Manshead was a

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It covered an area in the south-west of the county stretching from

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Studham Studham is a village and civil parish in the county of Bedfordshire. It has a population of 1,128. The parish bounds to the south of the Buckinghamshire border, and to the east is the Hertfordshire border. The village lies in the wooded south ...

and from Leighton Buzzard to

Houghton Regis Houghton Regis is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, East of England. The parish is located in Central Bedfordshire, which includes the hamlets of Bidwell, Bedfordshire, Bidwell, Thorn, Bedfordshire, Th ...

and

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...

. The hundred was named after a site in

Eversholt Eversholt is a village and civil parish located in Bedfordshire, England. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book and is over 1000 years old. "Eversholt" comes from Anglo-Saxon meaning "wood of the wild boar". Overview For many years, most ...

parish. The name appears as "Maunesheved", with Thomas Camill as the bailiff. in 1349. The area west of the

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main R ...

is recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

as the half-hundred of Stanbridge, and there is also a mention of a hundred called ''Odecroft'' which may have covered the area south of the Ouzel Brook. By the early 14th century, these areas had effectively been incorporated into Manshead hundred.

Parishes

The hundred contained the following parishes:

Aspley Guise Aspley Guise is a village and civil parish in the west of Central Bedfordshire, England. In addition to the village of Aspley Guise itself, the civil parish also includes part of the town of Woburn Sands, the rest of which is in the City of Milto ...

Battlesden Battlesden is a hamlet and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It is just north of the A5, between Dunstable and Milton Keynes. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 38. Because of its ...

, Chalgrave,

Eaton Bray Eaton Bray is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is situated about three miles south-west of the town of Dunstable and is part of a semi-rural area which extends into the parish of Edlesborough. In the 2011 United Kingdom c ...

, Harlington,

Hockliffe Hockliffe is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire on the crossroads of the A5 road which lies upon the course of the Roman road known as Watling Street and the A4012 and B5704 roads. It is about four miles east of Leighton Buzzard. Near ...

Holcot Holcot is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 399 people. At the 2011 census this had increased to 438 people, living in 182 households. The villages ...

Husborne Crawley Husborne Crawley is a small village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, located close to Junction 13 of the M1 motorway. The village touches the borders of the Woburn Abbey estate on one side, and the village of Aspley Guise on the other. ...

, Leighton Buzzard,

Milton Bryan Milton Bryan is a village and civil parish located in Central Bedfordshire (the spelling Milton Bryant was previously common and is still recognised by postal services). It lies just off the A4012 road, near to its junction with the A5 at Hockl ...

Potsgrove Potsgrove is a small village and civil parish located in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Sheep Lane. The first reference to the village appears in the Domesday Book Domesday Boo ...

, Tilsworth,

Tingrith Tingrith is a small village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is located adjacent to the M1 motorway near the large village of Toddington. The nearest major town is Luton, located about to the southeast. The parish church of S ...

Toddington Toddington could be *Toddington, Bedfordshire **Toddington services, M1 motorway *Toddington, Gloucestershire **Toddington railway station Toddington railway station serves the village of Toddington in Gloucestershire, England. Since 1984 it h ...

Totternhoe Totternhoe is a village and civil parish in the Manshead hundred of the county of Bedfordshire, England. Overview Totternhoe is an ancient village in southern Bedfordshire, near Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard. Totternhoe Knolls has been a for ...

Westoning Westoning () is a village and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is located around south of the town of Flitwick. The River Flit flows behind the Westoning stud farm. History Dark and Middle Ages ;1086 The village is mentioned in the Do ...

Whipsnade Whipsnade is a small village and civil parish in the county of Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the eastward tail spurs of the Chiltern Hills, about 4.2 km south-south-west of Dunstable on the top of the Dunstable Downs which drop away steepl ...

, Woburn

Recent use of the name

* When the Manshead Archaeological Society
www.manshead.org.uk
was formed in 1952, the name of the ancient hundred was chosen to embrace the intended area of activity. *

Manshead CE Academy Manshead CE Academy is a Mixed-sex education, mixed Church of England Academy, secondary academy and sixth form located on the outskirts of both Caddington and Dunstable in Bedfordshire, England. The academy (surrounded by countryside and hills ...

gained the name after much discussion in 1972 when

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

s were introduced in Dunstable. * Since 2002, the Manshead

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

South Bedfordshire South Bedfordshire was, from 1974 to 2009, a non-metropolitan district of Bedfordshire, in the East of England. Its main towns were Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Leighton Buzzard. Creation The district was formed on 1 April 1974 as part of a gen ...

(now

Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It was created in 2009. Formation Central Bedfordshire was created on 1 April 2009 as part of a structural reform of local government in Bedfor ...

) has covered part of Dunstable near to Manshead School.The District of South Bedfordshire (Electoral Changes) Order 2001

References

Hundreds of Bedfordshire {{Bedfordshire-geo-stub

Parishes

Recent use of the name

See also

References