Grumbald's Ash Hundred (also spelled Grumbold's Ash) was a subdivision of the county of

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, England. Hundreds originated in the late

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

period and lasted as administrative divisions until the 19th century. It has been reported that the court was originally held under an

Ash tree ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae, and comprises 45–65 species of usually medium-to-large trees, most of which are deciduous trees, although some subtropical species are evergr ...

situated in Doddington parish, although this location would not be consistent with the previous split of hundred. Its name survives in the Grumbolds Ash with Avening electoral ward of

Cotswold district council The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedro ...

. The hundred was divided into Upper and Lower divisions and comprised a total of 20 ancient

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es in the southeastern corner of the county. The Lower division comprised Acton Turville,

Chipping Sodbury Chipping Sodbury is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated 13 miles (21 km) north-east of Bristol and directly east of Yate. The town ...

, Little Sodbury, Old Sodbury, Tormarton, West Littleton,

Dyrham Dyrham is a village and parish in South Gloucestershire, England. Location and communications Dyrham is at lat. 51° 29' north, long. 2° 22' west (). It lies at an altitude of 100 metres above sea level. It is near the A46 trunk road, abo ...

& Hinton, Wapley & Codrington and Dodington; the Upper division comprised Alderley,

Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

Boxwell Boxwell is a hamlet in Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, W ...

& Leighterton,

Charfield Charfield is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, south-west of Wotton-under-Edge near the Little Avon River and the villages of Falfield and Cromhall. The parish includes the hamlet of Churchend. Village Charfield is a m ...

Didmarton Didmarton is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It lies in the Cotswold District, about southwest of Tetbury. The parish is on the county borders with South Gloucestershire (to the southwest) and Wiltshire (to the south and ...

, Hawkesbury,

Hillesley Hillesley is a village in Gloucestershire, England. It was transferred from the county of Avon in 1991 and is now in Stroud District. The village forms part of the civil parish of Hillesley and Tresham. It is close to the Cotswold Edge, near ...

, Horton,

Oldbury-on-the-Hill Oldbury-on-the-Hill is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Didmarton, in the Cotswold District, Cotswold district, in Gloucestershire, England, ninety-three miles west of London and less than north of the village of D ...

Tortworth Tortworth is a small village and civil parish, near Thornbury in Gloucestershire, England. It has a population of 147 as of 2011. It lies on the B4509 road, which crosses the M5 motorway to the west of Tortworth. History In the Domesday Book of ...

and Wickwar. The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland
1868, via GENUKI At the time of 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, there were three hundreds in this area: Eddredestane, Bagstone and Hagmead, the last also known as Grimboldstow. Eddredestane later formed most of the Lower division of Grumbald's Ash Hundred and the other two the Upper division. Eddredestone Hundred also included the parish of Marshfield, which later became a detached part of Thornbury Hundred. The survey named four places in this hundred: Marshfield, Sodbury, Dodington and Tormarton. Note West Littleton was formerly a tything of Tormarton. Eddredestone was named after

Eadred Eadred (also Edred, – 23 November 955) was King of the English from 26 May 946 until his death in 955. He was the younger son of Edward the Elder and his third wife Eadgifu of Kent, Eadgifu, and a grandson of Alfred the Great. His elder b ...

, King of the English 946-955, who established the " Three Shires Stone" in Marshfield, marking the boundary between Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Bagstone Hundred included Tortworth, Charfield, Wickwar, Tytherington and

Iron Acton Iron Acton is a village, civil parish and former manor in South Gloucestershire, England. The village is about west of Yate and about northeast of the centre of Bristol. The B4058 road used to pass through the village but now by-passes it ju ...

, the last two parishes later transferred to Thornbury Hundred. Bagstone is the name of a hamlet in Wickwar parish which was the meeting place of the hundred. Hagmead Hundred included Hawkesbury, Horton, Badminton, Boxwell, Hillesley, Alderley, Oldbury-on-the-Hill, Little Sodbury and Didmarton, which became part of the Upper Division, plus Acton Turville and Dyrham & Hinton which formed, with Eddredestane, the Lower Division. At the time of Domesday, Wapley was part of Swineshead Hundred, later transferring into the Upper division of Grumbold's Ash.

References

{{Hundreds of Gloucestershire Hundreds of Gloucestershire