The Liberty of St Edmund covers the entire area of the former administrative County of

West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ...

. This area had been established by Edward the Confessor in 1044 and was a separate jurisdiction under the control of the Abbot of Bury St Edmunds Abbey until the dissolution of the monasteries. The area of the Liberty of St Edmund was originally known as the Eight and a Half Hundreds which included the Hundreds of Thingoe, Thedwastre,

Lackford Lackford is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Located around four miles north-west of Bury St Edmunds on the A1101, in 2005 it had a population of 270. The parish contains the Lackford Lake ...

, Risbridge,

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

and

Babergh Babergh may refer to the following places in England: * Babergh Hundred, a defunct hundred of the county of Suffolk, named for a "mound of a man called Babba" * Babergh District Babergh District (pronounced , ) is a local government district in ...

, and the half hundred of Cosford. Blackbourn and Babergh each counted as a "double hundred'. Combined these made the Eight and a Half Hundred. The Liberty was granted to the Abbey of Bury St Edmunds by

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

. A Steward was appointed to administer the Liberty on behalf of the Abbot in the same way that the Sheriff acted for the county. The first Steward was named Ralph, and was appointed by William I. The title subsequently passed through various hands and became hereditary with the de Windsors in 1115. The present Hereditary High Steward of the Liberty of St Edmund is

Frederick Hervey, 8th Marquess of Bristol Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederic ...

References

History of Suffolk Liberties of England {{Suffolk-geo-stub