Tom Hickathrift and the Ogre of the Smeeth #TomHickathriftandtheOgreoftheSmeeth #TomHickathrift #theOgreoftheSmeeth #theOgre #theSmeeth The Smeeth is an area of land between Wisbech and King's Lynn. At the time of the story, it was a wild area made up of 1572 acres of boggy marshland. To the south, Fenland surrounded it with reeds and large pools of water. From very early times, the area was common land and belonged to the Seven Towns of the Marshland: Emneth, Walsoken, West Walton, Walpole, Terrington, Tilney and Clenchwarton. The legend says that the Smeeth was once an area where you did not dare to go. This legend probably comes from very old times, before people wrote things down, when the boggy Smeeth would have been a dangerous area to travel in.