The Lonsdale Hundred is an historic

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 des ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, England. Although named after the dale or valley of the

River Lune The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England. Etymology Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic in genesis and der ...

, which runs through the city of Lancaster, for centuries it covered most of the north-western part of Lancashire around

Morecambe Bay Morecambe Bay is a large estuary in northwest England, just to the south of the Lake District National Park. It is the largest expanse of intertidal mudflats and sand in the United Kingdom, covering a total area of . In 1974, the second larges ...

, including the detached parts of

Furness Furness ( ) is a peninsula and region of Cumbria in northwestern England. Together with the Cartmel Peninsula it forms North Lonsdale, historically an exclave of Lancashire. The Furness Peninsula, also known as Low Furness, is an area of vill ...

and the

Cartmel Peninsula Cartmel Peninsula is a peninsula in Cumbria in England. It juts in a southerly direction into Morecambe Bay, bordered by the estuaries of the River Leven to the west and the River Winster to the east. It is, along with the Furness Peninsula, ...

. Ironically, only some of the detached part of North Lonsdale still remains partly within a British parliamentary constituency under the name of Lonsdale, being part of the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency. Lonsdale was not recorded as a hundred 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 manus ...

, but the name does appear, in the returns for

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, apparently as a manor attached to

Cockerham Cockerham is a small village and civil parish within the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is south of Lancaster and north-northwest of Preston. Lying on the River Cocker, at the estuary of the River Lune, the parish ha ...

. A number of places within the Lune's watershed are traditionally named with specification of 'in Lonsdale':

Kirkby Lonsdale Kirkby Lonsdale () is a town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, on the River Lune. Historically in Westmorland, it lies south-east of Kendal on the A65. The parish recorded a population of 1,771 in the 2001 ...

Burton-in-Lonsdale Burton in Lonsdale is a village and civil parish in the Craven District of North Yorkshire, England, close to the border with Lancashire and Cumbria. It is in Lonsdale (the River Lune valley and its tributaries). The parish is approximately 1,5 ...

, and

Thornton-in-Lonsdale Thornton in Lonsdale is a village and civil parish in the Craven District and ceremonial county of North Yorkshire in England. It is very close to the border with Cumbria and Lancashire and is north of Ingleton and south-east of Kirkby Lons ...

retain the name, while Middleton,

Sedbergh Sedbergh ( or ) is a town and civil parish in Cumbria, England. The 2001 census gave the parish a population of 2,705, increasing at the 2011 census to 2,765. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it lies about east of Kendal, nor ...

, Ingleton and Newby, near

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...

have previously been recorded with it. Following the creation of the hundred sometime during the late 11th or early 12th centuries, parts of the district were included in

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland'';R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref> is a historic county in North West England spanning the southern Lake District and the northern Dales. It had an ...

and others in Craven within the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

. The hundred had been defined by 1168 and the bailiwick was granted to Adam de Kellet (of Nether Kellet) in 1199. Other places in the Lonsdale hundred included Lancaster, Bolton-le-Sands,

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...

Dalton-in-Furness Dalton-in-Furness is a town and former civil parish in the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. In 2011 it had a population of 7,827. It is located north east of Barrow-in-Furness. History Dalton is mentioned in the Domesday Book, w ...

Ulverston Ulverston is a market town and a civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. In the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 census the parish had a population of 11,524, increasing at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census to ...

, and Morecambe. The Furness Peninsula and the

were known as ''Lonsdale North of the Sands'', the major part of which later constituted (from 1894 to 1974) the North Lonsdale Rural District. In 1831, the population of males over twenty years old was given as 10,707, meaning the total population would likely be over 20,000 during that year.

References

External links

Map of the Lancashire County Hundreds
Hundreds of Lancashire Furness History of Lancaster {{Lancashire-geo-stub