Liston is a small village and civil parish in North

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England, located one mile WSW of

Long Melford Long Melford, colloquially and historically also referred to as Melford, is a large village and civil parish in the Babergh District, Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is on Suffolk's border with Essex, which is marked by ...

, on the banks of the River Stour. Its parish church dates back to the 12th century, in parts. The parish borders the River Stour, the boundary between Essex and

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. The population of the village is included in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Foxearth Foxearth is a village and civil parish on the borders of north Essex and Suffolk in England, between Long Melford and Cavendish. The neighbouring parishes are Borley, Belchamp Walter, Belchamp Otten, Liston and Pentlow. History Foxearth is an ...

. One of the earliest written documents that mentions Liston is the will of

Æthelflæd of Damerham Æthelflæd of Damerham was Queen of the English as the second wife of King Edmund I from their marriage 944 until Edmund died in 946. Æthelflæd was a daughter of ealdorman Ælfgar, probably the ealdorman of Essex. Her mother's name is not ...

who died between 962 and 991. Her father was Ealdorman Ælfgar who was trying to establish a monastic community at Stoke by Nayland where his family had been buried. She left Liston to Æthelmear a kinsman. She was married three times; first to Ealdoman

Byrhtnoth Byrhtnoth ( ang, Byrhtnoð), Ealdorman of Essex ( 931 - 11 August 991), died at the Battle of Maldon. His name is composed of the Old English ''beorht'' (bright) and ''noþ'' (courage). He is the subject of ''The Battle of Maldon'', an Old Eng ...

who died at the

Battle of Maldon The Battle of Maldon took place on 11 August 991 AD near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Æthelred the Unready. Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the English against a Viking invasion. The battle ...

, then to King Edmund in 944 and finally after his death to either

Æthelstan Rota Æthelstan (floruit 940–970) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman. He served as an Ealdorman in southern Mercia in the reigns of Kings Eadwig and Edgar. He is referred to as Æthelstan Rota (Æthelstan the Red) in one charter, and is so known to dist ...

, or

Æthelstan Half-King Æthelstan Half-King (fl. 932 – 956) was an important and influential Ealdorman of East Anglia who interacted with five kings of England, including his adopted son King Edgar the Peaceful. Many of Æthelstan's close relatives were also involved i ...

. At the time of the Domesday Liston had two manors, one in the hands of Ilbod brother of Arnulf of Hesdin, the other had as Tenant-in-Chief, Hugh of Gournay with the Lord being Geoffrey Talbot. By 1185 Liston was one manor with the sons of Godfrey the Chamberlain and Alice daughter of Robert taking the surname De Liston, it was associated with the Sergeancy of making the wafers for the king's coronation, and the family held it unto about 1367 when it was sold to Richard Lyons. Shortly after the manor was sacked in the

Peasants' Revolt The Peasants' Revolt, also named Wat Tyler's Rebellion or the Great Rising, was a major uprising across large parts of England in 1381. The revolt had various causes, including the socio-economic and political tensions generated by the Black ...

, and Richard Lyons lost his life. The manor of Overhall passed to the King who granted it to Sir Hugh De Segrave in 1383.

References

External links

Braintree District Villages in Essex {{Essex-geo-stub