The Hundred of Milverton is one of the 40 historical
Hundreds in the
ceremonial county
The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...
of
Somerset, England, dating from before the
Norman conquest during the
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
era although exact dates are unknown. Each hundred had a 'fyrd', which acted as the local defence force and a court which was responsible for the maintenance of the
frankpledge system. They also formed a unit for the collection of taxes. The role of the hundred court was described in the Dooms (laws) of
King Edgar. The name of the hundred was normally that of its meeting-place.
The Hundred of Milverton consisted of the ancient parishes of:
Ashbrittle
Ashbrittle is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated nine miles west of Taunton and close to the River Tone and the route of the Grand Western Canal in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 225 ...
,
Bathealton
Bathealton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Wellington and west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 194.
History
The Iron Age Castles Camp is approximatel ...
,
Kittisford,
Langford Budville
Langford Budville is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated near the River Tone north-west of Wellington, from Wiveliscombe and west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The parish includes the hamlets o ...
,
Milverton,
Runnington,
Sampford Arundel
Sampford Arundel is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It is situated near Wellington and south west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The village has a population of 268.
The parish, which lies at the western ...
,
Stawley, and
Thorne St Margaret
Thorne St Margaret is a village in the civil parish of Wellington Without in the Taunton Deane district of Somerset, England. It is situated 3 miles west of Wellington, between the river Tone and the Bristol and Exeter railway. The village of Ho ...
. It covered an area of .
The importance of the hundred courts declined from the seventeenth century. By the 19th century several different single-purpose subdivisions of counties, such as
poor law unions,
sanitary districts, and
highway districts sprang up, filling the administrative role previously played by parishes and hundreds. Although the Hundreds have never been formally abolished, their functions ended with the establishment of
county court
A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the high ...
s in 1867 and the introduction of
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
by the
Local Government Act 1894.
References
{{Hundreds of Somerset
Milverton