St. Osyth

St Osyth
Village Sign
St Osyth St Osyth shown within Essex
Population	4,277 (2011)
OS grid reference	TM123156
District	Tendring
Shire county	Essex
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	CLACTON-ON-SEA
Postcode district	CO16
Dialling code	01255
Police	Essex
Fire	Essex
Ambulance	East of England
EU Parliament	East of England
UK Parliament	Clacton
List of places UK England Essex 51°47′56″N 1°04′48″E / 51.799°N 1.080°E / 51.799; 1.080Coordinates: 51°47′56″N 1°04′48″E / 51.799°N 1.080°E / 51.799; 1.080

St Osyth is a village and civil parish in north-east Essex, about 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Clacton-on-Sea and about 12 miles (19.3 km) south-east of Colchester. It is located on the B1027 road and is named after Osgyth, a 7th-century saint and princess. The name is locally pronounced "Toosey". St Osyth is claimed to be the driest recorded place in the United Kingdom. The parish also includes Point Clear.

Before being renamed to commemorate St Osyth, the village was called Chich (also spelt Chiche or Chick), from an Old English word meaning "bend", in reference to St Osyth Creek. Thomas Darcy, the first Baron Darcy of Chiche was buried in St Osyth.

St Osyth was the subject of an episode of Channel 4's Time Team programme, "Lost Centuries of St Osyth", (series 12 episode 9, first broadcast in February 2005). The programme sought to uncover the early origins of the village, which was presumed to have grown up about the same time as the Priory, in the 12th century. Many of the investigations around the current village centre found little evidence of settlement earlier than the 14th century; it appeared that the early village centre lay some way off, between the Priory and the river.

The village was a focus for the St Osyth witch persecutions in the 16th and 17th centuries. A total of ten local women were hanged as a result. In 1921 the skeletons of two women were discovered in the garden of a house in the village. One was claimed to be the witch Ursley Kempe, who was the first to be prosecuted. The skeletons became a local tourist attraction.

Legend has it that Saint Osyth, Osgyth or Ositha was a young lady involved in various fantastical events during her lifetime (c. 700). The legends include:

In the Napoleonic Wars two Martello Towers were built on the peninsula between the Colne Estuary and Brightlingsea Creek. One survives at Stone Point and is now the East Essex Aviation Museum. The peninsula was cordoned off and used by the Navy and Army in both world wars. Between 1942 and 1944 it was a large, minor landing-craft training base called HMS Helder. No 1 Martello Tower was a signal station and minefield control point, linked to the Navy at Brightlingsea.