The Hundred of Milverton is one of the 40 historical
Hundreds in the
ceremonial county of
Somerset
( en, All The People of Somerset)
, locator_map =
, coordinates =
, region = South West England
, established_date = Ancient
, established_by =
, preceded_by =
, origin =
, lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset
, lord_ ...
, England, dating from before the
Norman conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...
during the
Anglo-Saxon 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
Frankpledge was a system of joint suretyship common in England throughout the Early Middle Ages and High Middle Ages. The essential characteristic was the compulsory sharing of responsibility among persons connected in tithings. This unit, under ...
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,
Bathealton,
Kittisford
Kittisford is a village and former parish and manor in Somerset, England, situated west of Taunton in the Taunton Deane district. It is now within the parish of Stawley.
The parish Church of St Nicholas was built around 1500 altered in the mid ...
,
Langford Budville,
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
Stawley is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Taunton in the Somerset West and Taunton district. The parish has a population of 279 and includes the village of Kittisford and the hamlets of Appley, Greenham and Tr ...
, and
Thorne St Margaret. 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 district
Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures:
*Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies
*Rural sanitary dis ...
s, and
highway district {{short description, Type of district in England and Wales
Highway Districts were areas in England and Wales united for the maintenance and repair of highways. They were first formed in 1862 and consisted of groupings of civil parishes in rural ar ...
s 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 courts in 1867 and the introduction of
districts by the
Local Government Act 1894
The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...
.
References
{{Hundreds of Somerset
Milverton