Tom Hickathrift The Marshland Giant

   I have to be honest right from the start of this post, I came across the tales of Tom Hickathrift, the "Marshland Giant" totally by accident. It was on my very first cycle to the village of Tilney All Saints that I saw the gravestone of Tom in their Parish Church, later that evening while editing the photographs I had taken I noticed the small notice upon the grave cover explaining it was from the grave of Tom Hickathrift, the marshland giant. Of course, this lead to me researching him and his story and here I'd like to share what I found out with you all.

   There are two versions of the tale of Tom Hickathrift, the first is as follows; Tom may well have been a real person, possibly one who lived before the Norman invasions when locals were arguing with new lords of the manors who were riding roughshod over the rights of the people to use the common land. During the fight, Tom Hickifric who was outlandishly and unusually tall, took a cartwheel as a shield and an axle for a sword to help fight off the overlords, in the words of John Weever, who recounted the tale in 1631 "perceiving that his neighbours were faint-hearted and ready to take flight, he shook the axle-tree from the cart, which he used instead of a sword and took one of the cartwheels which he held as a buckler. With these weapons, he set upon the adversaries of the common, encouraged his neighbours to go forward and fight valiantly in defence of their liberties".
   Over time the story embroidered; Tom became a giant and the invaders became an ogre who lived in the dangerous boggy marshland of Smeeth, the area of land between Wisbech and Kings Lynn which historically belonged to the seven towns of the Marshland, Clenchwarton, Emneth, Terrington, Tilney, Walpole, Walsoken and West Walton.
   The Ogre tale goes as follows; Tom would drive his brewer's cart between Kings Lynn and Wisbech but, because of a fierce and man-eating ogre that lived in the Marshland, had to make a long detour. Tired of elongating his journey, Tom decided to risk the shorter route and thus incurred the ire of the ogre, who raced to block his path, bellowing; "Do you not see how many heads hang upon yonder tree, those that have offended my law? But thy head shall hang higher than the rest for an example. Tom gave the ogre a rude answer which sent him running to his lair to find his club, upon which Tom fought the 12 foot beast with the axle and wheel-shield, finally triumphing and slicing off his head, becoming a hero and eventually being knighted for his bravery.
   As you can see below the village sign of Tilney All Saints shows Tom with axle and wheel ready to battle the ogre.

   From the early 17th century the story of Tom Hickathrift was passed down through generations via chapbooks, little paper pamphlets sold by travelling peddlers for a penny. Tom's grave is situated in the churchyard of Tilney All Saints parish church. There is also a carving on the parish church of Walpole St Peter and the village sign of Marshland St James also depicts Tom with his cart and the Ogre standing in his path with his club.