East Mersea

East Mersea
St Edmund's church, East Mersea
East Mersea
East Mersea shown within Essex
Population	266 (2011 Census)
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 51°47′45″N 0°59′09″E / 51.79570°N 0.98595°E / 51.79570; 0.98595Coordinates: 51°47′45″N 0°59′09″E / 51.79570°N 0.98595°E / 51.79570; 0.98595

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, 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. Although East Anglia was at one time known for witch trials, this was in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, not the mid-nineteenth.

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