposite direction from Wickham Market. He was then hung in chains on Potsford Gibbet but where his remains were scattered is not known. Locally people attest that once upon a time, at the foot of the post was a boulder which screamed when kicked by someone's heel, maybe this was a marker of Jonah Snells burial.

Even now there are folk who claim that strange lights can be seen up in the woods by the gibbet where Jonah Snells ghost is said to haunt. The lights lure passing motorists to investigate who are then given the fright of their life as a ghostly figure in hooded cowl and a grimacing, hollow-eyed skull greets them. By day, ramblers intrigued by the post are said to turn around only to be confronted by the same ghostly figure. Some even say you can hear a fearsome choking groan but that is probably their misunderstanding of the difference between a gibbet and gallows.

Letherington Mill was rebuilt in the 19th century but is still locally said to be haunted by John Bullard. In 1844, a number of skeletons were discovered in the garden of the Mill.

Local band Cottonwood perform a song of the tale of Jonah Snell called 'Potsford Wood'

Pettistree View in OS Map | View in Google Map

Website: http://www.pettistree.suffolk.gov.uk/

A small Suffolk village just south of Wickham Market.

An intriguing story of how the village came about the name of Pettistree tells us that during Saxon times people worshipped by a tree sacred to Odin. When Christianity arrived with the Romans, the first churches to be built were dedicated to St Peter and St Paul, the patron Saints of Rome and were placed close to the sacred sites of the old religion. Thus this district became known as Peters Tree, or Pettistree.

At the time of the Norman conquest along with King Harold, the Lord of the Manor was a man who went by the name of Edric the Grim, which, you must admit is a great name.

Interesting buildings include the Clock House, now a residential dwelling converted in in the 1950's from a 19th century stable block and coach house to Pettistree Lodge. The building has a cupola with bell and clock which still retains its pendulum hanging down the back wall to one of the bedrooms. There is also a mock dovecote.

Home Farm, which dates from the 16th century, has a listed dovecote standing in the adjacent meadow. This unusual rubble flint and rendered brick with structure dates from the 19th century..

The rather delightful looking Deben Mill in Wickham Market

Images ToC  

Below are a selection of images taken from from the photo album for this walk. There are links to the entire photo album plus a slideshow of all the images. Feel free to browse through these or click on any image to view a larger version in the Gallery.

View complete photo album

Click on an image below to view the Image Gallery

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Maps ToC  

OS Map of Route

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Google Map of Route

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Summary of Document Changes

Last Updated: 2013-10-17+01:00

2013-02-15 : Add in cautions following the reader comment about B1078. Updated photo gallery.

2013-04-10 : resolve broken links

Related Walks

• Walks around Wickham Market
• Walks around Potsford
• Walks around Pettistree