The Hundred of Wells Forum is one of the 40 historical Hundreds in the

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

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 , lor ...

, England, dating from the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...

era 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 Conq ...

. 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, unde ...

system. The hundred 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 name Wells Forum was derived from the city of Wells, which lies within its limits, to which was added the word Forum, referring to Wells' market place. These were generally called ''Fora Venalia'' in Roman times, and this term added to a proper name denotes a market or borough town (e.g.

Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and it ...

). The hundred of Wells Forum encompassed the ancient Forest of Mendip, which occupied the northern part; and extended to the south into the lowlands of East Sedgemoor. Its neighbouring hundreds were Chewton to the north; Whitstone to the east; Glaston Twelve-hides to the south; and Bempstone and Winterstoke to the west. Two small rivers had their source within the hundred: the Wells and the

Axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

. The hundred covered around and included the parishes of

Binegar Binegar is a small village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is located on the A37 road, A37, east of Wells, Somerset, Wells, between Shepton Mallet and Chilcompton. Its population in 2011 was 313. Binegar and ...

, Cranmore West,

Dinder Dinder (which means "the house in the valley") is a small village 2½ miles west of Shepton Mallet, and 2 miles east of Wells in Somerset. It falls within the civil parish of St Cuthbert Out and the Mendip district. The river Sheppey runs al ...

Evercreech Evercreech is a village and civil parish south east of Shepton Mallet, and north east of Castle Cary, in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Stoney Stratton and the village of Chesterblade. History The ...

, Litton,

Priddy Priddy is a village in Somerset, England in the Mendip Hills, close to East Harptree and north-west of Wells. It is in the local government district of Mendip. The village lies in a small hollow near the summit of the Mendip range of hills, a ...

, Westbury and Wookey. Although the Hundred was never formally abolished, its functions ended with the establishment of

county court A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the hig ...

s in 1867 and the introduction of

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

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 Hundreds of Somerset Wells, Somerset